Artist Diego Rivera: biography, creativity, personal life

Mexican artist Diego Rivera, whose biography is full of contradictory events and facts, is one of the most scandalous and prominent cultural figures of Mexico. His work, political views and personal life were in the center of attention throughout the first half of the twentieth century and are still being discussed.

Childhood and the artist's youth

This artist is a muralist, revolutionary and destroyer of women's hearts, born on December 8, 1886 in the Mexican town of Guanajuato. He was to become the founder of the Mexican school of national painting and bring critics into a frenzy of blending styles. The boy was not distinguished by excellent health, there were rumors that he barely survived as a child. Diego Rivera was an amateur to tell stories, but it is for certain known that in 1893 his family moved to the capital of the country - Mexico City. After 5 years, successfully graduating from school, the young artist entered the Academy of Arts of San Carlos. This institution gave the young man such an excellent education that at the end of it he was able to receive a scholarship. Taking the opportunity, he went on a trip to Spain. Then he visited England, Belgium, Holland and Italy.

The personal life of the "cannibal"

For passionate love for women and an uncountable number of connections, Diego Rivera was nicknamed the "cannibal". He himself liked to portray himself as a fat frog, clutching someone's heart in the paw. Natural fullness and heavy eyelids made similarities even outwardly noticeable. Describing the personal life of the rebel artist, they usually talk about his marriage with Frida Carlo. But she was not the first, and even more so the only woman in the life of the creator. In his first marriage, the young Diego Rivera joined in passionate love for the Russian artist Angelina Belova in 1911. They had a son. But obsessed with endless passions and betrayals, the spouse left Angelina, going to Mexico. The second short-lived marriage ended with Lupe Marin. The union was fruitful and gave the world two daughters.

Wife and girlfriend

By 1929, when the second marriage had already disintegrated, he met the main woman of his life - Fried Carlo. Diego Rivera married a girl much younger than him. In 1939, a divorce occurred, but in 1940 they were again married. Throughout his life, Rivera remained macho and a passionate lover of women. He betrayed his wives with his mistresses, who gave birth to his illegitimate children.

The relationship between Diego and Frida was full of passion, love, jealousy and sometimes assault. Frida with great patience treated the antics of her husband, idolized her idol, wrote a lot of his portraits. But when he changed Frida with her sister, she could not forgive, and by 1939 the relationship had broken up. Very soon the spouse, who insulted himself demanding a divorce, begged his wife to return to him on any terms. He gave her the financial content and succumbed to her main demand. The condition for remarriage was the signing of a marriage contract providing for a complete refusal of intimate relations between spouses. In his personal life, there remained the triangle of Diego Rivera, his wife and mistress.

This married couple did not have children, 2 pregnancies of Frida ended in miscarriages. In 1954, Rivera became a widower, later there were suggestions that he helped his wife to die, but this is nothing more than rumors. Until the last days of the couple, communist ideas and communication with prominent Russian politicians united.

The artist in politics

Since the beginning of the 30s, Diego Rivera has become the undisputed leader among the Mexican monumentalists. He is certainly one of the most famous and controversial artists whose political sympathies for communism, irresistible monumental frescoes, violent creative activity and social life created the image of genius. The founding father of the new trend in the art of the 20th century attracted the attention of the world public more and more.

The debut of the monumentalist in America will take place in 1930 in the city of San Francisco, and already in December 1931 with a tremendous frenzy his personal exhibition will be held. In the history of the museum, this was the second exposition of the same author. The first such honor was awarded to Henri Matisse. After the exhibition, the artist goes to Detroit, where he personally invited Edsel Ford. Here, in the heart of the industrial thought of America, the artist Diego Rivera receives an order for the fresco for the Institute of Arts on the theme "The industry of Detroit." Henry Ford had a reputation as an unwavering anti-communist. Between 1929 and 1930, several thousand strikers remained unemployed at Ford's factories. Curiously, despite this, Diego Rivera, who positioned himself as a fighter for proletarian rights, accepts an order and payment from an industrial tycoon.

Part of the fresco with the plot composition "Vaccination" seemed to be a reference to the iconography of the Nativity of Christ, which provoked a storm of indignation and protest in the press and church circles against the mural. The loud resonance in the society became an integral part of the fresco, and then brought the famous glory to Detroit.

Man at the Crossroads

Political views of the artist reflected in his work and sometimes provoked violent conflicts with customers. The fresco "A man at a crossroads looking with hope to choose a new and better future" became the occasion for one such case. Work on it began in March 1933. The debate happened already at the stage of choosing a palette, and as a result, the mural became colored at the insistence of the author. It consisted of three parts. In the center there is a man - the master of elements. As the work progressed, the fresco became more and more complex and eventually represented two worlds, opposed to each other. On the one hand, the charms of socialism, and on the other - the horrors of capitalism. Among the characters even someone appears who is very much like Lenin. The fresco was to be presented to the public at the opening of the building of the Rockefeller Center on May 1, 1933. But the growing scandal did not allow this to happen, and despite the fact that the Rockefeller family was considering the option of keeping the mural outside the building, a decision was made to destroy it. This was Rivera's biggest defeat in creativity and politics.

Influence on world art

"Diego makes me uneasy. He refused glory, preferring to do what he does now, "said Alfonso Reyes about his close friend. The transition to cubism is significant for Diego Rivera. The paintings "Worship of Our Lady" and "Girl with Fruits" reflect the author's movement in this direction. A feature of recent works was deformed understanding of space, although far from cubism. In all the works the artist emphasized the movement and richness of the landscape.

Significant influence on the formation of Diego Rivera was provided by classical European styles in painting. It was the wall paintings of the period of the 14th - 16th centuries that gave a lot of food for thought and contributed to the success of the frescoes of Diego. Beginning in the 1940s, he achieved considerable success in fresco painting, thanks to which he was invited to work at the World Exhibition in San Francisco, and was later enlisted by the government to paint the National Palace in Mexico City.

Completion of the way

Diego Rivera died on November 24, 1957 in Mexico City and was buried in the Rotunda of the glorified creators. He was contradictory in everything. He readily fulfilled the orders of the capitalists, glorifying socialism, adhering to communist views. Liked women, but destroying their lives and lives with the same passion with which they painted their portraits. Diego Rivera, whose style neither before nor after him, could not be repeated by any of the painters, left behind so many secrets and mysteries that several centuries will not suffice to solve them.

Having passed away from life at the age of 70, he had barely survived his beloved spouse, Frida, and left an invaluable legacy in the culture, history, politics and hearts of those who loved him.