The son of Tomás Arrieta, of Basque origin, and of Rita María Fernández, Agustín Arrieta was brought as a young boy to the city of Puebla, where he lived for the rest of his life.
There is little documentary evidence of this assertion, except for his certificate of marriage to María Nicolasa Lorenzana Varela, dated 29 August 1826, and documents that demonstrate his membership in and participation in competitions of the Academy of Fine Arts in Puebla and the Academy of San Carlos.
His time as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Puebla coincided with the presence of the professors Lorenzo Zendejas, Salvador del Huerto, López Guerrero, and the brothers Caro and José Manzo.
Although he was a member of the Academy, he decided to establish his own workshop, where he began to paint genre scenes and other subjects incomprehensible to the elitist clientele of the city of Puebla, from whom he received only modest sums for his works.
Neither did the recognition conferred on him by the painters of Puebla in the Guía de Forasteros of 1852 improve his economic circumstances.
Indeed, in order to support himself, he had to accept employment as a concierge at the State Congress.

Arrieta gradually mastered the techniques of drawing, composition, color, anatomy, and balance that he had learned at the Academy.
Combined with his natural talent, these would carry him into his mature period, when his paintings achieved a character of their own.
His critics, however, point out errors in the composition of his still lifes and genre scenes, as well as the repetition of certain elements and figures.
They also find the influence of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez in his work.
The least interesting part of his oeuvre is his religious painting, of which there are a few examples in the churches of Puebla, such as the canvases in the Church of San Juan de Dios, commissioned in 1852: a Death of Saint Joseph, a Mary Magdalene, and a Calvary.

What distinguishes Arrieta’s work is its depiction of everyday life and customs in nineteenth-century Puebla: clothing, gastronomy, and small trades, as well as human virtues and defects, are the elements that are highlighted and repeated.
His works provide accurate portrayals of Mexican types such as the chinaco, the china poblana, the soldier, the water-carrier, the priest, the gentleman, the beggar, and many others.
Arrieta was fascinated by mundane scenes such as the one depicted in his Tertulia de pulquería – set in one of the pulque bars of which there was no shortage in Puebla – or by street fights or market scenes, to which he lent a festive, anecdotal air.
Other genre paintings by Arrieta include La sorpresa, La cocina poblana, Vendedores de horchata, and Agualojera.
The son of Tomás Arrieta, of Basque origin, and of Rita María Fernández, Agustín Arrieta was brought as a young boy to the city of Puebla, where he lived for the rest of his life. There is little documentary evidence of this assertion, except for his certificate of marriage to María Nicolasa Lorenzana Varela, dated 29 August 1826, and documents that demonstrate his membership in and participation in competitions of the Academy of Fine Arts in Puebla and the Academy of San Carlos. His time as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Puebla coincided with the presence of the professors Lorenzo Zendejas, Salvador del Huerto, López Guerrero, and the brothers Caro and José Manzo. Although he was a member of the Academy, he decided to establish his own workshop, where he began to paint genre scenes and other subjects incomprehensible to the elitist clientele of the city of Puebla, from whom he received only modest sums for his works. Neither did the recognition conferred on him by the painters of Puebla in the Guía de Forasteros of 1852 improve his economic circumstances. Indeed, in order to support himself, he had to accept employment as a concierge at the State Congress.
Arrieta gradually mastered the techniques of drawing, composition, color, anatomy, and balance that he had learned at the Academy. Combined with his natural talent, these would carry him into his mature period, when his paintings achieved a character of their own. His critics, however, point out errors in the composition of his still lifes and genre scenes, as well as the repetition of certain elements and figures. They also find the influence of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez in his work. The least interesting part of his oeuvre is his religious painting, of which there are a few examples in the churches of Puebla, such as the canvases in the Church of San Juan de Dios, commissioned in 1852: a Death of Saint Joseph, a Mary Magdalene, and a Calvary.
What distinguishes Arrieta’s work is its depiction of everyday life and customs in nineteenth-century Puebla: clothing, gastronomy, and small trades, as well as human virtues and defects, are the elements that are highlighted and repeated. His works provide accurate portrayals of Mexican types such as the chinaco, the china poblana, the soldier, the water-carrier, the priest, the gentleman, the beggar, and many others. Arrieta was fascinated by mundane scenes such as the one depicted in his Tertulia de pulquería – set in one of the pulque bars of which there was no shortage in Puebla – or by street fights or market scenes, to which he lent a festive, anecdotal air. Other genre paintings by Arrieta include La sorpresa, La cocina poblana, Vendedores de horchata, and Agualojera.
Agustín Arrieta