Tag Archives: muralism

Mexican Muralists Envision New Nation Post-Revolution

Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2019 | 3 comments

Art history is a fascinating way to learn more about Mexico and the figures who shaped the nation — political, social, cultural. Through their interpretation of characters and events, the famed muralists — Diego Rivera, David Alfara Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco — gave definition to a new nation seeking to redefine itself post-1920 Revolution. We call this Mexican Muralism.

Mexico City skyline with active volcano Popocatepetl in distance

Marion Greenwood mural, circa 1934, Abelardo Rodriguez Market

While I’m now in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, I’m reflecting back to last weekend in Mexico City, where, in collaboration with my art historian friend Valeria, we led a group of nine participants from the USA through the historic center. Here is where a turbulent history is interpreted through art. We started on Thursday evening and ended on Sunday afternoon, packing it in, walking miles each day, absorbing a fascinating evolution.

Orozco’s bleak worldview, Colegio San Ildefonso

Mexico is defined by many internal and external forces, mostly her on-going desire to reconcile the Spanish conquest with her indigenous origins. Embracing Mestizaje — blending indigenous roots with conquerors, occupiers and immigrants, is what makes Mexico unique among nations, and very different from her northern neighbors.

At Colegio San Ildefonso, Orozco mural *Cortes and La Malinche*

Rivera’s idyllic Aztec landscape, another worldview

Rivera, who sat out the 1910-1920 Revolution, painting and making a name for himself in Europe, returned to Mexico City in 1921. Jose Vasconcelos, the first minister of education, recruited Rivera to paint the murals at the Secretariat de Educacion Publica (SEP), his first commission.

Unfinished Siquieros mural, SEP — newest building near Plaza Santa Domingo

The murals of Rivera, Orozco and Siquieros are commentaries on national identity, statehood, oppression and power. The Rivera murals at SEP in particular were part of a national communication plan (aka propaganda) to embrace native culture and arts. Critics say Rivera’s murals are romantic and idealistic. His contemporaries, survivors of the Revolution, painted a more hopeless, violent vision, expressing their belief that the past must be destroyed in order to create a new order.

Orozco’s interpretation of death of the old order

By Sunday, we move more deeply into the life and times of Frida Kahlo with a visit to Casa Azul, a stark contrast to the muralists.

Frida Kahlo was born in 1907, the year Rivera went to Europe as a young man. During her lifetime she was dwarfed literally and figuratively by her imposing husband. It wasn’t until after her death in 1954 at age 47, that she became the iconic figure she is today — representing women’s strength, pain, fortitude, perseverance, endurance.

1953 self-portrait, injured areas in 1925 accident, 22 lifetime operations

We revere her because her art is self-expression. She painted emotion and the internal life. She was a participant, not an observer. She hid her deformities under extraordinary handmade Mexican clothing — popularizing the style, corseted beneath to hold her injured spine erect. Andre Breton called her surrealist. We call her survivor.

*Who needs feet when I have wings to fly*

Juan O’Gorman designed Frida’s Casa Azul studio, a window on the garden

Our art history tour weaves the relationship between Diego and Frida with the times in which they lived and worked. We also examine the politics of Socialism and Communism in Mexico, how the Rivera’s gave sanctuary to Leon Trotsky, the idealism of young American artists like Pablo O’Higgins, Isamu Noguchi, and the Greenwood sisters — Marion and Grace, who were drawn to the movement. We see their deteriorating murals in an obscure market blocks from the city center.

Murals behind the chicharrones, Abelardo Rodriguez Market

Water-damaged, deteriorating Pablo O’Higgins mural, Mexico City

Frida’s last signed painting before she died, 1954

We understand Mexico more now, how the creative stream of artistic energy here continues to express social and political inequalities, injustices, and discontent.

Manuel Rodriguez Lozano 1945 mural, *The Holocaust*, at Downtown

Lunch break at Restaurant El Mayor, poached salmon with fresh corn salsa

Here in Oaxaca, our beloved Maestro Francisco Toledo, carried the mantle of social justice art until he died in September 2019. Young graphic artists follow in the footsteps of the masters, use wood, linoleum block and metal plates to carve out images of truth to power. Mexico offers creative opportunity to any and all who choose to express themselves.

Beneath Metropolitan Cathedral lies unexcavated Aztec city

Note: If you put together a group of 5-6 people, I am happy to organize this experience over a long weekend in Mexico City.

Diego Rivera’s experiment with Cubism, 1910-1920

Sculptor/muralist Isamu Naguchi is ardent anti-Fascist, installation
at Abelardo Rodriguez Market

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Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged art history, Frida Kahlo, Isamu Noguchi, Mexico, muralism, Orozco, Pablo O'Higgins, political art, Rivera, Secretariat de Educacion Publica, SEP murals, Siqueiros, Trotsky

Looking for Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera: Art History Tour 2015

Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 | Comments Off

Come to Mexico City for an art history tour to explore the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera through their art.

2015 Schedule

April 9 – 13, 2015

We will have a long weekend — 4 nights and 5 days, to learn about Diego Rivera‘s stunning Mexico City murals, visit Casa Azul where Diego and Frida Kahlo lived, and see the largest private collection of their work at the Dolores Olmedo Museum. Through their eyes, you will better understand Mexico’s political, cultural and social history.

If you want to register, send me an email.

Our guide is art historian Valeria Espitia, M.F.A., who shares her passion for the Mexican Muralists and narrates the expedition. She leads us through these spaces to give you the most meaningful educational experience:

Palacio Nacional
Palacio Bellas Artes
Museo de Mural de Diego Rivera
Secretaria de Educacion Publica (SEP)
San Ildefonso National Preparatory School and Abelardo Rodriguez market
Casa Azul — the home of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño

Casa Azul — Museo Frida Kahlo is a tribute to the life of both artists. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño has the largest private collection of Frida and Diego paintings in the world. She was a benefactor and life-long personal friend of Rivera.

Plus, we will shop for outstanding folk art, and eat at local markets, historic and fine contemporary and traditional restaurants!

The trip includes:

4 nights lodging at a top-rated, historic center hotel
guided discussions by art historian Valeria Espitia, MFA, educated at UNAM and Southern Methodist University
visits to folk art galleries
introduction to Norma’s favorite restaurants (meals not included)
transportation to Casa Azul and Dolores Olmedo Museum

Preliminary Itinerary

Day 1, Thursday: travel day, arrive and check into our hotel. Join in for an optional group welcome dinner (arrive by 6 p.m.)
Day 2, Friday: guided visit to SEP, San Idlefonso, and the Abelardo Rodriguez market where Rivera’s students painted, optional group dinner
Day 3, Saturday: guided visit to Palacio Bellas Artes and Museo Mural de Diego Rivera, optional folk art shopping
Day 4, Sunday: guided visit to Casa Azul and Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño
Day 5, Monday: depart

Be ready to WALK and then, walk some more! Don’t forget to bring an extra suitcase to pack the treasures you pick up along the way.

Cost: $695 per person double occupancy. $995 per person single occupancy.

What the trip doesn’t include:

breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, alcoholic beverages
transportation to/from Mexico City
museum admission fees
mandatory international health/accident insurance
tips for hotels, meals and other services

Cost: $695 per person double occupancy. $995 per person single occupancy. Maximum: 6 people.

Optional: Arrive early and/or stay later to discover Mexico City and her incredible museums and restaurants. We will provide you with a list of recommendations to explore on your own. $200 per day per person additional. Tell us your dates and we will make your hotel reservations and include this in your invoice.

Reservations and Cancellations

A 50% deposit will guarantee your spot. The final payment for the balance is due 45 days before the program start date. Payment shall be made by PayPal. We will send you an itemized PayPal invoice.

Please understand that we make lodging and other arrangements months in advance of the program. Deposits or payments in full are often required by our hosts. If cancellation is necessary, please tell us in writing by email. After 45 days before the program starts, no refunds are possible. However, we will make every possible effort to fill your reserved space or you may send a substitute. If you cancel on or before the 45 day date, we will refund 50% of your deposit.

Required–Travel Health/Accident Insurance: We require that you carry international accident/health/emergency evacuation insurance. Proof of insurance must be sent at least two weeks before departure. If you do not wish to do this, we ask you email a PDF of a signed and witnessed waiver of liability, holding harmless Norma Hawthorne and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC. Unforeseen circumstances happen!

To register, email us at normahawthorne@mac.com. We accept payment with PayPal only. Thank you.

This workshop is produced by Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC. We reserve the right to adjust the itinerary and substitute leaders without notice.

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Mexico City, Photography, Travel & Tourism, Workshops and Retreats

Tagged art, Diego Rivera, frescoes, Frida Kahlo, history, Mexico, Mexico City, muralism, murals, painters, study, tour, travel, workshop

Mexican Muralist Orozco’s Prometheus at Pomona College, California

Posted on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 | Comments Off

Last week while I was visiting my son in Southern California, I decided to make a pilgrimage to see Jose Clemente Orozco’s famed mural at Pomona College. Orozco, along with Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siquieros, is one of the Three Grand Masters of Mexican Muralism. Like a three-legged stool, the study of one balances and informs the work of the others as they shaped and reflected post-revolutionary (1910-1920) Mexico art and politics.

During our Looking for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Art History Tour in Mexico City (coming up November 13-17), Orozco and Siquieros figure predominantly in what we see since they all painted frescoes in Mexico City’s public spaces.

We compare and contrast the styles of these three to better understand how they interpreted social and political change within the context of their personal beliefs and values.

Orozco’s work is powerful, compelling and monumental. So, I take art historian Valeria’s advice to see this work in Frary Dining Hall at Pomona College.

It’s summer and I call ahead to make sure of the dining hall hours to be certain I can enter (breakfast is served 8-9:30 p.m. and lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.), then prepare my route from the beach to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, navigating a series of freeways. This is the land I grew up in and I’m completely at home.

The trip takes about an hour and I arrive a bit after ten in the morning. A good time to travel since I am going in the opposite direction from morning rush-hour traffic heading toward downtown Los Angeles.

Pomona College is private, liberal arts and part of the Claremont Colleges Consortium. The grounds are carefully manicured and the buildings convey the ambience of of classic California architecture, combining southwest colonial Spanish influences with art deco style.

I loved walking the park-like, tree-lined pedestrian avenues filled with talented young people representing every multicultural mix in the world.

Orozco painted and completed his mural in 1930, at the start of the Great Depression. There is an extensive art history discussion of the mural so I won’t go into much detail here, other than to say that Prometheus incurred the wrath of Zeus when he gifted humankind with fire — a symbol of learning, enlightenment and innovation — a perfect metaphor for a relatively new institution of higher education.

I decided to stay and have brunch in the richly paneled dining hall that students call Hogwarts, bought a meal ticket for $7.50, and settled in for the next hour-and-a-half to take photos, people watch, and gaze at the ironwork, paneled walls, and the play of light on Orozco’s masterpiece.

Note: If you arrive before or after the scheduled dining hall opening hours, you will be able to view the Orozco mural in natural light. Incandescent lights illuminate the mural during the hours when the dining hall is open. In my opinion this distorts the mural and the light casts an unwelcome glare. So, my recommendation is to enter the dining hall either between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner.

Best time to travel there: Between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. I left campus at 1:30 p.m. and had an easy return to the south coast, again circumventing Los Angeles’ famed clogged freeways.