Diego Rivera

Abstract


This article will explain the life and work of Mexican painter Diego Rivera. In which, he created a style that mixed the social, political and historical ideas of his country; he was Born in Guanajuato, México in December 8, 1886. Diego Rivera was a great admirer of the artist Pablo Picasso and the cubist movement. He joined the style for almost four years; although hestart to become part of a movement that began in the 20th century that gave priority to the imaginative expression of the subconscious called Surrealism. (Ripken. 2011, page1).
Rivera received a numerous commissions from Mexican government to produce large mural compositions, which celebrate Mexico’s cultural history and reflect his blending style. Suddenly Rivera stops producing murals andstarted painting the history of his people, depicting the revolution of Mexico; one of the famous works The Flower Carrier.
According to many art critics The Flower Carrier represent an ambit of feelings of considerations that can be perceive by looking at the artwork of a man carrying a huge basket as a woman helps him. The artwork could represent the political situation that the artistwas living and the reality of a worker under the Capitalist System. Furthermore, this papers will examine the life, the art movement and work that emphasizes the artist’ life.











Diego Rivera style was a mixture of the social political and historical ideas of Mexico and the art movement known as Surrealism, born in Guanajuato, Mexico in December 8, 1886. He became interestedin the arts as a child and his studies at Bellas Artes Academy in Mexico City studying under great artist such as Andres Rios, Felix Para, Santiago Rebull, and Jose Maria Velasco. Rivera remained in Bellas Artes in San Carlos, México until his expulsion for participating in a student protesting for political crisis, establishing himself as a communist activist. Although he continued to work onhis artistic style in México he dreamed of studying to Europe. (Ripken.2011, page 1)
Theodora A. Dehesa, the governor of Veracruz, México; heard of Rivera talent and decided to pay for his studies for Europe. In Paris he was highly influenced by post- impressionism and the art of Paul Cézanne, which led him to experiment with the cubist approach –a type of abstract art usually base on shapesor objects rather than pictures or scenes. In his travel to Madrid, he continued to experiment with new style and techniques in which than joined the cubist movement producing a series of work. He continued his visits throughout Europe learning fresco techniques redefining the medium (Ripken, 2011, pg. 3).
His works were well received around the world especially in Mexico. In 1920 hewent to Italy to study the Fresco of the Renaissance influenced by the painter Giotto di Bondone, Which motivated Rivera to look into social scenes in his environment. In 1921 returned to Mexico and began to work with the fresco styles medium, a combination of plaster and paint whose quick drying providing to the artist amount time to work. (Botis, 2000, np).
Murals established his fame,he traveled around the United States, as institutions offered commissions , for example in New York City, fresco piece “Man at the Crossroads” was highly criticized for his revolutionary subject matter which was later destroyed.
Surrealism style was introduced by Andre Breton in 1924. The surrealism was rooted from the writing of Simmonds Freud discussing on the subconscious to the consciousmind to become reality, the movement affected the art world, from performing arts to fine art. For example, Zurakhinsky explains the movement as an act of disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by Freud. The Surrealists believed the conscious mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighting it down with taboos.
Their emphasis on the power of the...