By Andrea Kettenmann
Diego Rivera (1886–1957) is a loud presence on the art historical stage. With devout political principles and a turbulent romantic history, he was at once husband and paladin of Frida Kahlo, advocate and adversary of Stalin’s Soviet Union, and liberator and traitor of Leon Trotsky.
Vibrant, graphic, and often monumental, Rivera’s paintings carry the same live political and passionate charge as his personal biography. Fusing European influences such as Cubism with a socialist ideology and an exaltation of Mexico’s indigenous and popular heritage, he created a new iconography for art history and for his country. He became one of the most important figures in the Mexican mural movement and won international acclaim for his public wall paintings, in which he presented a utopian yet accessible vision of a post-revolutionary Mexico. In 1931, Rivera was the subject of MoMA’s second ever monographic exhibition.
This book explores the unique blend of influence and ideology which secure Rivera’s place as both a unique and a universal painter, bound to the particular turbulent experience of early 20th century Mexico, and yet preoccupied with subjects such as revolution and class inequity which continue to speak to us today
Each book in Taschen’s Basic Art series features a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance, a concise biography, and approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions.
Hardcover with jacket, 96 pages.
Dimensions: 8.5 x 10.5 x 0.5 inches
"As an artist I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life, and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wished me to see.” — Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera was commissioned by the Detroit Institute of Arts, with funds from Edsel Ford (the son of automaker Henry Ford), to paint the walls of the institute's garden court. Rivera studied workers at the Ford plant in nearby Dearborn to produce the murals, twenty-seven panels that Rivera completed in eleven months, April 1932—March 1933. The massive work is considered the finest example of the Mexican muralist's work in the United States and Rivera himself thought the Detroit murals to be his most successful work.
On April 23, 2014, the Detroit Industry Murals were given National Historic Landmark Status.
