Diego Rivera: Artist for Mexico's People

In the Western European tradition, artists are often prophets of the future—alerting us to emerging trends. But artists also perform other roles: they can, for example, integrate and reflect back to the people a fresh understanding of their history and culture.

Mexico's complex history is fraught with conflict. Confronted by their country's complexity and conflict, the best of Mexico's artists have risen to the challenge—creating works that are not only artistically important, but culturally meaningful and revealing.

Mexico: Major Historical Forces

• Mesoamerican agrarian civilization, based on maís (corn), gave rise to a worldview focused on the annual solar cycle (birth-death-rebirth) and the critical need to maintain equilibrio (balance) between the world of humans and the forces of naturaleza (natural-spiritual world). This worldview was expressed in unique and powerful symbolic rituals and art. 
• Spanish Colonial Culture was imposed by Spanish soldiers and forced conversions of the people to Spanish Catholicism. The Spanish brought their symbols of power (sword) and faith (cross). The crown imposed a caste system that kept people divided from one another and fostered isolated sub-cultures rather than a national identity. This also prevented the people from developing competence in self-governance. 
• Struggle for Nationhood. The War of Independence (1810-1821) was followed by a century of civil strife. Caudillos, military strongmen, overthrew one-another for the presidency. The country was invaded three times. Conservatives (landed elites) attempted to establish a monarchy, while liberals sought a democracy. This led to civil war (1857-61). Porfirio Díaz seized control in 1876 and held the presidency for thirty-four years. He brought stability and industrial modernizaion at the cost of violent repression. These injustices triggered the Mexican Revolution.
• Mexican Revolution (1910-1920's):  The Mexican Revolution was a civil war that once again pitted conservatives against liberals, and peasant populists against both. The victor, Venustiano Carranza, was an upper-class conservative, but he was forced to accept some liberal and populist reforms in order to create a government under the Constitution of 1917, which is still the legal basis of the Mexican Republic.
• Mexico under PRI (1930 -2000):  After a series of struggles between rivals for the presidency—which included assassinations—President Plutarco Elías Calles successfully substituted party rule for the competition of regional caudillos. One-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) delivered stability without democracy to Mexico for 70 years.

Into this history, in the late nineteenth century, during the thirty-four year dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, was born a Mexican with his own complex family history. He was to come into his artistic own after the Mexican Revolution, at a time when Mexico was trying to become a modern nation—struggling to define its identity in relation to its past and to articulate a vision of its future, including its relation to the larger world. His brilliant talent, original artistic vision and prolific productivity played a central role in furthering that process.

Diego Rivera: Self portrait

Diego Rivera (1886-1957)

In 1886, Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was born in Querétaro, Guanajuato. On his father's side, Diego was descended from Spanish nobility. His mother was a converso, a Jew whose ancestors—residing on the Iberian Peninsula during the 14th and 15the centuries—were forced to convert to Catholicism in order to survive.

Baptized Catholic, Diego was not raised as a Jew. As an adult he was a strident atheist. Also as an adult, he described how he identified with his mother's family as marranos—Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula forced to convert to Christianity, but continuing to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret.

Reflecting back later on his formative years, Diego wrote:

"My Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. From this has come my sympathy with the downtrodden masses that motivates all my work."

Diego began drawing when he was only three, just a year after his twin brother's death. Caught drawing on the walls of his family's house, his parents installed chalkboards and canvas for the youngster's use. In 1892 the family moved to Mexico City. By the time he was ten, Diego was studying art at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City.  

Later in his life, Diego said he learned about his country’s art from José Posada, graphic artist and teacher who worked as an illustrator and political cartoonist in a small shop located near the San Carlos Academy.

In keeping with his Posada's commitment to make art for the people, he worked in the window of his shop so the people could see what he was doing. The engraver's activities were to attract not only to Diego Rivera, but José Clemente Orozco—who would become, along with Rivera, another of 'the greats' of the Mexican Muralists. But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Posada's Own Photograph of his Taller (Shop)

José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) Influences a Young Diego

In light of his family history, it is not difficult to understand why Diego was attracted to Posada's illustrations, which focused on the inequities and social injustice of the Porfirio Díaz regime—including political caricatures that raised pointed questions about the morality of the regime's 'cult' of modernity-industrialization.

"Man in a Top Hat" holding aloft a dollar bill, exemplifies
Posada's humanity, humor and whimsy, even while criticizing the
wealthy elite. This cartoon figure reminds me of a Mexican saying,
"Pobricito, mi patrón piensa que el pobre soy yo"
("Poor little man, my boss thinks that I am the poverty-stricken one.") 

Most importantly for Diego's artistic and intellectual development, Posada's work was supremely original in its characterizations of the Mexican people across a wide range of issues. In his illustrations and caricatures, Posada addressed not only political issues, daily life, and the people's terror as the nineteenth century drew to a close (which carried, for the people, portents of the end of the world), but also their fear of natural disasters, their deeply-held religious beliefs and the omnipresent spirit world (superstition) rampant them and still widespread in everyday Mexican life.

Considered a popular artist because of his subject matter and his style (Posada was a master of political caricature), the graphic artist in fact sprang from the pueblo (ordinary people). The people inspired Posada's wildly popular Mexican imagery, and they were Posada's primary audience—thus providing  an important model for the impressionable young Diego of how an artist can relate his work to and for the people. It is fair to say it is a lesson Diego Rivera never forgot. 

Rivera Pays Homage to Posada's Influence in the mural: Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central

Decades later, Rivera wrote that Posada was the prototypical artist of the people and their most astute defender. In his 1947 mural Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park), Diego portrays himself as the offspring of Posada and la Catrina. Diego holds Catrina's right hand; José Posada stands to the left of la Catrina.

Diego Rivera, Sueño de la tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (1947)

In this mural, Rivera constructed a panoramic view of the four hundred years of Mexico's history set in Mexico City's historic Alameda park (Poplar Grove). Built in 1592 by order of the eighth Spanish Viceroy Luis de Velasco, the park was built on land that was once the site of an Aztec marketplace.

The mural's chronology proceeds left to right, but this monumental mural—15 m (50 ft) by 4.8 m (15 ft)—is not a history. Rather it is a collage of images such as those inspired by dreams (sueños). To convey social movement, Rivera arranges the trunks and branches of trees. Trees at the left stand motionless against a dark blue sky—representing the people's helplessness before Spanish sword and cross.

On the right side of the mural, trees bend and twist in winds...of change that Diego associated with the just-concluded Mexican Revolution—depicted by flames rising behind a mounted Zapatista (populist) fighter. 

It is important that Rivera had a second reason for setting his panorama in the Alameda Central. What is today the park's western section was first a plain plaza built during the Inquisition in Mexico. Known as El Quemadero (The Burning Place), witches and others convicted for heresy by Mexico's Inquisitors were publicly burned at the stake. In the mural, a detail recalls this history.

Mural Detail: The first victim of the Mexican Inquisition was a
granddaughter of Nezahualcóyotl, who was burned at the stake
for idolatry. Her grandfather Nezahualcóyotl was a 15th century
ruler of the city-state of Texcoco, now part of Mexico City.
Revered as a wise and just ruler,  Nezahualcóyotl's poetry and
philosophy reflected his exceptional intelligence. 

Diego's Autobiographical Comment

By far the best way to appreciate fully the originality of the 150 characters depicted on this mural is to view it in person—walking its length more than once and referring frequently to a diagram that identifies key personages. Intriguingly, this dream-collage includes autobiographical information about the artist himself.

In the center of the mural, Diego portrays himself at the turn of the century, wearing short pants and straw hat. In his pockets are a frog and snake—live toys! With his bulging eyes and corpulent physique, evident even at an early age, Diego throughout his life presented a somewhat crude physical appearance.

Mural Detail: Young Diego in short pants and straw hat, holds the right hand of
la Catrina (Mexico's elegant iconic image of Death); to the left of la Catrina
is the engraver-artist José Posada with a cane. Behind Diego stands Frida Kahlo,
his future wife, with her right hand resting protectively on Diego's right shoulder;
in her left hand, Frida holds the Chinese symbol for Yin and Yang. This essential
duality (equilibrio) is both an essential component of Mesoamerican and Mexican
culture and characterizes Diego's and Frida's volatile love-hate relationship.  

Diego Creates la Catrina 

Why la Catrina stands in the middle between Diego and his mentor José Posada is quite interesting. For a newspaper, José Posada drew a female skull that he titled, La Calavera Garbancera (The Chickpea Skull), which was a burlesque of indigenous people who, having become wealthy during the Porfiriato, embraced European styles and rejected their indigenous origins and customs.  

La Calavera Garbancera, José Posada

For the mural, Rivera painted a full-figured skeleton of Death, whom he named la Catrina. As part of her elegant costume, Rivera draped a plumed boa around her shoulders. The boa sports a serpent's head and a rattlesnake's tail that, in effect, represents the plumed serpent, Quetzalcóatl.

Mexico's art experts agree:  it was Diego Rivera who created the iconic Catrina—today an essential component of Mexico's annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) commemorations. 

Imagine our surprise to take a closer look at Reed's cherished Catrina—only to discover that at opposite ends of the boa draped across her shoulders are a serpent head and rattlesnake tail!

No doubt about it—the boa on our la Catrina has a
serpent head! It is indeed a feathered serpent!

The People Provide the Action

Mural detail: Indigenous women in yellow dress being faced down by a
police officer to prevent her from mingling with the 'decent' people. 

Rivera depicts the 'decent' people in static poses—in itself a telling social comment. Now is probably a good time to point out a dozing Porfirio Díaz (Mexico's, thirty-four year 'efficient' dictator)—his pink complexion, white beard and blue tricorn hat is flush against the right margin.

But it is those de abajo (the common people) that Rivera chooses to provide the narrative action—a technique in keeping with his intent to make murals that tell the people's story. The face-off between the indigenous woman and the authorities is one example, but the mural provides several others.

For example, the hot air balloon at the right is taken from an actual balloonist, who was well-known to the Mexican public. Diego took advantage of the public's familiarity to write 'RM'—¡República Méxicana!—on the side of the balloon. Given Mexico's brief experiments with imperial rule, it was an important message— signaling resolution of a hundred-year political conflict in favor of populist, representative government.

Rivera's Artistic Debt to José Guadalupe Posada

We can surmise that the youthful Diego Rivera, who had internalized the persecution of his mother's Jewish family, embraced Posada's depictions of the Mexican pueblo—the common people. Diego's conversations with the brilliant, intense engraver undoubtedly influenced the young artist's thinking and gave him creative ideas about how art could be made to tell important stories of and about the people.   

In 1907, Diego received a government traveling scholarship that enabled him to study in Europe. He returned to Mexico only once for a brief visit in 1910, just before the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution.  Most likely Diego visited his old mentor, José Posada, during this visit. It would be the last time they saw each other. 

Diego spent the years of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1921) in Paris, where he studied, worked and was able occasionally to exhibit his work.

From the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 until his death in 1913, José Guadalupe Posada worked tirelessly in newspapers directed to Mexico's workers. 

Diego Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921 at the urging of the Mexican Ambassador to France, Alberto J. Pani, and Mexico's new Secretary of Public Education, José Vasconcelos—who joined forces to appeal to Diego to put his prodigious talent to work for the good of his country.  

Coming Soon  

Posts on Diego's Mexican Mural Art and on the Studio-House designed and built in San Ángel by Diego's friend, Juan O'Gorman, whose Irish, painter father immigrated to Mexico.  

Still Curious?

An excellent description, abundant with examples of José Guadalupe Posada's political cartoons and caricatures, "Posada and the Popular [Mexican] Graphic Tradition."

Here's a well-known example of Posada's use of the Calavera (Skeleton):

Calavera Ciclista (Cycling Skeletons), Posada

Another of Posada's calavera political caricatures

Wikipedia entry for the Alameda Central.