Artist Diego Rivera: biography, creativity, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Mexican artist Diego Rivera, whose biography is full of conflicting events and facts, is one of the most scandalous and prominent cultural figures in Mexico. His work, political views and personal life were in the spotlight throughout the first half of the twentieth century and are still being discussed.

Childhood and youth of the artist

This artist muralist, revolutionary and destroyer of women's hearts, was born December 8, 1886 in the Mexican town of Guanajuato. He was to become the founder of the Mexican school of national painting and lead critics into a frenzy with a mixture of styles. The boy was not in excellent he alth, it was rumored that he barely survived as a child. Diego Rivera was a fan of telling tall tales, but it is known for certain that in 1893 his family moved to the country's capital, Mexico City. After 5 years, having successfully graduated from school, the young artist entered the San Carlos Academy of Arts. This institution gave the young man such an excellent education that upon completion he was able to receive a scholarship. Seizing the opportunity, he went on a trip to Spain. He then visited England, Belgium, Holland and Italy.

The personal life of the "cannibal"

For passionate love forwomen and countless connections Diego Rivera was nicknamed "cannibal". He himself liked to portray himself as a fat frog clutching someone's heart in his paw. Natural fullness and heavy eyelids made the resemblance even outwardly noticeable. Describing the personal life of the rebel artist, they usually talk about his marriage to Frida Carlo. But she was not the first, and even more so the only woman in the life of the creator. The young Diego Rivera entered into his first marriage out of passionate love for the Russian artist Angelina Belova in 1911. They had a son. But the husband, possessed by endless passions and betrayals, left Angelina, going to Mexico. The second short marriage ended with Lupe Marin. The union was fruitful and gave the world two daughters.

Wife and girlfriend

By 1929, when the second marriage had already broken up, he met the main woman of his life - Frida Carlo. Diego Rivera married a girl much younger than him. In 1939 there was a divorce, but already in 1940 they were married again. Throughout his life, Rivera remained macho and a passionate lover of women. He cheated on wives with mistresses who bore him illegitimate children.

The relationship between Diego and Frida was full of passion, love, jealousy and sometimes assault. Frida treated her husband's antics with great patience, idolized her idol, painted a lot of his portraits. But when he cheated on Frida with her sister, she could no longer forgive, and by 1939 the relationship broke up. Very soon, the husband, himself insultingly demanding a divorce, begged his wife to return to him on any terms. Heprovided her with financial support and gave in to her prime demand. The condition for remarriage was the signing of a marriage contract providing for the complete renunciation of intimate relations between the spouses. In his personal life, the triangle of Diego Rivera, wife and mistresses remained.

This couple had no children, Frida's 2 pregnancies ended in miscarriages. In 1954, Rivera became a widower, and later there were suggestions that he helped his wife die, but these are nothing more than rumors. Until the last days, the spouses were united by communist ideas and communication with prominent Russian political figures.

Artist in politics

Since the beginning of the 30s, Diego Rivera has become the undisputed leader among Mexican muralists. He is certainly one of the most famous and controversial artists, whose political sympathies for communism, compelling monumental frescoes, exuberant creative activity and social life created the appearance of a genius. The founding father of a new direction in the art of the twentieth century increasingly attracted the attention of the world community.

The muralist's debut in America will take place in 1930 in the city of San Francisco, and already in December 1931, his personal exhibition will be held with amazing excitement. In the entire history of the museum, this was the second exposition of the same author. Henri Matisse was the first to receive such an honor. After the exhibition is over, the artist goes to Detroit, where he was personally invited by Edsel Ford. Here, in the very center of American industrial thought, the artist Diego Riverareceives a commission to complete a mural for the Art Institute on the theme "Detroit Industry". Henry Ford had a reputation as a staunch anti-Communist. Between 1929 and 1930, several thousand strikers were left unemployed at Ford's factories. It is curious that, despite this, Diego Rivera, who positioned himself as a fighter for the rights of the proletarian, accepts an order and payment from an industrial magnate.

Part of the fresco with the plot composition "Vaccination" seemed to be a reference to the iconography of the Nativity of Christ, which provoked a storm of indignation and protest in the press and church circles against the mural. Loud resonance in society became an integral part of the mural, and then brought great fame to Detroit.

Man at the crossroads

The artist's political views were reflected in his work and sometimes caused violent conflicts with customers. The mural "Man at the crossroads, looking with hope to choose a new and better future" was the reason for one of these cases. Work on it began in March 1933. The debate happened already at the stage of choosing a palette, and as a result, the mural became colored at the insistence of the author. It consisted of three parts. In the center is a man - the master of the elements. As the work progressed, the fresco became more and more complex and, as a result, represented two worlds opposed to each other. On the one hand, the charms of socialism, and on the other, the horrors of capitalism. Among the characters even appears someone very similar to Lenin. The mural was to be presented to the public at the opening of the Rockefeller Center building 1May 1933. But the growing scandal prevented this from happening, and despite the fact that the Rockefeller family considered the option of keeping the mural outside the building, it was decided to destroy it. It was Rivera's biggest artistic and political defeat.

Influence on world art

"Diego makes me anxious. He refused fame, preferring to do what he is doing now,”Alfonso Reyes spoke of his close friend. The transition to cubism is significant for Diego Rivera. The paintings "Adoration of the Mother of God" and "Girl with Fruit" reflect the author's movement in this direction. A feature of recent works was a deformed understanding of space, although far from cubism. In all his works, the artist focused on the movement and richness of the landscape.

A significant influence on the formation of Diego Rivera had classical European styles in painting. It was the wall paintings of the period of the XIV - XVI centuries that gave a lot of food for thought and contributed to the success of Diego's frescoes. Starting in the 1940s, he achieved considerable success in fresco painting, thanks to which he was invited to work at the World Exhibition in San Francisco, and later attracted by the government to mural the National Palace in Mexico City.

The end of the journey

Diego Rivera died November 24, 1957 in Mexico City and was buried in the Rotunda of famous artists. He was inconsistent in everything. He readily carried out the orders of the capitalists, glorifying socialism, adhering tocommunist views. He loved women, but destroyed their destinies and lives with the same passion with which he painted their portraits. Diego Rivera, whose style neither before nor after, could be repeated by any of the painters, left behind so many secrets and mysteries that several centuries would not be enough to unravel them.

Departing from life at the age of 70, he little survived his beloved wife Frida and left an invaluable legacy in culture, history, politics and the hearts of those who loved him.