Art With Bre: Inspiration and Influences: Diego Rivera

Breanna Castaneda

Terry Long

ARTH 102.01

31 October 2013

Inspiration and Influences: Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was one of the most influential Mexican artists of his time. He was highly sought after in Mexico and the United States, commissioned for large-scale murals to be completed in public buildings. Through observation of Rivera’s work, his political and social influences are distinctly noted. Though these distinctions brought him undeniable fame and fortune, they also lead to scrutiny and angered viewers- in one case one of his commissioned pieces had ultimately been destroyed. But this did not affect his legacy or his title as one of the greater painters of his era.

In his youth, after completing school at the Academic course of San Carlos, he left to begin customary European studies abroad. While abroad he was inspired by Post-Impressionism and symbolism. Post-Impressionism can be described as “independent artistic styles for expressing emotions rather than simply optical impressions, concentrating on themes of deeper symbolism” (metmuseum.org). River was unfulfilled, this and inspiration from Paul Gaugin and Van Gough led him to release himself creatively from the constraints of geometric shapes, as depicted in his most recent style of Cubism, and develop a style that became more representative of the essence of Mexican life and culture. What further led Rivera to express himself through realism were social movements instigated through the Russian Revolution- as he had spent much time in Europe and had developed a sense of companionship with the Revolutionists.

With his newfound passion for realism, Rivera completed La Secreteria de Educacion Publica. These works later marked the transition of Mexican artists into what has come to be known as the Mexican Mural Renaissance- where artists were inspired by Rivera’s work and his regression into more classically historical methods of painting. In his murals he depicted “subjects that promoted revolutionary ideas and celebrated the indigenous cultural heritage of Mexico” (diegorivera.org). This also sparked a promotion of Mexican Nationalist ideals, as Rivera was well sought after by the Mexican government to create works to re-inspire the hard working disposition of the people.

During the 1930’s, Rivera made a special trip to the United States. His time spent in the United States served as an artistic sabbatical from the Communist and Nationalist parties pulling at him, as if trying to stretch a canvas over a frame that was just too big, he could not be bound. Here he was able to indulge and explore his fascination with technology and industrialization. He was mostly inspired by industrialization’s affects on society and was enamored with the sense of freedom and exploration. During his time in New York, he completed a mural for the Rockefeller Center, in which he included a portrait of Lenin and his refusal to change the mural led to its demise; it was torn down and removed from the building. Despite this setback, “the murals [he completed] in the United States served to clarify his understanding of his native Mexico and expanded his personal philosophy” (diegorivera.org). Though Rivera loved the United States, these societal influences compelled him to once again revert back to his heritage and origins.

Through his murals and observation paintings, he had made a name for himself in the United States and in Mexico. With close examination, his murals depict the life of the people, but what makes them memorable or special is the beauty he reveals in every day tasks life requires. Rivera ultimately became an influential source to American artists due to the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. The Works Progress Association sought to aid artists and laborers struggling to find work, another method adopted from the Mexican government’s appreciation for works in public buildings. Rivera’s fresco technique was highly popularized after this and he himself became an icon; an artist of “the people”.