Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera married Angelina Beloff in the end of 1909. Their marriage was not a happy one and Rivera was not at all a loyal husband. The couple had one child named Diego, who died early out of lung complication. Rivera went back to Mexico in 1921 and their marriage was annulled soon after.

While he was still married to Beloff, Diego had a relationship with cubist painter Marie Bronislava Vorobieff-Stebelska. Their daughter Marika was born on November 13, 1919.

In June 1922, Rivera married model and novelist Guadalupe Marín. By her, Rivera had two daughters; Ruth and Guadalupe Rivera. However, this marriage did not last either.

Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico. His father Diego Rivera Acosta was of European descent while his mother María del Pilar Barrientos was part European and part Indian. Both of them were teachers. He had a twin brother named Carlos, who died in infancy.

From the age of three, he started drawing on the walls of his home. His parents encouraged this by setting up a separate room for him to pursue his artistic ventures. They also put up canvasses on the walls of other rooms.

When Diego was six years old, the family moved to Mexico City. Diego was initially enrolled at Carpantier Catholic College. Later, he was enrolled at Academy of San Carlos at the age of twelve.

Here, his training was modeled on Classical European art. He learnt the traditional techniques in colors and perspective under various masters. Among them was Gerardo Murillo, known for his defense of indigenous art and culture. Diego was highly influenced by him.

In 1906, Murielle helped Diego to get a travel grant. With that he went straight to Europe and arrived in Spain in 1907. There he studied art with Eduardo Chicharro, one of the greatest painters of that era and through him he was introduced to many eminent personalities.

In 1909, Diego Rivera shifted his base to Paris and started his career in painting. He lived and worked in the La Ruche in the Montparnasse district. It was a residence for the struggling artists. Here Rivera had the chance to befriend many artists, who became internationally famous in the later years.

At that time, cubism had just been introduced in Paris. Eminent painters like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were using this art form to produce masterpieces. Rivera too embraced it quite enthusiastically.

However, by 1917, he came under the influence of Paul Cézanne and shifted to post impressionism; whose main features were simple forms and vivid colors. Very soon, his works began to attract the attention of the art lovers and he started holding exhibitions of his paintings at different places.

In 1920, Rivera visited Italy. Here he was greatly impressed by frescos painted by eminent artists during the Renaissance. At the same time, political events such as the Mexican and Russian revolutions also influenced his thought process to a large extent. He now wanted his works to reflect the aspirations of the people and also the culture of his homeland.

In 1921, he left for Mexico on the invitation of José Vasconcelos, an influential philosopher, writer and politician of that era. Here he was funded by the government to create murals at public places on the history and culture of Mexico.

These murals were not only aesthetic in appeal, but they also served a larger purpose. At that time, a large percentage of the Mexican population was illiterate and unaware of their country’s heritage. It was hoped that these paintings would help to enlighten them about their country’s history and culture.

In January 1922, Rivera completed his first important mural ‘Creation’ on the walls of the Bolivar Auditorium of the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria. Here he used encaustic techniques, which requires color to be added to heated wax and the picture is finally drawn with the paste so formed.

However, most of Rivera’s murals were created in fresco. In this method, paintings are done on wet lime plasters and when the lime dries up, the painting becomes a part and parcel of the wall. Very soon Rivera developed a style of its own; the figures were large and simplified; colors were vivid.