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| Our trip to Mexico City was focused on the art of the famous Mexican muralists Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco, mostly from the 1920s |
Often called Social Realists, these muralists painted scenes in the 1920 from the socialist/communist perspective, with capitalists in high caricature. These are several high society ladies of New York. |
The murals grace the walls of government buildings in Mexico City and their social commentary is amazingly blunt and anti-American. |
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| They spend equal time on the Spanish conquest of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. |
We stumbled upon an exhibit of Mexican painter and muralist Pablo O'Higgins, who did some work with Diego Rivera. |
A strong face by Pablo O'Higgins. |
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| The agave symbolized rural life. |
Rural woman in front of an agave. His style changed from realist, like Rivera, in the 20s, to these bold, quickly painted pieces from the 1970s. |
Rivera painted these as wet frescoes on every available wall in the building. |
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| Rural and urban laborers opposing capitalists and warriors rendered as parade baloons full of hot air. |
Secretary of Education building, 3 levels, a huge courtyard, murals on all walls. (See more architecture photos in the other Mexico gallery.) |
I'm not sure the celebration here, a combination of may day and church? |
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| On the left, women work in a laundry. On the right are the fireworks displays we saw in Taxco. |
Scenes of rural life supposedly remind the bureaucrats who work in the building of the unseen rural folks they also serve. |
Peasant workers go down to work in a silver mine... and upon exit are searched for any silver they might try to steal. |
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| The revolution is possible by uniting the industrial laborers in the cities with the agrarian laborers in the country. |
Here a multi-ethnic communist army of workers has conquered a blonde intellectual and put a bejeweled woman to work. |
Dark-skinned Mexican militiamen conquer which businessmen. |
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| So after the peasants win the revolution, they have abundance... |
...and we see the white capitalists with little to eat. A successful redistribution of the land's wealth, from the eyes of the socialist revolutionaries. |
Ater the revolution, the peasants will get an education... |
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| ... and the capitalists will learn they cannot eat money. |
The peasant revolution is cleaning up not only the defeated capitalists by the corrupt church, noted in the bishop's mitre on the floor. |
It is possible to overdose on murals, but they are a fascinating snapshot of a time in Mexican history. |
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| Industrial technology helps the agricultural workers as the clergy are smited (smoted? smitten?) |
This is a famous and amazing Rivera mural and there is a key to it showing all the historical figures in it from Cortes on through to Rockefeller. |
Kings and generals and peasants. |
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| The day of the dead celebration meets high society displays of wealth. |
Pancho Vila and the peasant struggle. |
Frida Kahlo is here, as is a young Diego Rivera. |
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| We also stumbled upon an extensive show of the artist Covarrubias, who was a mapmaker, cartoonist and illustrator whose work was seen in many US magazines. |
The jaguar king is from Mayan history. |
Covarubbias travelled to the Pacific and wrote an illustrated book on Bali. |
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| He made many maps for a Californian publishing company. |
He drew cartoons during the 20s and 30s and was fascinated with black American culture. |
He did a series for Vanity Fair. |
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A Rivera mural just tucked away in a corner. We have seen only a portion of the murals present in Mexico City's buildings! |