Posted
on December 8, 2015
He
may be the most famous Mexican artist of all time.
He
was married to another one of the most famous Mexican artists of all
time. (Twice!)
 |
| Self-portrait of Frida Kahlo, who married Diego Rivera two times. |
I
was struck by something said in this short bio – that Rivera
influences how we see Mexico, and how Mexico sees itself!
That's...pretty amazing, if you think about it!
Born
in 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico, Diego Rivera had Jewish ancestry, but
his ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholicism; it is,
perhaps, not very surprising that Rivera was a nonbeliever. He began
drawing on the walls of his house at age three. Instead of punishing
him, his parents installed chalkboards and canvas on the walls.
With
that kind of support for his wall art, Rivera grew up to do this:
 |
| Diego Rivera grew up to make a lot of money for drawing and painting on walls! |
Diego
Rivera studied painting at age 10 in Mexico City, and in Madrid,
Spain, and Paris, France, as a young adult. After a decade in Paris,
he traveled through Italy studying art. One thing he was interested
in was Renaissance frescoes. (Frescoes are murals painted on
freshly-laid, wet lime plaster. The pigments in the paint merge with
the plaster and, by the time the plaster fully sets, is fully a part
of the wall rather than being painted “on” the wall.)
In
1921, Rivera returned to Mexico and began painting murals in the
fresco style.
Rivera's
art is generally LARGE.
It
tells stories.
It
is influenced by Azteca and Maya art.
 |
| Above, Rivera's portrayal of Native Mexican people. Below, Aztec portrayal of themselves. |
It
is political and often controversial.
His
murals are not all in Mexico; there is one in San Francisco, one in
Detroit, and one in New York City.
 |
| This mural appears in the San Francisco Art Institute. |
Okay,
I found this interesting: Rivera's most controversial painting was
begun in 1933 for the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Rivera
included a portrait of communist Russian leader Vladimir Lenin in the
mural. Rockefeller was upset and demanded that Rivera paint over that
part of the mural. Rivera refused.
 |
| This photo shows a recreation of the controversial mural. |
So
Rockefeller kicked him off the project.
One
of Rivera's assistants managed to take a few photos of the mural. The
mural itself was supposed to be destroyed, but there are rumors that
it was just covered over.
Rivera
was paid in full for the mural, although a commission to paint a
mural at the Chicago World's Fair was canceled because of the
controversy. Rivera was able to use the photos to duplicate the mural
elsewhere, and he recreated the mural in Mexico City. What I found
particularly interesting was that he released a statement that he
would use the money he was paid for the mural to repaint the same
mural for free anywhere and everywhere he was asked to do so!
 |
| Diego Rivera |
This
controversy has been written about in articles and poems, and it has
been portrayed in movies. The dispute became part of the discussion
of important issues about artistic freedom versus the rights of art
patrons to see their visions carried out by the artists they hire...
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