Alfredo Zalce Torres (12 January 1908 – 19 January 2003) was a Mexican artist and contemporary of Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and other better-known muralists. He worked principally as a painter, sculptor, and engraver, also taught, and was involved in the foundation of a number of institutions of culture and education. He is perhaps best known for his mural painting, typically imbued with "fervent social criticism".[1] He is acclaimed as the first artist to borrow the traditional material of coloured cement as the medium for a "modern work of art".[2] Publicity-shy, he is said to have turned down Mexico's Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes before finally accepting it in 2001.[3] Before his death, Sotheby's described him as "the most important living Mexican artist up to date".[4]