The greatest Mexican artist of the 20th

Century.

Was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1886.

Began painting at the age of two.

After moving to Mexico City, Diego began painting at the Academy of San Carlos at the age of ten.

Went to military school for two weeks before enrolling full-time at the Academy.

After six years, he left the school due to his unhappiness with the art director.

Was offered a scholarship to Europe from Teodoro Dehesa, governor of Vera Cruz.

Studied for two years in Barcelona, Spain under the tutelage of Chicharro, a famous Spanish painter.

Moved to Paris, France, where he lived for a little over a decade.

While in Paris, Diego studied the Cubists, including Picasso and Cezanne.

After feeling disheartened with the exclusivity of the art world, Rivera left Paris for Italy.

Here, he fell in love with the Italian frescoes, or murals.

These were found on the outside of churches, where they could be enjoyed by everyone.

In 1921, President Alvaro Obregon and Minister of Education Jose Vasconcelos initiated a public art program.

Rivera, along with David Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco, became the leader of the Mexican Muralist Renaissance .

Murals brought art to the masses.

Celebrated Mexican heritage from early Mesoamerica through the Revolution.

Rivera painted over 125 murals in 4 years.

In 1929, Rivera was named head of the Department of Plastic Crafts at the Ministry of Education.

Started the Labor Union of Technical Workers, Painters, and Sculptors.

In 1930, Rivera created his first 2 murals, at the American Stock Exchange Luncheon Club and the California School of Fine Arts.

Like most of his work, these murals focused on the struggles of the working class.

In 1932, Rivera began one of his greatest works, The Detroit Industry, commissioned by Henry Ford for the Detroit Institute of Art.

It depicts the industrial life in the United States, the auto industry, and covers four entire walls.

Rivera caused a stir after painting Lenin, the leader of the Soviet Union, into the mural entitled Man at the Crossroads, which was commissioned by Rockefeller for the RCA building .

He was forced to stop, the mural was never finished, and it was chipped off the wall and destroyed in 1934.

In the late 1940’s, Rivera completed a mural at the Hotel del Prado, Spain, which included the phrase, “God does not exist.”

Due to this phrase, the mural was closed to the public for nine years.

In 1952, another mural was removed for controversy.

Rivera painted Stalin and Mao Tsetung into the mural, The Nightmare of War and the Dream of Peace, at the Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Diego Rivera was married 4 times, most famously to Frida Kahlo (twice!), another Mexican artist.

Died at the age of seventy in 1957 from a heart attack.

Diego Rivera Prints, 8 November 2009. http://www.diego-rivera.org/paintings.html

American Masters. Diego Rivera, About the Artist, 8 November 2009. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/diego-rivera/about-the-artist/64/