Master Artist Paper:Diego Rivera

Sarah Place

Studio in Painting 8

January 2, 2008

Master Artist: Diego Rivera

Diego River was born and grew up in 1886 in Guanajuanto, Mexico.

Guanajuanto is the capital of the Mexican state of Guanajuanto. It is interesting to know the most of the passageways in the city are widely used by only pedestrians because modern traffic uses huge stone tunnels underground and by the river instead of throughout the city itself. As a historical, picturesque and agreeably visually stimulating city it is no wonder Diego River grow up there. However he did not live not live there for long because when he was in his twenties in 1907 he moved to Europe where he studied painting. Throughout the years of his European life he spent much of it in Paris. In Paris he was able to see many pieces from famous artists such as Paul Cezanne, who seemed to like still life and more specifically fruit, and Auguste Renoir known for his painting called “Luncheon of the Boating Party.” What Rivera was trying to do was find a new form of painting, and guess what? He did! He realized what his type of medium was when he began to study the Renaissance frescoes of Italy. A fresco is “the art or technique of painting on a moist, plaster surface with colors ground up in water or a limewater mixture”, “with a sense of “painting on fresh mortar or plaster”” or what have you. Rivera really believed in making art that could be viewed and appreciated by the public so he became well known for painting murals. I suppose that is also another way to describe what a fresco is. “A mural painting done on fresh plaster” At this time Diego returned to Mexico. He began to paint his murals in universities and in other public buildings. This was his way of getting his art out into the public and the everyday lives of the people. He enjoyed making frescoes that had a lot to do with big parts of Mexican history, everyday Mexican life, and the “future of humanity.” Because of the size of frescoes he felt that he could really get the “grand themes of the history” perfectly.

However, by being a human being he had a life outside of painting. Diego in his lifetime had had 4 wives; and it seemed as though he couldn't live without one. Because of his, what seemed to be like a fear or addiction, he rushed into marriages which resulted in, many times, divorce. Of all his wives the most well known was Frida Kahlo, who was coincidentally another artist. Their history together resulted in a stormy, yet very famous, relationship. When they married Diego was forty two years old and Frida was twenty two. Although they had a twenty year age difference that is not was makes their relationship so famous. They were known for having many love affairs while married. At first it was only Diego having the affairs being the woman obsessed man that he was, and Frida was said to be able to turn her head the other way and not think anything of it. That was until Frida began to have love affairs of her own, with both men and women. Her most well known affair was with Leon Trotsky, a Marxists and a firm believer of permanent revolution. Sometime after this affair and after 10 years of marriage the two artists filed for divorce in 1939; only to find out that they would be getting remarried the following year. They were then married for another 14 years until her death.