Wednesday, March 26, 2014

About A Mexican Painter And His Inspiration

By Darren Hartley


Diego Rivera paintings are large wall works in fresco. They help established the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Diego Rivera was a world-famous Mexican painter, an active communist and a husband to Frida Kahlo.

Diego Rivera paintings initially embraced cubism. They shifted towards Post-Impressionism with simple forms and large patches of vivid colors, inspired by the paintings of Paul Cezanne. They began to attract attention and displayed at several exhibitions.

Creation was the first significant mural among the Diego Rivera paintings. It was done in 1922 and painted in encaustic in an experimental manner. The following Diego Rivera murals were done only in fresco. They dealt with Mexican society while reflecting the 1910 Mexican revolution.

On the basis of large, simplified figures and colors, the Diego Rivera paintings reflected a native style development. This started in September, 1922. There was a sprinkle of Aztec influence noted in these paintings as well.

In The Arsenal, a mural by Diego, is a perfect example of how Diego Rivera paintings tell stories. The mural shows Tina Modotti with an ammunition belt on hand, faced to faced with Julio Antonio Mella, in a light hat. Behind Modotti was Vittorio Vidale, in a black hat. Based on this painting, viewers believed that Diego had knowledge of Vidale's plan to murder Mella.

Consisting of a series of 27 fresco panels were the Diego Rivera paintings between 1932 and 1933.This series was entitled Detroit Industry. Also completed in 1933 was a mural containing a portrait of Vladimir Lenin entitled Man at the Crossroads. This particular mural was repainted in 1934 and subsequently entitled Man, Controller of the Universe.

Forming the bridge between 19th century Impressionism and early 20th century Cubism were the Cezanne paintings. They laid the foundations for the transition from the creation of artistic endeavour in the 19th century to a new and glaringly different art work in the 20th century.

A French artist and Post-Impressionist painter, Paul Cezanne was also known as the Father of Modern Art. This title was given to Paul after his Cezanne paintings featured repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes, demonstrating design, color, composition and draftsmanship mastery. These brushstrokes proved to be highly characteristic of and clearly attributable only to Paul Cezanne.

Building up to the formation of complex fields are the planes of color and small brushstrokes presented in Cezanne paintings. The sensations of the observing eye as well as the abstractions from observed nature are directly expressed in these paintings. Other than conveying Paul's intense study of his subjects, they also show Paul's searching gaze and his struggle in dealing with the intricacies of human visual perception.

The ideal mixture of naturalistic representation, personal expression and abstract pictorial order is what Cezanne paintings aim at. Because early Cezanne paintings were done in dark tones supplemented by heavy and fluid pigments, they subsequently implied the moody and romantic expressionism imbued by previous generations of painters.

It was a commitment to contemporary life representations that Cezanne paintings eventually developed into. They became Paul's own observation of the world. They were no longer concerned with either thematic idealization or stylistic affection.




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