Mexican Muralism

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) was a civil war that lasted a decade. Charismatic leaders like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata transformed Mexican culture and government. But in the 1920’s, after the overthrow of the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship, the Mexican government had a difficult challenge of transforming a divided Mexico into a united nation. They needed to create an official history of Mexico in which its citizens could see themselves, and they needed to tell this history to a largely poor and illiterate population. Enter Mexican muralism.

In the 1920s, the Mexican Government paid for artists to paint great public murals about Mexican history, mainly in Mexico City and surrounding areas. Three artists emerged as the most famous and became known as los tres grandes (“the three greats”): José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949), Diego Rivera (1886–1957), and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896–1974).  Their murals expressed the cultural values of Mexico. The artists explored the theme of mestizaje (celebration of Mexico’s mixed-race heritage), and recognized the importance of indigenous people.

One example of the Mexican mural movement is Diego Rivera’s The History of Mexico, painted in the stairway of the National Palace. He started in August 1929 and it took six years to complete. The mural consists of three sections: Ancient Mexico, the colonial past to the present, and the future. The North wall depicts ancient Aztec culture. The West wall summarizes the history of Mexico as a series of rebellions (against the Spanish, French, and various dictators, especially Porfirio Diaz and Hernán Cortés.) And the imaginary future of Mexico shows factories, workers, and an image of Rivera's wife Frida Kahlo. 

Mexican Muralism provides a chance to talk about where art and politics meet. Can political art cross the line and become propaganda? What is the value of public art to society and how is it different from small, private works of art that are made for museums?

Adapted from Sources: 

https://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/mexican-muralism/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Mexico_(mural)