Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros
by Desmond Rochfort
from Chronicle Books
In Mexico in the early 1920s, a growing, collective social consciousness gave rise to a revolutionary furor focused on liberating the country's workers from harsh conditions and poverty. In 1921, Mexican artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros were all commissioned by the government to create educational paintings on the walls of public buildings. After that initial experience, they devoted themselves almost exclusively to painting these large-scale murals--forming the foundation of a movement that would last 50 years. The muralists' work took up the themes of society and revolution. Often the paintings depicted historical vignettes like the story of Cuernavaca and Morelos crossing the barranca, or Mexico's ancient Indians. They satirized contemporary society, created ideal visions of peaceful families, and built up dark, imposing industrial cityscapes then leveled them by depicting the debauchery and death of the capitalist industrialists.
The paintings themselves reflect diverse artistic influences--surrealism, cubism, and illustration, most notable among them. Their bold colors and strong imagery practically bound out of the 150 color plates in this book. Mexican muralist and scholar Desmond Rochfort lucidly traces the development of the movement to place the work in context and provides a solid history of each of the artists' social and artistic influences. This is an excellent overview of work that should appeal both to fans of the individual artists and Mexican art in general. --Jordana Moskowitz
Los tres grandes: Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Now legendary, these men have emerged as the most prominent figures of the famed Mexican mural movement, which lasted from the '20s through the early '70s and was hailed as the most significant achievement in public art of the 20th century. The dramatic story of the movement is told here in a fascinating history of the artists, accompanied by over 100 spectacular color reproductions of the murals. Showcasing popular as well as lesser-known works from around the US and Mexico, this is the first high-quality paperback to do justice to a subject that will captivate every lover of Mexican art and culture, Rivera fan, and art historian, as well as anyone who appreciates a beautiful, intelligent art book.
Mexican Mural Paintings by Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros: 24 Cards (Card Books)
from Dover Publications
Siqueiros: His Life and Works
Iconografia de David Alfaro Siqueiros
Palabras de Siqueiros
by David Alfaro Siqueiros
from Fondo de Cultura Economica
David Alfaro Siqueiros Mural Painting
Mural gambits: Mexican muralism in the United States and the "portable" fresco.: An article from: The Art Bulletin
This digital document is an article from The Art Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2007. The length of the article is 16899 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Mural gambits: Mexican muralism in the United States and the "portable" fresco.
Author: Anna Indych-Lopez
Publication: The Art Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 89 Issue: 2 Page: 287(19)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Art and Revolution: The Work and Techniques of David Siqueiros
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