Mirkin’s article, “Aurora Reyes: ataque a la maestra rural,” was about one of the most iconic women in Mexican history. She was a very inspiring woman, she still found time to create her murals and fight for what she believed in all while being a single mother of two and having a job. Reyes was someone who fought for things that were dear to her such as education, children, and equality for women. I found it interesting but not surprising that her murals reflected her beliefs and illustrated the essence of their importance. Unlike the other artists who depicted the revolution, Reyes’ murals showed the unfortunate but somewhat inevitable side of the revolution.…
5. The artist of this panel is Diego Rivera, the original location to this mural was at the Rockefeller Center in New York, and it was whitewashed because of its controversy that it included Lenin and the Soviet Russian May Day Parade.…
Jose Clemente Orozco was a famous Mexican Social Realist who specialized in bold murals that established Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others. Orozco was the most complex of the Mexican muralists, fond of the theme of human suffering, and realist. Mostly influenced by symbolism, he was also a genre painter between 1922 and 1948.…
José Chávez Morado, born in 1909, was one of the greatest 20th century Mexican muralists, focused on political and social factors of the Mexican revolution and embraced his heritage much like Dr. Atl had wanted for all Mexican artists. He was the last of one of the greatest 20th century muralists, who greatly influenced Mexican styled art. This paper will discuss his life journey, accomplishments, and two of his great works/murals. The purpose of this is to gain insight on one of the 20th centuries greatest artists, and examine his work from multiple perspectives to give us understanding and view his work in a different light. Jose, was a painter, printmaker, muralist, promoter and cultural advisor, he also made a valuable contribution in…
Cockcroft, E., Cockcroft J., Pitman J. W. 1977. Toward a People.s Art: The Contemporary Mural Movement. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.…
In the Cosmic Race written by Jose Vasconcelo, Vasconcelo writes about the definition of Latin American people and their divine mission in America, while also briefly comparing them to other races such as the Europeans. Vasconcelo states that there are 4 racial trunks, the Blacks, the Indians, the Mongols, and the Whites, while expanding detail with the Whites who he described as organizing themselves in Europe, and becoming invaders of the rest of the world. Vasconcelo gives an example as the Spaniards conquered Latin American, however he believes that their role was just to reintegrate the red world, which he describes as a bridge which has brought the world to a state at which all human types and cultures can fuse together. According to Vasconcelo the faithful Latin-people are those called upon to this divine mission after they have gained freedom. It is safe to say Vasconcelo easily inspired and influenced several aspects of Diego Rivera’s artwork. While Mexico was under similar circumstances after the Mexican Revolution as Latin America, Deigo Rivera used some of Jose Vasconcelo’s ideas to impart social and political messages. In Diego Rivera’s “El Hombre en Cruco de Caminos” located in Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, one can see a man who appears to be in control of the Universe with a variety of people in the backgrounds. At one point Vasconcelo states that every ascending race needs to constitute its own philosophy to get to its own success, rather than just learn and copy from the others. This idea is expressed in Rivera’s Mural by the man in the middle who is controlling what seems to be the entire universe. It seems that both of these men understood the ideathat it was time to control themselves. Although Diego was focused on the “spiritual” liberation of Mexico from its Colonial obsession, the idea of creating and controlling your own ideology and destiny is shared by Rivera’s painting and Vasconcelo’s,…
In 1932, the Rockefeller’s asked Mexican artist Diego Rivera to paint a mural and have it put on the ground-floor wall of the Rockefeller Center, despite Matisse and Picasso being the Rockefeller’s first choice to do the mural, they were both unavailable. Diego Rivera, born December 6, 1886 and died November 24, 1957, was a Mexican painter from Mexico City. He was known for his morals, and helped established the Mexican mural movement in Mexican art. He painted murals in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Chapingo, Detroit, San Francisco, New York City, and many other places from 1922 to 1953.…
Attempting to change social and political conditions, activist art has recently been a popular subject among artists and art critics alike. Those most active within the art market have much criticism for activist and political art. Activists however, don’t seem to be too concerned as their main priority is the activism rather than the physical, which is where most criticism is based. Critics believe activist art cannot be considered true art because it is leaning on a notion of morality. They also believe it is lacking a certain quality of art and because it serves a function, it cannot fit in with traditional fine arts. Activist art also, in a way, distances itself from traditional fine arts by sometimes presenting itself as unappealing as…
Rivera believed that his friendship with Rockefeller’s family would allow him to add an unapproved picture of the Soviet leader of the time named Vladimir Lenin into the section of his painting that portrayed a May Day parade. However, Rivera did not know that the real decision is with the Center’s building managers, and they hated it. They ordered Rivera to remove Lenin’s image after building management found articles attacking the mural's anti-capitalist ideology. Rivera refused, but he did offer to balance the work with an image of Abraham Lincoln on the opposing side. The managers wouldn’t do it, so they paid his full fee, barred him from the site, and they hid the mural behind a drape. Compromisers, who were supporters of Rivera, attempted to take the work to the Museum of Modern Art, but it was to no avail. Around midnight on the day of February 10th, 1934, Rockefeller Center workmen destroyed the mural with axes. Later, Rivera got the opportunity to recreate the frescoes in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, and he did, completing what he had originally started. Never again did Diego Rivera paint in the United States, but he did continue to be active in both artistic and political arenas, all the way to his death in the year of…
One of Rivera’s most famous paintings “The Flower Carrier” represented the struggles of a working men living in a capitalist society. 5 Rivera was concerned about the struggles of the peasants in Mexico. Because of this, he intended this piece to move the audience to question the social effects that capitalism has on the working class. In the picture, we see an exhausted peasant on the ground because of the large weight of the flowers. Rivera illustrates the farmer as small and frail. In the photo, we also see the women helping the overburdened worker with the…
2. Two individuals I selected from the Voces Vivas in the museum I chose were David A. Siqeiros and Andres Laguna. David Siqeiros was a political muralist who expressed his social views in his artwork. He was a communist/socialist. Sieiros was born in December 29, 1896, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Much of his artwork reflected the oppression of Chicanos in the United States. The most famous mural he painted was the “America Tropical”. It was 82ft by 18ft and was done in La Placita Olvera. This mural reflected imperialism and the exploitation inflicted on the indigenous people of Latin America by the Spanish/European powers. There was much controversy with the mural and its meaning, it was later destroyed. The other person I selected was Andre Laguna, a Linotypist for La Opinion. Laguna was born in El Districto Federal De Mexico. A…
Mexican muralism began in the 1920s. It was led by los tres grandes " the big three" José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. These three painters had a tremendous influence on Mexican art from the 1920s through the 1940s. The Mexican mural movement was a "vehicle to represent the government's ideology and its vision of history." The plan was for murals to be painted on public buildings to help spread the campaign messages for the government.…
Diego Rivera was one of the most recognizable figures in Mexican art, let alone Mexican muralism. His name is widely known for the large murals, especially that of the public art initiative that surfaced in the 1920s, just after the Mexican Revolution, although he began making masterpieces years before the Mexican revolution even began.…
It was not only the United States and Europe that were touched by Modernism; Latin America was also feeling the effect of this shift in the art world during the beginning of the 20th century. While beginning to achieve some level of independence from its European occupiers, Latin American and its artists were embracing Modernism which fit well with the mixed race cultures of this region. The indigenous peoples of Mexico, for instance, endured a brutal occupation by the Spanish starting in 1521 by Hernán Cortés(1485 - 1547) until the Mexican revolution(1910-1920) after which the indigenous peoples were honored and encourage to become educated. One of the artists discussed in this paper is Diego Rivera(1886-1957) who was a champion of these native peoples. This paper will compare Zapatista Landscape (1915) by Diego Rivera and Three Musicians (1921) by Pablo Picasso(1881-1973).…
Francisco Goya was a famous paint and printmaker and a known figure in the Romantic movement. Goya wanted to portray humans in a horrific way to help them reflect themselves. Goya’s painting Third of May is a representation of May 3rd when a French firing squad killed hundreds of Spanish people. The painting’s background is black with a couple of buildings outlined. The main focus is in the forefront where a light is being shined on a gentleman with outstretched hands.…