RIVERA AND KAHLO

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

One of the most famous artists of the early twentieth century, whose reputation has endured and continued to grow in the 21st century, is the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. She was married to the equally famous muralist Diego Rivera. Many people today admire her not just for her stunning and original works of art, but for her courage in the face of enormous physical, social and political challenges.

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920.

• Explain how Diego Rivera's political beliefs influenced his art.

• Identify elements of Rivera's fresco paintings.

• Describe the life and work of Frida Kahlo.

VOCABULARY

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Mexico was controlled by an elite group of wealthy people under the leadership of General Porfirio Diaz. The majority of the population lived in poverty, and the lower classes had little political power until a man named Francisco I. Madero led them in a series of strikes throughout the country.

During the lead-up to the Mexican election of 1910, Madero gained a large following, but General Diaz, who had no intention of relinquishing his power, had Madero arrested and thrown in prison. This flagrant abuse of power inspired a revolution. In the north of the country, the "Maderista" troops took up arms. In the south, a revolutionary named Emiliano Zapata led the peasants in an armed revolt. Within six months, General Diaz and his army were crushed. Madero went on to win the election and became President of Mexico.

However, the country continued to experience problems throughout the next decade. Madero was ineffective as a leader. He was overthrown by General Victoriano Huerta, who was hated by the revolutionaries. Zapata and the revolutionaries in the north under Pancho Villa and a man named Alvaro Obregon fought against him. Huerta was eventually ousted, but his successor, Venustantio Carranza, who claimed the presidency in 1914, was not much better.

In 1919, one of Carranza's generals tricked the revolutionary Zapata into meeting him by claiming he wanted to join Zapata's side. When Zapata showed up for the meeting, soldiers from the Mexican army shot him down. This brutal murder caused the country to turn against Carranza, who was killed trying to flee the country. The former revolutionary Obregon became the president, and finally the country settled down.

Today Zapata is still revered by many Mexicans. His fight for liberty and land reform inspired many Mexican artists and intellectuals, including the great painter Diego Rivera.

DIEGO RIVERA (1886-1957)

Diego Rivera was not only one of Mexico's most important painters; he was one of major artists of the twentieth century. In his early 20s, Rivera went to Europe where he studied the works of Goya, El Greco, Brueghal, Cézanne, and Picasso. He tried his hand at Cubism and his work was exhibited and praised in Europe, but ultimately he wanted to do more with his art. Rivera wanted his work to contribute to the lives of working people. The Renaissance frescoes in Italy were to be his real inspiration. 

Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921. At this time the Mexican government had begun sponsoring the painting of murals as public art: Rivera found his calling. The murals would not be isolated in museums or galleries but would be available for all to see. His work would empower the people by celebrating their lives and accomplishments and by depicting their history. "The themes for these paintings included social and national themes, and religious motifs."

Rivera painted murals for the National Palace in Mexico City, the Palace of Cortéz in Cuernavaca, the Ministry of Education at Mexico City, and in the National Agricultural School in Texcoco.

Rivera's work was influenced by indigenous Mexican art. His paintings can be characterized by the following:

• simple, bold designs

• large, accessible works in public places

• themes of social justice, history and technology

Look up "Indian Spinning" by Diego Rivera on the Internet to view an example.

Rivera married the artist Frida Kahlo in 1929. It was a tumultuous relationship, but their passions seemed to feed their art. Her image appears in many of his murals, and his image is embedded in some of her paintings.

Politically, Rivera was an active member of the Mexican Communist party. He believed that communism was the most just political system and would be the quickest route to helping the poor. His murals sometimes reflected his disgust with the disparity between the wealthiest citizens of the world and the poorest.

Rivera executed several works in the United States, including one for the Detroit Institute of Arts. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. commissioned a fresco for the new RCA building in Rockefeller Center, New York City. Rivera included a portrait of the communist leader Lenin in the mural, which upset the New York capitalists, and the mural was destroyed although Edsel Ford refused to do so.

Read the biography of Diego Rivera at the PBS.org website. Then study the panels of the Pan-American Unity and find Frida Kahlo's image in the lower center: Pan-American Unity mural. 

FRIDA KAHLO (1907-1954)

You already know that Frida Kahlo was the wife of Diego Rivera. Rivera considered her a magnificent painter. Diego Rivera said that through her paintings, Kahlo broke "all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality." As a child, Kahlo suffered from polio. She intended to go to medical school, but when she was a teenager, she was injured in a terrible bus accident. To relieve her boredom and to distract her from the pain as she recuperated, she turned to painting.

Kahlo self-portrait

Kahlo's most frequent subject was herself because, as she said, "I am the person I know best." "Kahlo's numerous self-portraits, often described as symbolist and surreal, reflect her physical and emotional pain; notable among these is The Two Fridas (1939), painted around the time of her breakup with Rivera." Mexican culture, as you can see in this painting, was a strong influence on Kahlo's work. She often portrayed herself in traditional costumes and used bright colors.

Go the PBS.org website for an in-depth examination of The Two Fridas. Be sure to run your cursor over the painting to read the analysis: The Two Fridas .

Kahlo and Rivera lived in the United States for four years. The following picture contrasts the industrialization of the United States with the ancient culture of Mexico. Do you recognize an image from one of your earlier lessons at the beginning of the course?

Self-Portrait at the Border between Mexico and the United States by Frida Kahlo

The Surrealists admired Kahlo's work and claimed that her paintings with their dreamlike imagery were surrealist.

Visit Frida Kahlo’s painting at the Museum of Modern Art's website.

Although Kahlo was famous during her lifetime for both her work and her life, she gained even greater prominence posthumously as feminists saw in her a model of original. 

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following subjects:

• How Mexican society in the early twentieth century was divided between a few wealthy and many poor people.

• Artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were concerned with the plight of poor Mexicans and expressed that concern through murals meant to uplift and empower the people, as well as through many self-portraits that symbolized personal pain but which can be interpreted as also symbolizing a larger, collective pain.

Complete the following quiz before moving on.