Considered one of the leading artists of the twentieth century, painter and muralist Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886, in Guanajuato, Mexico. Rivera began drawing as a child and studied art at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts while in his teens. He later traveled to Europe to live and work on his art, initially having some success as a Cubist painter. Politics and world events such as
...see more »the Mexican Revolution in 1914-15 and the Russian Revolution in 1917 definitely affected the subject and style of his art work as he matured. He experimented with several styles, including analytical cubism in 1913, and then developed his own mature style with simplified forms and bright colors, which he called "naif". Observing the struggles of common people in these countries, Rivera wanted his art to reflect the lives of the working class and native peoples of Mexico.
In 1921, Rivera started a series of murals in public buildings and then painted several murals in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. Many of his art works were controversial, such as "Man at the Crossroads", a mural for the RCA building in New York City. The Rockefellers protested, but Rivera refused to remove the portrait. The Rockefellers, who owned the building, objected to the subject, which featured a portrait of Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin. When Rivera refused to change his art, the Rockefellers made Rivera stop work on the mural and had it destroyed.
Rivera was a friend of, and influenced by, many of the great modern artists including Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Piet Mondrian, and André Breton. Murals painted by Diego Rivera had a great impact on the people of his native Mexico and affected popular opinion of the time.
Artist Rivera's most famous art is to be found in US and Mexican galleries including, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Fundación Proa de Buenos Aires, the Palacio de las Bellas Artes and the Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino. Eight of Diego Rivera's works, covering a wide range of subjects: still life, female portrait and landscapes, have been sold in auctions for over a million dollars each over the last 15 years.
Diego Rivera's personal life was also very dramatic, with his 1929 marriage to artist Frida Kahlo, who was almost 20 years younger than Rivera. Kahlo and Rivera had a turbulent relationship, with a divorce in 1939 and a remarriage afterward.
After Frida Kahlo died in 1954, Rivera married Emma Hurtado, his art dealer Diego Rivera died of heart failure on November 24, 1957, in Mexico City, Mexico.
Partial listing of Rivera artwork:
1914 Jacques Lipchitz (Portrait of a Young Man) (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1928 May Day, Moscow (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1931 Agrarian Leader Zapata (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1931 Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1932-3 Detroit Industry (Detroit Institute of Arts)
Man at the Crossroads (Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City)
Mural on the History of Mexico (National Palace, Mexico City)« see less
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