Finally, a definitive fresco-spective catalogue
The German publisher Taschen is known for its lavish art books, and they have truly outdone themselves with Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals. This book was originally published in 2008, but I am reviewing the 2019 edition, and I’m not sure what if any changes were made between editions. Buying a used copy of the out-of-print first edition would cost you hundreds of dollars, but this re-release is surprisingly affordable for its mammoth size (roughly 10 x 15 inches and 10 pounds), especially when Amazon is selling it at under half of Taschen’s list price.
Prior to this book, the most comprehensive guide to Rivera’s murals was Diego Rivera: A Retrospective by Linda Bank Downs, et al., an excellent book that covers all aspects of Rivera’s life and career, including an admirably extensive 98-page section on his murals. While that earlier book includes explanatory numbered diagrams of multi-panel mural schemes, The Complete Murals expands upon that strategy to a much higher level of detail by accompanying such diagrams with close-up shots of almost every panel, as well as many preparatory drawings. While a few of Rivera’s murals have been featured in in-depth, heavily illustrated studies of their own, such as Downs’s Diego Rivera: The Detroit Industry Murals, The Complete Murals is the most comprehensive compendium of images and information on Rivera’s entire career as a muralist.
I’ve seen about half of Rivera’s murals in person and can attest that they have never looked better in print than they do here. The abundance of close-up details amounts to such extensive coverage that it is sure to render obsolete the photo albums of even the most obsessive of Mexico City vacationers. The clarity and color accuracy of the images is better than what you can view on the internet, and the size of the reproductions, some of which fold out to a four-page spread, may even be larger than your computer monitor. The selection of images goes beyond the frequently photographed masterpieces to include lesser-known murals that have not seen much coverage in previous books, such as Glorious Victory, Rivera’s critical commentary on U.S. intervention in Guatemala.
In addition to all its beautiful photographs, this book is also a well-researched scholarly monograph, complete with extensive notes and bibliography. The text by authors Luis-Martín Lozano and Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera is very detailed and informative (though the fact that it is set in 5-point type is unforgivably inconsiderate to the reader). Their pet topic is Rivera’s use of Masonic and Rosicrucian symbolism, a thesis that they push farther than most Rivera fans will care, but they also provide much valuable background information on the creation of Rivera’s murals. In particular, one learns a great deal about Rivera’s tempestuous relationship with the Communist party and how his murals reflect his evolving political views. Following the murals there is a brief chapter on Rivera’s easel painting, which is a subject better covered in other books, but here provides an opportunity for more beautiful illustrations. The book closes with a detailed chronology of Rivera’s life accompanied by thumbnail images of many obscure works in various media.
This book is a must-have for any lover of Mexican murals and Diego Rivera’s art, and for what you’re getting the price is more than reasonable. As far as coffee-table books go, Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals and Downs’s aforementioned Diego Rivera: A Retrospective are the two books essential to getting an authoritative visual overview of Rivera’s multifaceted career.
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The definitive history of the Mexican mural renaissance
This 1993 book by British scholar and artist Desmond Rochfort is perhaps the most authoritative work covering the “big three” artists of the Mexican mural movement: José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The book functions as both a scholarly monograph on the subject and as a coffee table book, combining an in-depth examination of the murals of these three artists with over 150 beautifully reproduced photographs.
Rochfort begins with an overview of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, outlining the historical and political context out of which the Mexican mural movement arose. He then goes on to describe how the mural renaissance in Mexico grew out of the influence of three important people: inspirational precursor José Guadalupe Posada, artist and educator Gerardo Murillo (a.k.a. Dr. Atl), and educational administrator José Vasconcelos. From this starting point, Rochfort interweaves the stories of Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, following their lives and careers from the Revolution until their deaths. He explains the evolution of each individual artist, how they influenced and competed with one another, and how they jointly created a uniquely Mexican form of artistic expression that examined national identity and advocated social and political reform. Rochfort does not cover every mural that each of these artists produced, but he does cover the lion’s share of each, not only the best-known examples but also some more obscure selections as well. The focus of the book is strictly limited to the “big three.” Other Mexican muralists are barely mentioned, and none of their works are pictured.
The text is insightful and informative throughout, though it is definitely penned by a Ph.D. and not intended as an introduction for the general reader. Some prior knowledge of Mexican art and history is required to fully understand the points Rochfort is making, but his prose is clear and precise, and he never diverges into esoteric art theory. The book is lavishly illustrated with stunning photographs, and Rochfort does a great job of discussing the images without insulting the reader’s intelligence by pointlessly describing what’s right there on the printed page. It’s impossible to show every inch of each mural discussed, but the detail shots are well chosen. A couple dozen of the photos are in black and white. Many of these are period photos, but even some of the big mural shots are printed in black and white, for no apparent reason other than to save money on printing. Were the book published today, rather than two decades ago, most likely such images would all be printed in color. At least one photo—Orozco’s mural at the National Teachers’ School—is flipped horizontally. Also, the design of the book results in some of the smaller photos being so small as to hinder their usefulness.
Despite these nitpicking complaints, the book is a stunning achievement. For each of the three artists examined here, one could find a more comprehensive text covering their individual work—Diego Rivera: A Retrospective, published by the Detroit Institute of Arts, for example, comes to mind. However, for an overview of the mural movement as a whole and its historical, cultural, and social context, Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros is the best book I’ve ever seen. Even though the challenging text may be intimidating for some, any fan of Mexican art should own this book for the pictures alone.
Diego Rivera, El hombre controlador del universo, 1934, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
David Alfaro Siqueiros, Nueva Democracía, 1945, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
José Clemente Orozco, Katharsis, 1935, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
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A must-have for Rivera admirers
This book is the most comprehensive examination of Diego Rivera’s art that I have ever seen. It truly is a retrospective, covering all aspects of his career. The book has been compiled and designed to be the perfect synthesis of coffee-table portfolio and scholarly study in which the text and images unite to create a fitting tribute worthy of this master artist. The book contains over 400 images of Diego Rivera’s art, most of which are reproduced in color. The text begins with a detailed chronology of Rivera’s life and career, illustrated with over 250 images. This is followed by ten essays by various authors, all generously illustrated, on diverse subjects such as the political and historical dimensions of Rivera’s work, the influence of cubism and pre-Columbian art on his work, Rivera’s influence on American art of the 1950s, and specific categories of his oeuvre such as murals, portraits, self-portraits and drawings. In all cases the authors provide valuable context and insight into Rivera’s work, in prose that is neither overloaded with inaccessible theory nor dumbed down for the general reader. The book ends with the 98-page “Mural Census,” an invaluable resource which provides detail on the history and content of every mural Rivera ever painted, including the obscure and nonextant. This section not only provides photographs, but also detailed, enumerated diagrams that explain the architectural layout of the buildings in which the murals were housed and the historic personages and Pre-Columbian subject matter depicted within them. Last but not least, there’s an extensive bibliography on Rivera as well.
This is the ultimate one-volume reference on Rivera. No true fan of his art should be without it.
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Fiction is stranger than truth
Diego Rivera was one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. His life was a thrilling adventure in art, politics, and history. Yet in his autobiography My Art, My Life, co-written with American journalist Gladys March, Rivera still felt the need to embellish his life story with a truckload of tall tales and fabrications. When he was six years old, for example, he gave an impromptu atheistic sermon at his local church that was so impressive he was immediately granted an honorary induction into a society of liberal intelligentsia. Ridiculous, yes; and that’s only the beginning. Throughout the book, Rivera constantly makes himself out to be a macho, revolutionary tough guy. (He could have killed Porfirio Diaz and Adolf Hitler, if only someone else hadn’t stopped him.) Yet whenever anyone criticizes the deliberately provocative and controversial imagery in his paintings, he suddenly adopts the attitude of a disingenuous schoolboy: “Who, me? I never meant to offend anyone.”
Gladys March does well to preserve Rivera’s fictions; it is not her job to censor him. She does not get off scot-free, however. Not only does she take Rivera’s stories and translate them from Spanish to English, she also takes the words of an intellectual visionary and translates them into the language of an eighth-grader. The short, choppy sentences and elementary vocabulary make for uncomfortable and occasionally tiresome reading. There are factual errors, as well, which could be attributed to March rather than Rivera. The artist and educator Gerardo Murillo, who called himself Dr. Atl, is here referred to throughout as Murillo Atl, as if that were his given name. At one point Rivera talks about painting a 40 x 65 foot mural at the Ministry of Education. There is no forty-foot-tall Rivera mural in that building, so he must have been talking about some other building, perhaps the National Palace? Later, while Rivera discusses the “painting” of his mural at the Teatro de los Insurgentes, never once is it mentioned that the finished mural is not a painting but, in fact, a mosaic. These are a few examples of confusing discrepancies of fact which distract from the already distracting self-mythologizing of Rivera.
Despite these shortcomings, the true value of this book becomes evident when Rivera discusses the creation of his art, his growth as an artist, and the development of his artistic philosophy. On these subjects he is frank and forthright. Because of my admiration for Rivera as an artist and my fascination with Mexican culture and history, it’s almost impossible for me not to like a book on this subject matter, especially when it comes from the mouth of the master himself. As far as Rivera biographies go, however, I prefer The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera by Bertram Wolfe. Although Wolfe was a friend of the artist, he’s not afraid to point out Rivera’s faults. Here the only fault Rivera will own up to is his ill treatment of women. (As appendices, the book includes brief statements by each of Rivera’s four wives, providing a welcome dose of reality.) This book does have its flaws, and after reading it I must admit my estimation of Rivera may have dropped a notch or two, but those interested in Mexican art will appreciate this unique glimpse into the mind (and ego) of a genius.
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