Thursday, March 20, 2014

A Mexican Painter And His Inspiration

By Darren Hartley


Diego Rivera paintings are large wall works in fresco. They help established the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Diego Rivera was a world-famous Mexican painter, an active communist and a husband to Frida Kahlo.

Initially embracing cubism, Diego Rivera paintings later on shifted towards Post Impressionism. This is shown in their simple forms and large patches of clear colors. These forms and patches were inspired by the Cezanne paintings. Displayed at several exhibitions, they began to attract the attention of their viewers.

Creation was the first significant mural among the Diego Rivera paintings. It was done in 1922 and painted in encaustic in an experimental manner. The following Diego Rivera murals were done only in fresco. They dealt with Mexican society while reflecting the 1910 Mexican revolution.

There was a development of a native style in the Diego Rivera paintings, starting in September, 1922. The basis of this style was large, simplified figures and colors, with a tinge of an Aztec influence.

Diego Rivera paintings tell stories. Diego's mural, In the Arsenal, shows Tina Modotti holding an ammunition belt, facing Julio Antonio Mella, in a light hat and Vittorio Vidale behind, in a black hat. This was interpreted by some as evidence of Diego's prior knowledge of the murder of Mella by Vidale.

Detroit Industry, a series of 27 fresco panels, consisted the Diego Rivera paintings between 1932 and 1933. Containing a Vladimir Lenin portrait was a Diego Rivera mural in 1933 entitled Man at the Crossroads. This particular mural was retitled Man, Controller of the Universe, after it was repainted in 1934.

Cezanne paintings laid the foundations for the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different 20th century work of art. They formed the bridge between late 19th century Impressionism and the early 20th century Cubism.

A French artist and Post-Impressionist painter, Paul Cezanne was also known as the Father of Modern Art. This title was given to Paul after his Cezanne paintings featured repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes, demonstrating design, color, composition and draftsmanship mastery. These brushstrokes proved to be highly characteristic of and clearly attributable only to Paul Cezanne.

Planes of color and small brushstrokes, that build up to form complex fields, are signatures of Cezanne paintings. They directly expressed the sensations of an observing eye and abstractions from an observed nature. Paul studied his subjects intensely and this is conveyed in his paintings, which also reflected his searching gaze and struggle to deal with human visual perception complexity.

The development of an ideal synthesis among naturalistic representation, personal expression and abstract pictorial order is the objective of Cezanne paintings. A suggestion of the moody and romantic expressionism of previous generations is the dark tones of the early Cezanne paintings. These tones were applied with heavy and fluid colors.

Cezanne paintings gradually developed into a commitment to contemporary life representation. They painted the world as observed by Paul sans concern for thematic idealization and stylistic affectation.




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