DIEGO RIVERA and MEXICAN MURALISTS

diego rivera's mural

orozco's hombre de fuego

work by siqueiros

rufino tamayo's mural

candido portinari's mural in library of congress,washington,d.c.

What mexican muralist in their L'Ecole Mexicaine offered to the reality of painting was presenting their social scenes in hyperreal size.Canvas and frames were too small a room to breathe.They chose walls.And at times if they lost walls due to differences with owners,like Rockefellers,they moved to larger scales and national dominions,as this was the case with Diego Rivera.

Rivera,born november 24 in Guanajuato,was the most celebrated of the three major mexican muralists.

He was larger than life in reality,and in his hyperreality,and became even larger with dramas of love and marriage with Frieda Khalo,the Reverent Dame of Mexican painting,dpicted in the movie:Frieda.

Diego Rivera first joined the group of School of Paris in Monparnasse.

On return to Mexico,Rivera rediscovered himself through the rich history of Mayans ,Aztecs and their ancient art,and selected the walls of buildings,inside and outside,to express his socio-populist views.

This search and performance pioneered a dynamic school of the art,in which Jose Clemente Orozco(1883-1949) and Sequeiros,among others contributed in doctrines and executions.Rufino Tamayo(1899-1991),and the Brazilian neo-realist artist Candido Portinari also contributed to this school .They  expanded the folk images and their hardship, through the world.Diego Rivera died 1957 and left his legacy in Mexico,Latin America.caribean Islands and the whole world of the art.

I have mentioned somewhere else that one of the biggest collection of Mexican Muralists I ever visited was in Tehran Museum of Fine arts/Musee Honarhaye Ziba.This was after revolution and at  that time I published two articles on the subject in our art and literary publications:Farhang Novin and Iran Honar,and tried to follow them laterin different countries  and continents,but never forgot the memories of that gorgeous exhibition of Tehran in 1358/1979.

I hope they are still there

.When Pablo Neruda was The Chilean Consul in Mexico 1940-1943,he started a close friendship with Rivera-Khalo,to write a poem for them .I also published a translation of this poem in my book:

Pablo Neruda's Love Poems,Tr.F.Soleimani and A Mohit,Yushij 1364/1985,pp 38-39,

under the title of :Dusk 2

(originally from:100 Love Poems LXXVI,pp 160-161)

See More:

www.mypabloneruda.blogspot.com/spanish/english

www.faramarzsoleimani.blogfa.com/farsi
a new translation of this poem will be published soon.