Diego Rivera Research Paper

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Known as the prominent Mexican artist of the 20th century, Diego Rivera had a deep influence on the art world (Nordholm 1-3). Mexico had spent three centuries under European rule (the Spanish, and then the French) (Nordholm 1-3). For that reason, European culture set the standard for accomplishments in the arts. By painting national history, Rivera stated something that had been lost, neglected and rejected in the hundreds of years of foreign rule - a Mexican individuality. Indeed, the artist gave form to Mexico’s past, rejoicing in the nation‘s complicated combination of history, cultures, and heroes (Nordholm 1-3). By doing this Rivera not merely created an individual character for Mexico, but for himself. Rivera was born on December 8,…show more content…
In the beginning Rivera’s works were affected by Cubism. However, in a few years his style changed. Motivated by the works of Paul Cezanne Rivera started creating Post-Impressionist masterpieces using simple forms and bright colors (Pbs.org). Rivera was looking for a fresh form of painting, one that could reflect the issues of the era and still attract ordinary people, and it was not till he started to study the Italian Renaissance frescoes that he discovered his niche (Pbs.org). For an artist who would soon become the artistic voice of Mexico, with his heroic murals of workers and Indians, as well as radical political views, his work during the European period reveals artist efforts to find own artistic voice, creating images with no political import and lacking an individual artistic style (Nordholm 1-3). However, his endeavor to discover his own artistic style and his work in Europe proved to be defining one on his way to creating own…show more content…
Throughout his lifetime, he actively tried to describe Mexican culture and his life through art. Rivera created a visual individuality for Mexican culture by nurturing a mythology for the nation, which became synonymous with his own life (Nordholm 1-3). He cherished a sense of Mexican pride by looking to the nation’s pre-Columbian heritage, the indigenous population and working classes for inspiration (Nordholm 1-3). In this way he turned ordinary people into contemporary heroes. Although he included old pre-Columbian visuals into his work, Rivera established new cultural individuality for contemporary Mexico (Nordholm 1-3). The messages and ideas Rivera represented in his murals still resonate these days, more than dive decades after his demise, when in 1957, at the age of 70, Rivera passed away in Mexico City
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