Monumental Diego Rivera

instance, while his career became synonymous with Mexican nationalism, he was not in his native land during his country's violent years of upheaval. The young artist was instead in Europe dabbling in surrealism and cubism while hanging out with the likes of Picasso, Modigliani, and Mondrian.

In another instance, he claimed to believe in the value of public art, denouncing “easel” art as elitist, and yet amassed a fortune selling art commissioned by private collectors. He sympathized with public figures like Stalin, Trotsky, Carlos Chávez, art critic Leonce Rosenberg, and Nelson Rockefeller, yet managed to insult and outrage most of them. In addition to his monumental art, he was capable of small paintings depicting mothers and children in tender moments. He obviously adored his wife, Frida Kahlo, yet delighted in the presence of beautiful women and was a known womanizer. Frida claimed there had been two accidents in her life – the one involving a streetcar that caused her lifelong physical pain, and the other was Diego.

Summary

However one may feel about Rivera, the man of contradictions, there is no denying that he is a master. He developed a distinctive style befitting outdoor mural art – that of monumental powerful figures. He was unparalleled in his illustrative renditions of figures, landscapes, machinery. His work detailed his pride in his nation and his people. He may have loved good food and beautiful women, but even more so he loved to paint. He holds a profound place in art history.

Resources

Books:

Smith, Bradley. Mexico: A History in Art. Tokyo, Japan: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., 1968.

Websites:

Biography on American Masters:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/...

Diego Rivera Virtual Museum:
http://www.diegorivera.com/murals/index....

Diego Rivera’s Work:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/...

Public Works of Art:
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/jc...

Mexican Revolution
http://gomexico.about.com/travel/gomexic...

Rivera Mural Project:
http://www.riveramural.org/rivera/overvi...

Fresco Painting:
http://www.truefresco.com/artists.html

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