Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Art Focus: Diego Rivera was given credit as the artist who created a truly unique style of Mexican art. He often times had political and social messages in his art work and was often seen as controversial. Art Focus: Many examples of Diego Rivera’s art

Materials from Art Smart Closet:  A 5 tor 6 foot piece of mural paper (the mural paper is in the “Art Closet.” Ask in the office for the key to the closet and choose your paper.)  Large construction paper; colored and white Materials in Classroom:  Drawing supplies: pencils, markers, crayons  Glue sticks, glue  Scissors Materials from Home:  Masking tape (to tape up mural)  Optional: check out Mike Venezia’s book Diego Rivera from the LLC

Class Discussion (15 minutes) Slide #1 (Slide shows self-portrait of Diego Rivera) 

Today we are going to talk about a very famous and influential Mexican artist named Diego Rivera.

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Raise your hand if you have ever heard of Diego Rivera.

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What do you know about him? (Encourage students to share what they know.)

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Slide #2 (More photographs of Rivera) 

Diego Rivera was a famous Mexican artist. He has been given credit for inventing a truly unique style of Mexican painting. In his lifetime he created thousands of murals and paintings and inspired many artists to do the same.

NOTE: Tell the “story” of Rivera. Please don’t get hung up on too many facts. Skip what you’d like for the sake of time and student interest. Slide #3 

Diego Rivera was born in the Mexican mining town of Guanajuato in 1886.

As a child, Diego loved to play with trains and any kind of railroad or mining machine. He was fascinated by them and soon began drawing pictures of them on the walls and furniture of his house. At the age of six, his father decided to cover Diego’s bedroom walls with paper so he could draw all he wanted. How many of you would like that?

San Carlos Art Academy in Mexico City; now a museum.

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At the age of 8 Diego was sent to a military school to learn to be a soldier. Diego and his parents soon realized that Diego only liked to draw soldiers not be one.

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He told his parents at the age of 8 that he wanted to be an artist.

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Diego was an excellent student and graduated with honors at the age of 12. Diego could have gone on to a prestigious preparatory school but his only goal was to attend art school.

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He did just that. Diego attended the Academy of San Carlos but was kicked out in 1903, at the age of 17, for joining in a protest against Mexico’s president at the time, President Diaz. It was at this time that Diego starting selling his artwork to make a living.

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Slide #4 Calavera Catrina

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Before he was kicked out of art school, Diego spent a lot of time at a local engraving shop owned by another famous artist named José Posada.

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Posada was a cartoonist who often poked fun of the president. Posada showed rich people as bad and poor people as good. Through Posada’s art, Diego began to start viewing people in different ways.

José Posada in front of his workshop. 4

Slide #5 and Slide #6 Woman at the Well 1913 Oil on Canvas Museo Nacional del Arte Mexico City, Mexico

Portrait of Ramon Gomez de la Serna, 1915

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To get a broader understanding of art, Diego traveled to Spain and soon studied and worked in Europe.

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He became friends with artists that were already famous, like Pablo Picasso and Amadeo Modigliani. Diego’s art was reflecting was he was learning in Europe.

The Architect, 1915

 Even though Diego was doing well in Europe, and was beginning to be recognized as a great artist, he was not satisfied with his work. He felt like something was missing from his artwork. 6

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To Diego it seemed that only well-educated, wealthy people could enjoy art because they had enough money to buy it for their homes.

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Diego thought that art should be for everyone.

Slide #7 

Examples of European Frescoes A fresco is created by painting on wet plaster with watercolors.

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As he traveled through Europe he began to notices frescoes. A fresco is a painting on the wall, ceiling or other surface of a building. Using a type of watercolor paints, artists paint on wet plaster having to be very careful that the plaster did not set before they were done painting (otherwise they would have to break off the plaster and start all over).

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Slide #8 This slide shows us a fresco painted on a church wall in Italy. Diego decided he would return to Mexico and make paintings for all of the hard working Mexican people to enjoy in places where everyone could see it.

 Flight into Egypt by Giotto Fresco Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy

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Slide #9 

Creation, 1922-23.

Fresco. 23 2/10 by 39 3/10 feet. Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, Mexico City, Mexico 9

When Diego returned to Mexico, he was asked to create a mural for a very important school (La Escuela Nacional Preparatoria). He named his work “Creation.” It is an abstract mural showing energy in the universe, life, humanity and those things that that are important to us as a people: art, science, philosophy.

Slide #10 and Slide #11 

The Grinder (La Molendera), 1924 Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico

Diego began getting more and more jobs painting. He moved away from his European influences and began to create a style that was all his own.

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Rivera focused his art on the working class of people. He wanted to give them pride in their jobs. He wanted to give Mexicans pride in their history and give them a positive outlook on their future.

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Corn Oil Painting on Canvas

Flower Festival 1925

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Slide #12 Agrarian Leader Zapata, 1931 Fresco 7 ‘ 9 ¾” by 6’ 2” The Museum of Modern Art, New York

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Diego Rivera often painted revolutionary figures. Through his paintings he wanted to change things in Mexico so that everyday people would have more rights and freedom.

Even though he seemed to have good intentions, many people felt that things were fine in Mexico just the way they were. They didn’t like his political statements and became angry with his work. If people were not pleased with his murals they would throw rocks at Diego and his murals as he was working on them. Diego decided to carry a weapon along with his paintbrushes just in case he was attacked.

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Slide #13 

The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City April – June, 1931, 22’ 7’’ by 29’ 9” San Francisco Art Institute

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Here is a slide called The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City where Diego Rivera details what goes into the making of one of his masterpiece frescoes.

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When people saw this mural, many people became angry. Can you guess why? People became angry because Diego painted himself with his back facing us: many saw this as a sign of downright rudeness. He seemed to have a reputation for making people mad.

Slide #14 

Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo

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Diego seemed to get attention everywhere. His marriage to his second wife, Frida Kahlo, was another attention getter. Frida was also an artist, and much younger than Diego. She wore fancy Mexican gowns and jewelry. This artist pair, for better or worse, seemed to always be creating a scene.

Slide #15 

Frida and Diego in the lobby of the RCA building in the Rockefeller Center, New York City.

Another work that began well and ended very badly was a mural Diego was asked to do by a very rich man by the name of John D. Rockefeller. The Rockefellers asked Diego to paint a mural in the lobby in a building in the Rockefeller Center in New York City for all to see.

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He began painting his mural during the time of the Great Depression when many people were out of work. Diego Rivera was known to be someone who supported communism, a way of running the government that would be considered very antiAmerican at the time. Slide #16

A recreation of part of Diego Rivera’s work Man at the Crossroads painted in 1933 on the Rockefeller Center wall in New York City.

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In his mural, Diego painted a Russian communist Leader named Lenin as a central character of the artwork.

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

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Rockefeller and many others were outraged that Rivera would put a communist leader in an American mural. Rivera was asked to change the face on the mural but he refused.

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Rockefeller had the mural covered but later, out of public anger; it was ripped off the wall and destroyed with hammers. Only a few photos of the original work were left.

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Diego began creating murals on portable panels so that they could be taken down and moved from place to place to prevent his hard work from being destroyed in the future.

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So we do not end on a bad note, although trouble seemed to follow him, many people saw and still see today that what Diego Rivera created were true masterpieces of art.

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Even if his political viewpoints were not always popular, he managed to capture life in great detail and with a truly unique Mexican expression.

Slide #17

Detroit Industry, North Wall, 1932-33. Mural. The Detroit Institute of Arts

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One of his earlier successes was his famous mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts painted in 1932.

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This painting was called Detroit Industry. Diego did a great amount of research studying what it was that created the heartbeat of this American passion for cars.

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He showed factory workers making steel and machinery for the automotive industry. Diego captured beauty in the production process and in the people that lived and breathed this business.

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Art Activity (at least minutes) A Classroom Mural: Diego Rivera Style Explanation for Presenter: Students will be creating a classroom mural Diego Rivera style entitled “The Faces of ‘Mr. Strayve’s’ 5th Grade Class.” Cut a 5 -6 foot piece of mural paper and lay it on the floor. (Call Art Smart Chair if you need help getting this.) Students will use large sheets of construction paper to draw their selfportrait from about the shoulders up. They should use the whole page. Tell the students to only draw themselves and not to create a background in their picture as they will be cutting their picture out. You may even want to ask for an artistic volunteer (or the teacher himself) to draw a picture of the teacher to include in the mural. Explanation to students: Slide #18

The Faces of Diego Rivera Close-ups from Detroit Industry

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For our Diego Rivera inspired art project today, I would like you to take a close-up look at some of the characters Diego painted in his great artwork Detroit Industry. Diego had a great appreciation for capturing the expression and uniqueness that each of us holds.

Diego inspired and still inspires so many by the way he captured the beauty of everyday people. What your job is to do right now is re-create yourself as Diego Rivera would see you. You will each be given a large sheet of construction paper. I would like you to think of how you would see yourself as a worker in this classroom. What would you be doing? Where do you feel most successful at school? Reading? Writing? Using a computer? Raising your hand to participate? Doing art? Holding a soccer ball?

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

After seeing so many examples of Diego’s work, I hope you have a feel for the rich, warm colors he used and the rounded bold shapes. Draw yourself as he would have to the best of your ability using full color with crayons or markers. Try to catch your expression in your self-portrait. When you are done, cut your image out and we will glue it up on this large mural paper to create a mural of your classroom. We will call it “The Faces of Mr. Strayve’s 5th Grade Class” and display it in the hallway. As Diego would want you to, draw yourself in a positive way which will inspire the next generation of 5th grade students! Hints: The students can draw themselves with a book, or raising a hand etc. just keep it only to what would fit on one page of const. paper and remember they will have to cut it out. Keep it simple. The first few done can help arrange the faces on the mural. Only when everyone is done should you glue down. Try to arrange larger faces in the front and smaller in the back. Slides #19-21 These are all slides of student work to show as examples.

Playing Soccer Participating in Class by Raising Your Hand

Reading

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Artist/Artwork Background Information: (Reference for Presenter) Full name: Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez Born: December 8, 1886, Guanajuato City, Guanajuato, Mexico. Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter and muralist born in Guanajuato City, Guanajuato. Studied painting in Mexico before going to Europe in 1907. While in Europe he took up cubism and had exhibitions in Paris and Madrid in 1913; he then had a show in New York City in 1916. In 1921 he returned to Mexico, where he undertook government-sponsored murals that reflected his communist politics in historical contexts. He married Frida Kahlo in 1929, and their tempestuous marriage got to be as famous as their art. In the 1930s and '40s Rivera worked in the United States and Mexico, and many of his paintings drew controversy. His 1933 mural for the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan featured a portrait of Communist Party leader Lenin, the resulting uproar led to his dismissal and to the mural's official destruction in 1934. Similarly, a 1948 mural for the Hotel de Prado in Mexico that included the words "God does not exist" was covered and held from public view for nine years. His personal life was as dramatic as his artwork. In 1929, he married Kahlo who was roughly 20 years younger. The two had a passionate, but stormy relationship, divorcing once in 1939 only to remarry later. She died in 1954. He then married Emma Hurtado, his art dealer. Rivera died of heart failure on November 24, 1957, in Mexico City, Mexico. Rivera's talent for historical murals and his tributes to earthy folk traditions made him one of the most influential artists in the Americas and one of Mexico's most beloved painters. A fresco is a painting on the wall, ceiling or other surface of a building. Using a type of watercolor paints, artists paint on wet plaster having to be very careful that the plaster did not set before they were done painting (otherwise they would have to break off the plaster and start all over). A mural is any piece of artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling, or other large permanent surface.

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Lesson 7 (May) Diego Rivera

Grade: 5

Communism is defined as a classless political system: the political theory or system in which all property and wealth is owned in a classless society by all the members of that society. Democracy is defined as free and equal representation of people: the free and equal right of every person to participate in a system of government, often practiced by electing representatives of the people by the majority of the people. Diego Rivera Timeline (Taken from Diego Rivera: First Biographies, Steck-Vaugh Co.) 1886 Diego and twin brother, Carlos, born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Dec. 8 1898 Graduates from high school with honors at age twelve. Becomes a full-time art student. 1903 Joins a student strike against Mexican President Diaz and is expelled from art school. 1907 Travels to Spain to study art in Europe. 1921 Returns to Mexico and marries Guadalupe Marin. Begins to paint murals. Visits the Mayan ruins of Chicén Itzá and Tehuantepec. This inspires his work for the rest of his life. 1929 Marries Frida Kahlo. 1932 Paints his famous murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts. 1933 Paints his Man at the Crossroads mural for J.D. Rockefeller, Jr. 1949 A show of fifty years of his work is shown at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. 1950 Wins Mexico’s National Art Prize. 1957 Dies of heart failure on November 24.

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