Art History
Mexican Muralists

Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera

Jose Clemente Orozco

Orozco born in November 23th 1883 in Ciudad Guzmn Jalisco. His art interest start when he and his family moved to Mexico City in 1890, Orozcos art was influenced by Jose Guadalupe Parada, a printmaker who made caricatures and images about political scandals and crimes for newspapers.

Orozco firts study draw in National Academy of San Carlos, but his parents wanted that he studied agronomy and architecture. He was studying architecture, but when he had 17 years old, in a laboratory accident he lost his hand and stop studying erchitecture and start studying art again in the Academy of San Carlos in 1905, he studying painting.

In that time he met Gerardo Murillo, who encourage artists to make their art work less European and more Mexican, so that Orozco start drawing about daily Mexican Life, in his series of paintings called "House of Tears" he painted tha lives of prostitutes.

He support Venustiano Carranza during civil war (1914) by making satirical art in "La Vanguardia" newspaper.

The critics and moralists were not happy with his "House of Tears" painting series, so he had to leave Mexico, and he went to United States and he live in San Franciso and New York, but he back to Mexico in 1920, when Alvaro Obregon was president and he support Orozcos work too.

Orozco painted murals in National Preparatory School in Mexico City, he had to back United States in 1927 again, because the government no longer supported his work and critics, moralists and conservatives started attacking his work again, while he was in United States, he try too gain an international reputation and make Mexicans appreciate his artistic skills.

He peinted murals in two cities of United States, in Claremont, California and New York City.

In 1932 he went to Europe (particulary England, France, Spain and Italy). Later his art work was influenced by Byzantine mosaics. He back to Mexico again in 1934, and in his last murals he painted the Mexican Nationalism; finally he died September 7th. in Mexico City.

Some of his art work:
American Civilization - The Gods of the Modern World - Baker Library, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
Prometheus - Pomona College, Claremont, Calif.
Zapata - The Art Institute of Chicago

Promotheus

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American Civilization

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Zapata

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Diego Rivera

Rivera born in December 8th. 1886 in Guanajuato. He start with art studies at 10m years old in National Academy of San Carlos, and in 1907 he went to Europe to continue studying art, in Spain. He wento to Paris in 1909, and he met Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. His first art style was cubism; after he changed his style for post-impressionism, influenced by Paul Czanne. In 1921 he back to Mexico, now his art was influenced by Mexican Revolution, and his first mural was called "Creation", in Bolivar Auditorium, National Preparatory School in Mexico City.

He start painting in Ministry of Education building in Mexico City in 1923. In these murals he painted three subjects: Mexican agriculture, industry and culture. He was in the United States from 1930 to 1934, and he painted murals in San Francisco, Detroit and New York City. The mural that was in Rockefeller Center in New York was destroyed, because Lenin was in the painting; but he painted a mural same again in Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City. He die in November 25th. 1975 in Mexico City.

David Alfaro Siqueiros

He born in December 29th. 1896 in Chihuahua, he support Marxism ideology, his first study were in National Academy of San Carlos. In 1913 he fought in the Mexican Revolution in the army of Venustiano Carranza. He continued his studies in Europe and he back to Mexico in 1922.

He painted murals in National Preparatory School in Mexico City, and he start to organize unions of artists and laborers, the result was that he was put in jail and exiled several times; during his exiles he go to United States, Soviet Union, and other Latin American countries.
More of Siqueiros murals are on government buildings in Mexico City. In his murals, Siqueiros painted social, industrial and political changes. Siqueiros was a left-winger political. He died in January 6th, 1974 in Cuernavaca.

Some of his murals are:
"La Nueva Democracia"
"Accident in the Mines"
"Cain in the United States"
"Collective Suicide"

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"La nueva democracia"

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