Lenin, holding the hands of workers of all races – unity of the proletariat -, in the mural ‘El hombre controlador del universo’ by Diego Rivera, in the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Obviously, just the few pictures in the Mexico City (2) entry are not going to be enough to demonstrate the beauty of the work of Mexico’s muralists, the painters who are responsible for the many large frescoes in several public places. From the early 1920s onwards the big three, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros left their traces in museums, ministries, churches and schools, of which we managed to visit a couple – not all, some, like those in the Presidential Palace and in the Supreme Court, proved out-of-bounds.
Below a selection, including details of some of the paintings, which otherwise would be lost in the vastness of the complete mural.
Rivera’s ‘Revolucion rusa o tercera international’, painted in 1933 – Palacio de Bellas Artes
probably the largest of the murals in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, ‘El hombre Controlador del Universo’ by Diego Rivera (1934)
with so much detail, like the facist troops, bayonets and bombers, a painting in itself
or the police beating down protests – note that the protesters hold up signs in English
Trotski, too, together with Marx and Engels, are present in the painting
the decapitated statue depicts the fall of facism
another fabulous fresco, a triple called ‘Carnaval de la Vida Mexicana’, by Diego Rivera (1936)
detail of a mustachiod man, probably a gang leader
another detail, carnaval it is
detail of two shady figures
and another carnaval celebrator
Eteriny, another detail of the Carnival fresco
and a detail of a well dressed lady, same painting
‘Katharsis’, a mural by Orozco, depicting the chaos and political unrest in 1930s Mexico – in the Palacio de Bellas Artes
a detail of the same painting
and another one
and this one, not to be misunderstood
‘Nueva democracia’, by David Alfaro Siqueiros – Palacio de Bellas Artes
and a detail of the lead woman
well, even more detail of the same
‘Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central’, the only painting in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera
and another one
a detail of the work, including the boy Diego Rivera
there is so much detail inside
even this is just a detail!
another lovely Orozco fresco, ‘Los Aristocrats’, painted in 1923-24 – Colegio de San Ildefonso
detail of Los Aristocratas (1)
detail of Los Aristocratas (2)
detail of Los Aristocratas (3)
detail of Los Aristocratas, the poor being trampled
detail of the mural ‘Alancia’, by Orozco – Colegio de San Ildefonso
and another detail of Alancia, by Orozco
and this is a detail in ‘La Familia’, also Orozco – Colegio de San Ildefonso
‘Mujeres’ (women), again by Orozco – Colegio de San Ildefonso
detail of ‘Revolucianarios’, another Orozco mural – Colegio de San Ildefonso
fresco ‘El Banquete de los Ricos’, by Orozco – Colegio de San Ildefonso
detail of the same, the rich
another detail, of the underclass
