MEXICO: Rivera exhibition honours the acclaimed Mexican muralist

The Mexican capital is set to honour the muralist Diego Rivera, to commemorate 50 years since his death. The new exhibition comes after Mexico hosted the largest ever exhibition of Frida Kahlo's works to mark the 100 year anniversary of her birth. A 1954 painting titled: "Glorious Victory," about the U.S. intervention in Guatemala, which was allegedly lost for five decades, will be unveiled at the exhibition called: "Diego Rivera: A Mural Epic." About 170 pieces will go on display, including 23 transportable murals as well as mural outlines, drawings and sketches during a two-month show starting on Friday (September 28) in eight halls at the Museo de Bellas Artes museum. Diego Rivera who was born in 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico and died in 1957 is one of Mexico's most acclaimed muralists. He established the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with fellow countrymen David Alfaro Siquieros and Jose Clemente Orozco. Rivera's art is considered by some critics as more romantic than his counterparts. The artist studied in Europe and painted in the U.S. and Mexico. He was twice married to Frida Kahlo, who was 20 years younger than him. Rivera's relationship with Kahlo was tumultuous due to the muralists' alleged countless infidelities. Kahlo died in July 1954 after suffering a bout of pneumonia. Rivera's political radicalism and activism influenced his art. He was a communist sympathizer. When his boss discovered that he had painted a portrait of Lenin at the Rockefeller Centre, Nelson Rockefeller demanded that he erase the image. Rivera refused and his mural was destroyed after he was fired. He painted several murals in various public and government buildings, including the National Palace, illustrating Mexico's history from the Spanish conquest, Mexico's independence to the revolution. "In Diego Rivera's mural painting he imprints with his creative and subjective force and organizes and synthesizes the facts that he reflects. The European religious art, the pre-hispanic and the rule of the viceroy had already explored the efficiency of the image as a powerful way to transmit messages, capable of carrying out functions - both of registry and documented - of facts in the same way as a doctrinal letter," said the Director of (IMBA) Bellas Artes Institute, Teresa Franco Gonzalez. Mexican President Felipe Calderon inaugurated the exhibition, which is scheduled to run until December 16.

ITN Source | October 8, 2007

Tags:. .decades. .sketches. .scheduled. .refused. .letter