Information on Diego Rivera Paintings

Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was a member of the artistic movement known as the Mexican Modernist School, a group of painters who rejected European-styled abstract art in favor of realistic portrayals of native Mexican life.

History

Rivera was inspired by the worker uprisings of the Mexican Revolution (1914-15) and the Russian Revolution (1917), believing that art should participate in educating working people in their own histories.

Identification

Rivera studied Renaissance frescos while traveling through Italy in 1920. Returning to Mexico a year later, Rivera began creating his own style of public painting based on his Italian experience.

Features

Rivera painted in fresco-style, using a watercolor medium to layer colors onto damp plaster, which absorbed the pigment to form a calcium carbonate film resistant to water and light.

Considerations

Rivera selected the undecorated walls of Mexico's government edifices as the template upon which he would write the people's history.

Significance

Rivera was aware that he was working in the tradition of his Aztec and Mayan predecessors, whose bright colors adorned the walls of their temples and tombs.

References

• The Virtual Diego Rivera Web Museum
• Encyclopedia Britannica--Rivera
• The Diego Rivera Mural Project

Resources

• Mexconnect.com--Rivera
• Pbs.org--Rivera