La Creación
Artist: Diego Rivera
Location: National Preparatory School, Mexico City, Mexico
Date: 1922-23
After the massive upheaval of the Mexican Revolution, the administration of President Obregón sought to unify the disparate populations of Mexico. José Vasconcelos, the Secretary of Public Education, was the head of the project to create a national Mexican identity. For this mission, he turned to the arts, commissioning Los Tres Grandes to paint murals that would reinforce a national identity. Rivera was commissioned to complete this work in the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso. In Creation, Rivera depicts the emergence of the mestizo, who is painted in the center under a ray of primal energy. Floating around him, Rivera painted allegorical figures such as Prudence, Strength, and Science. Meanwhile, the lower register is occupied by allegorical figures of man and woman, recalling Adam and Eve and representing the mixing of blood that ultimately led to the mestizo, which Rivera has depicted as a “cosmic race.”
Rivera’s interpretation of mestizaje would evolve over time, culminating in an indigenista* representation of Mexico’s national identity. However, this work is based on Vasconcelos’ theory of mestizaje as a tool for redeeming and uplifting the Indigenous peoples of Mexico. Creation adopts this eugenicist theory, displaying the mestizo as a Christ-like figure born from his mixed ancestry. Meanwhile, Indigenous people and their cultures are firmly placed in the past, with their contemporary contribution reduced to the cultural roots of what Vasconcelos envisioned as the modern Mexican.
*indigenismo is an ideology that emphasizes the relationship between the modern state and the indigenous past as well as contemporary indigenous communities.