Diego Rivera

1886-1957

Mexican Artist

Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. At the age of 20, he set forth for Europe, settled in Paris where he met Modigliani, Mondrian and Picasso. He practiced cubism, of which he produced a version of his own causing a frenzy of criticism and dispute. He then turned to figurative painting and discovered the works of Cezanne while Ingres and Renoir also influenced his approach to portraits. In 1921, he returned home and, encouraged by the political and social turn of events in Mexico, he was drawn by the vast popular education program for which he, through commissions for his murals, was to become the prime instrument of propagation. He was one of the leaders of the mural movement, which sought to depict Mexican legends and history in monumental decorations for government buildings. An active member, along with his wife Frida Kahlo, of the Communist Party, Rivera was especially interested in the common folk. In the late 1930s, he focused his art on the landscape and people he saw around him.