Diego Rivera – This Week’s Teaching Tip

Diego Rivera, one of the most talented and controversial artists of the 20th century, was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, on December 8, 1886. He is most well known for his murals depicting laborers and peasants. He wanted everyday working people to see his artwork so he painted murals on the walls of schools, churches and hotels.

When Diego was a young boy, he loved to draw. His father had to cover the walls in his room with canvas so he wouldn’t cover the walls with pictures. At the age of ten, Diego told his family that he wanted to be an artist. They enrolled him in a night class at the famous academy of San Carlos. There he was most influenced by classical European art and Mexican folk art. Diego learned about Mexican art from Jose Posada, a local shop owner. He often watched Posada make his drawings and prints.

Beginning in 1911, Diego spent several years studying and working in Spain and Paris. The work of Pablo Picasso caught his eye and he began to try his hand at the cubism style of painting that Picasso was famous for. Diego produced over 200 works of cubism art, but he came to realize that Picasso’s style of work was for the wealthy. He wanted to paint pictures that average workers could enjoy. He decided to paint what he knew and that was Mexico.

Diego returned to Mexico in 1921 and began perfecting his mural techniques. He painted frescos like the ones he had seen on the walls of churches in Italy years earlier. A fresco is a painting that is done on wet plaster. When dry, the painting will last for a very long time. Diego always painted what he thought was important. Sometimes people didn’t like the subject of his paintings. One of his murals that he painted in the United States was destroyed before he ever finished it because it contained a picture of an unpopular Russian revolutionary leader.

Diego Rivera will long be remembered for his beautiful murals and especially for art that could be enjoyed by all people, whether they are rich or poor.

Art Exercises to Try at Home:

1. Lay a long piece of butcher-block paper on your kitchen floor. Using paints or crayons, create a mural that tells a story. You could show a scene from your favorite vacation. Tape the butcher-block paper on a wall in your home. The scene can be changed throughout the year to reflect different scenes for different seasons.

2. Diego Rivera loved to paint everyday people doing everyday things. Paint a picture of an everyday event in your home. An example would be to show your mother or father preparing dinner for the family.

3. Diego Rivera was famous for his portraitures of famous Americans such as J.P. Morgan or John D. Rockefeller. Using a photograph of a member of your family draw a funny caricature of them. Take one of their features, such as their nose or hair and exaggerate what it looks like.

4. Diego made realistic pictures by using the proper perspective or placement of figures on the paper. You can practice this by drawing a picture on a sheet of paper. Try to draw smaller objects near the top of the paper. You will need two sheets of tracing paper for the middle ground and the foreground. One the first sheet of tracing paper, draw pictures in the center of the paper. They should be medium sized objects. Now you will draw on the second sheet of tracing paper. You will be creating the foreground. Draw large objects near the bottom of the paper. Now tape the two pieces of tracing paper to the regular paper. You should see a background, middle ground and foreground on you finished picture. The items on the bottom of the paper should appear closer and the objects at the top of the paper should appear further away.

5. Diego is famous for capturing glimpses of the history of his home country of Mexico. Draw a picture of something that is happening in your hometown. Ask your mom or dad to help you come up with ideas.

Books about Diego Rivera:

Diego Rivera by Mike Venezia. March 1995. Scholastic Library Publishing. This book is a good source of biographical information about Diego Rivera. The book includes full-color reproductions of Diego’s paintings.

Diego Rivera: Artist and Muralist by Megan Schoeneberger. January 2006. Coughlan Publishing. Diego Rivera was the most famous Mexican artist of the twentieth century. He is well known for his large-scale murals of Mexican workers. This book includes a time line of his life, a glossary, and information on how to access Internet sites.