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107-536: The Anahuacalli (from the Nahuatl word, whose meaning is "house surrounded by water"), is a temple of the arts designed by the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera . This museum stands out for its extensive collection of pre-Columbian art , as well as for its Ecological Space that protects endemic flora and fauna. Rivera designed its architecture in order to safeguard his vast collection of pre-Hispanic pieces, while exhibiting

214-468: A palapa to cover the structure of the rubble. Due to important decisions regarding costs, as well as for assuring the durability and the stability of the construction, Juan O'Gorman's final solution could not fully adhere to Diego's guidelines. Consequently, the upper part of the building turned out to be somewhat heavy, rigid and not very flexible, compared to the original idea. Both Rivera and O'Gorman carried out technical and aesthetic experiments for

321-491: A civilization higher than the mechanized but still primitive one he has now, the eating of human flesh will be sanctioned. For then man will have thrown off all of his superstitions and irrational taboos." In 1920, urged by Alberto J. Pani , the Mexican ambassador to France, Rivera left France and traveled through Italy studying its art, including Renaissance frescoes . After José Vasconcelos became Minister of Education, Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921 to become involved in

428-735: A consulate. In September 1930, Rivera accepted a commission by architect Timothy L. Pflueger for two works related to his design projects in San Francisco . Rivera and Kahlo went to the city in November. Rivera painted a mural for the City Club of the San Francisco Stock Exchange for US$ 2,500. He also completed a fresco for the California School of Fine Art, a work that was later relocated to what

535-539: A destination for young European and American artists and writers, who settled in inexpensive flats in Montparnasse . His circle frequented La Ruche , where his Italian friend Amedeo Modigliani painted his portrait in 1914. His circle of close friends included Ilya Ehrenburg , Chaïm Soutine , Modigliani and his wife Jeanne Hébuterne , Max Jacob , gallery owner Léopold Zborowski , and Moise Kisling . Rivera's former lover Marie Vorobieff-Stebelska (Marevna) honored

642-666: A hobby; his purpose was to rescue and preserve the pre-Columbian heritage for a better understanding of Mexican art development. His fascination with stone figures and ceramic pieces became an inspiration for his artworks. A clear example of this is the figure of Xochipilli , the Lord of the Flowers, whose image Rivera illustrated in the mural paintings located in the stairs of the Secretariat of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP). This drawing, in archaeological terms,

749-506: A light hat, and Vittorio Vidali behind in a black hat. However, the En el Arsenal detail shown does not include the right-hand side described nor any of the three individuals mentioned; instead it shows the left-hand side with Frida Kahlo handing out munitions. Leon Trotsky lived with Rivera and Kahlo for several months while exiled in Mexico. Some of Rivera's most famous murals are featured at

856-536: A major commission: twenty-seven fresco panels, entitled Detroit Industry , on the walls of an inner court at the Detroit Institute of Arts . Part of the cost was paid by Edsel Ford , scion of the entrepreneur. During the McCarthyism of the 1950s, a large sign was placed in the courtyard defending the artistic merit of the murals while attacking his politics as "detestable." His mural Man at

963-464: A pioneer African-American artist, dancer, and textile designer. The mural and its archives are now held by City College of San Francisco . In 1946-47, Rivera painted A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park , a fresco that featured a fully elaborated figure of La Calavera Catrina . This character, which was created by José Guadalupe Posada , originally consisted of a print depicting

1070-686: A pistol against right-wing students. In the autumn of 1922, Rivera participated in the founding of the Revolutionary Union of Technical Workers, Painters and Sculptors, and later that year he joined the Mexican Communist Party (including its Central Committee ). His murals, subsequently painted in fresco only, dealt with Mexican society and reflected the country's 1910 Revolution . Rivera developed his own native style based on large, simplified figures and bold colors with an Aztec influence clearly present in murals at

1177-423: A powerful new professional voice had arrived. Throughout his work, he sought to explain the development of Mesoamerican civilisations in terms of continuity and internal evolution, rejecting earlier theories about cultural change being the result of trans-cultural diffusion . His approach was interdisciplinary , drawing on linguistics , ethnography , history and demography . His notable discoveries include

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1284-486: A prodigious architectural work to display his collection of pre-Hispanic art with the people of Mexico and the world. Thanks to this museum, today, thousands of national and foreign visitors can delve into the creative universe that the muralist left housed in this unique place. Everyone who visits the site can enjoy its natural and architectural spaces, as well as the rich collection of Mesoamerican art bequeathed to Mexico, by Master Rivera. In June, 1940, Diego Rivera painted

1391-410: A scientific sampler, but instead sought to return the pieces their Mana , which in the words of the anthropologist, historian and philosopher Mircea Eliade (Bucharest, 1907 –Chicago, 1986) is: "(…) the mysterious and active force possessed by certain individuals, generally the souls of the dead and all spirits (…). It is a force different from the physical forces from a qualitative point of view, that

1498-634: A specific place, designed according to his ideas. At that time, the muralist was already collaborating with the cultural authorities of the government in turn. In 1934, once the Palace of Fine Arts was completed, the Escultura Mexicana Antigua (Ancient Mexican Sculpture exhibition) was held. Maestro Rivera collaborated with this exhibition, contributing twelve pieces of the one hundred and thirty-nine works that composed this exhibition. Juan Coronel Rivera, historian, writer and grandson of

1605-641: A suitable room for conferences and talks. The land where the Anahuacalli was built appeared approximately 2000 years ago with the eruption of the Xitle volcano, which produced a lava spill that, over time, became what is now the Pedregal de San Ángel . Although the explosion devastated the landscape of the Valley of Mexico , affecting forests and lakes, a new ecosystem emerged from the volcanic rock, which has been

1712-672: A theory which was widely criticised at the time, but which was validated by the studies of others after Caso's death. He was the younger brother of philosopher Antonio Caso Andrade . Caso served as the first Director of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia , Director of the National School of Anthropology and History , and Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. "Organic University law" in which he established

1819-550: A tie with the stone. The total extension of the land of the Anahuacalli Museum is sixty thousand square meters, in which Diego Rivera designed the museum building and conceived a City of Arts; a space for artistic creation and feedback, where architecture, painting, dance, music, sculpture, theater, crafts and ecology coexist. In the center of the place, we find a large esplanade or central square, where various artistic events are frequently held. Located to one side of

1926-414: A university student, he was part of a group of young intellectuals known as Los Siete Sabios de México ("The Seven Sages of Mexico") who founded Mexico City's "Society for Conferences and Concerts", which promoted cultural activity among the student population. One of the other Sages was Vicente Lombardo Toledano , who became Caso's brother-in-law after he married Lombardo's sister, writer María Lombardo:

2033-485: A well-to-do couple. His twin brother Carlos died two years after they were born. His mother María del Pilar Barrientos was said to have converso ancestry ( Spanish ancestors who were forced to convert from Judaism to Catholicism in the 15th and 16th centuries). Rivera wrote in 1935: "My Jewishness is the dominant element in my life", despite never being raised practicing any Jewish faith, Rivera felt his Jewish ancestry informed his art and gave him "sympathy with

2140-599: A wild state and has water outcrops that enrich the beauty of the landscape. This green area protects flora and fauna typical of the volcanic soil of the place, as well as orchids, edible and medicinal herbs, Begonia del Pedregal and shrubs that are not found in any other green area in Mexico. This ecological reserve can be contemplated with a panoramic view from the roof of the museum. Also, it can be visited through guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays. Diego Rivera (1886–1957) began collecting pre-Columbian art in his childhood. In 1906, he had to leave this first collection under

2247-688: Is based on ancient Egyptian occult knowledge from Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti ." Diego Rivera has been portrayed in several films. He was played by Rubén Blades in Cradle Will Rock (1999), by Alfred Molina in Frida (2002), and (in a brief appearance) by José Montini in Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015). Barbara Kingsolver 's novel, The Lacuna features Rivera, Kahlo, and Leon Trotsky as major characters. An important scene of

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2354-469: Is erected with carved volcanic stone, extracted from the same place where it stands. According to the words of the Tabasco museographer and poet Carlos Pellicer , who designed the museum's permanent exhibition at the express indication of Rivera himself, the Anahuacalli responds to the following description: "It is a personal creation using pre-Hispanic elements, mainly from Toltec architecture and some of

2461-513: Is made up entirely of carved rock that originated from the eruption of the Xitle volcano. In the lower part of the main building, a platform of this same material protrudes, configuring a kind of "shelf" where pre-Columbian sculptures are installed. On that same level, we find the access to the museum that consists of an oval arch in front of the arrangement of elongated windows. These windows are made of amber-colored onyx stone, which looks opaque from

2568-759: Is now the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute . During this period, Rivera and Kahlo worked and lived at the studio of Ralph Stackpole , who had recommended Rivera to Pflueger. Rivera met Helen Wills Moody , a notable American tennis player, who modeled for his City Club mural. In November 1931, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City mounted a retrospective exhibition of Rivera's work; Kahlo attended with him. Between 1932 and 1933, Rivera completed

2675-420: Is possibly the most accurate pictorial representation of an Aztec deity. It is known that the artist's fondness for collecting instigated an economic and familiar problem at the time. Mexican novelist and model Guadalupe Marín , Diego's wife for a time, was particularly upset by her husband's insistence on buying idols, regardless of his household expenses. This is demonstrated in a narration published in 1964 in

2782-500: Is represented by original sculptures of their respective deities, according to the Mexica worldview. These divinities are Chicomecóatl (earth), Ehécatl Quetzalcóatl (wind), Tláloc (water), and Huehuetéotl (fire). The building has a total of twenty-three rooms distributed over three levels. In each of the rooms, stand out specific visual motifs of the pre-Hispanic mythology that so fascinated Diego Rivera. The Anahuacalli

2889-462: Is why it is exerted in an arbitrary way. A good warrior owes that quality not to his own strength or resources, but to the strength that a dead warrior's mana gives him. That mana is found in the small stone amulet that hangs around his neck." Diego Rivera aimed to rescue the ritual character of the pieces in his collection; that divine essence that they possessed at the time they were used and that endowed them with their real value. In an interview with

2996-735: Is worth mentioning that the painter, together with Manuel Gamio , participated in esoteric ceremonies at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun , since both of them formed part of the Rosicrucian lodge " Quetzalcóatl ". Those spiritual practices could explain that the Mexican State thinkers saw in the ancient monoliths the power to reinvent the national culture. In short, these artifacts were perceived as both means of spiritual connection as well as tools for asserting high political status. In 1950,

3103-673: The Olmec , Mixtec , Zapotec , and Aztec . He was one of the first to recognize the Olmecs as the earliest Mesoamerican civilization , declaring that they were the " cultura madre " (Mother culture) of Mesoamerica. His argument has subsequently been debated by Mesoamerican archaeologists; it is currently unclear how the Olmec interacted with other Mesoamerican cultures . His writing on the Zapotecs, based on his work at Monte Albán, proposed that they established hegemony over neighbouring peoples -

3210-628: The Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico City begun in September 1922, intended to consist of one hundred and twenty-four frescoes, and finished in 1928. Rivera's art work, in a fashion similar to the steles of the Maya , tells stories. The mural En el Arsenal ( In the Arsenal ) shows on the right-hand side Tina Modotti holding an ammunition belt and facing Julio Antonio Mella , in

3317-663: The Academy of San Carlos in Mexico (1898–1905), as well as his participation in the European avant-gardes and the knowledge he acquired about traditional art during his residence period in Europe (1907–1921). In his mural work, Diego captures his totalizing conception of history. He portrays the class struggle and its protagonists, as well as the different currents that animate them. These sketches allow us to appreciate Rivera's work of technical and aesthetic experimentation, together with

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3424-504: The Anahuacalli Museum houses an estimated 39,000 pre-Hispanic pieces that Master Rivera collected throughout his life. From these numerous artistic heritages, a selection of the 2000 most representative pieces is permanently on display to the public. According to Pellicer: "The extraordinary richness of the collection allowed the organizer of the museum to create scenes of the public and private life of those people. All these niches, are truly amazing". The remaining 37,000 pieces are preserved in

3531-437: The Anahuacalli as a great stage for the development of diverse artistic expressions such as theater, dance, painting and music. These disciplines are immersed in an atmosphere whose architecture represents the search for the Mexican essence through its rich pre-Columbian past. At the same time, the Anahuacalli is integrated into the artistic, intellectual and educational events of contemporary times. Every year, in compliance with

3638-406: The Anahuacalli. The Anahuacalli construction began in 1942, in the suburb and town of San Pablo Tepetlapa. A year later, the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) wrote a letter to the engineer Marte R. Gómez, then Secretary of Agriculture and Development of the government of President Manuel Ávila Camacho , in which she explained her husband's need to build a space that houses his collection. In

3745-584: The Arsenal includes the figures of communists Tina Modotti , Cuban Julio Antonio Mella , and Italian Vittorio Vidali . After Mella was murdered in January 1929, allegedly by Stalinist assassin Vidali, Rivera was accused of having had advance knowledge of a planned attack. After divorcing his second wife, Guadalupe (Lupe) Marin, Rivera married the much younger Frida Kahlo in August 1929. They had met when she

3852-455: The Aztec goddess of maize in his book Canto a la Tierra: Los murales de Diego Rivera en la Capilla de Chapingo . The corpses of revolutionary heroes Emiliano Zapata and Otilio Montano are shown in graves, their bodies fertilizing the maize field above. A sunflower in the center of the scene "glorifies those who died for an ideal and are reborn, transfigured, into the fertile cornfield of

3959-594: The Crossroads , originally a three-paneled work, begun as a commission for John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1933 for the Rockefeller Center in New York City, was later destroyed. Because it included a portrait of Vladimir Lenin , former leader of the Soviet Union and Marxist pro-worker content, Rockefeller's son, the press, and some of the public protested, but the decision to destroy it was made by

4066-817: The Crossroads in 1934 in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, calling this version Man, Controller of the Universe . On June 5, 1940, invited again by Pflueger, Rivera returned for the last time to the United States to paint a ten-panel mural for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. His work, Pan American Unity was completed November 29, 1940. Rivera painted in front of attendees at

4173-491: The Exposition, which had already opened. He received US$ 1,000 per month and US$ 1,000 for travel expenses. The mural includes representations of two of Pflueger's architectural works, and portraits of Rivera's wife, Frida Kahlo, woodcarver Dudley C. Carter , and actress Paulette Goddard . She is shown holding Rivera's hand as they plant a white tree together. Rivera's assistants on the mural included Thelma Johnson Streat ,

4280-622: The Mayan: sloped walls, serpentine pilasters and rhomboid doors. The pyramidal crown accentuates the magnificent character of the building. The flat ceilings on the ground floor and the upper floors are decorated with original mosaics by the great painter, which are elements that are integrated into the architecture. The ground floor is occupied by Aztec and the Teotihuacan artworks. A beautiful group of stone sculptures, clay figurines -models of temples- and pottery utensils." Diego Rivera planned

4387-465: The Mexican landscape and therefore considered them as "invasive species". As a result of the above, O'Gorman sought to return to a Mexican aesthetic for his designs, the one that is characteristic of popular Mexican folk art . The Anahuacalli responds to the ideal of a construction that is integrated with nature, typical of organic architecture , conceptualized by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959). Lloyd Wright's work influenced that of O'Gorman, as well as

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4494-836: The National School of Agriculture ( Chapingo Autonomous University of Agriculture) at Chapingo near Texcoco (1925–1927), in the Cortés Palace in Cuernavaca (1929–30), and the National Palace in Mexico City (1929–30, 1935). Rivera painted murals in the main hall and corridor at the Chapingo Autonomous University of Agriculture (UACh). He also painted a fresco mural titled Tierra Fecundada ( Fertile Land in English) in

4601-725: The Netflix television series Sense8 (Episode S1E8 Death Doesn't Let You Say Goodbye, broadcast in 2015) is played in the Anahuacalli Museum , called “Diego Rivera Museum” by the Lito character. He and his co-sensate, Nomi, discuss about Rivera sitting in front of what is supposed to be a sketch of Rivera's Man at the Crossroads mural for the Rockefeller Center, destroyed in 1933 by Rockefeller. My Life, My Art: An Autobiography , by Diego Rivera, with Gladys March,

4708-543: The United States and Mexico. Rivera died on November 24, 1957, at the age of 70. He was buried at the Panteón de Dolores in Mexico City. Rivera was an atheist . His mural Dreams of a Sunday in the Alameda depicted Ignacio Ramírez holding a sign that read, "God does not exist". This work caused a furor, but Rivera refused to remove the inscription. The painting was not shown for nine years – until Rivera agreed to remove

4815-467: The age of twenty-nine, he obtained a master's degree in philosophy (with a specialty in archaeology) from the Escuela de Altos Estudios. After that, he dedicated himself to the study of pre-Hispanic cultures and contemporary Indigenous peoples. His rigorous methods of interpretation were evident in his first essay on patolli and other pre-Hispanic games, and it was clear to his colleagues and teachers that

4922-420: The archaeological study of pre-Hispanic Mexico . While he continued to work in illegal projects associated with commercial institutions, he began a program of study at Mexico's Museo Nacional. There, he took classes in pre-Hispanic history, ethnology , and archaeology with influential teachers as Eduard Seler , Hermann Beyer, and Manuel Gamio , with whom he often debated, posing alternative interpretations. At

5029-408: The building as well as with its surrounding landscape". For the actual technical solution, he thought of a metallic profile drowned in concrete and "the inclined-vertical plane of light sheets of thin marble or tecali , the ceiling itself of pre-cast concrete sheets…or else cast on site with the same procedure." Finally, Diego wanted the roof to end in a lightning rod. The painter also suggested placing

5136-432: The building called Bodega de Colecciones (Collections Storage). In the large central space located on the second floor of the Anahuacalli, called "Study", are exhibited 16 sketches for different murals made by Rivera in the early thirties. In them, it is to admire the mastery of classical composition learned by the muralist in his youth. Being a born draftsman, Rivera was able to exploit his skills thanks to his training at

5243-503: The building possesses an important functionalist influence. Nonetheless, by the 1940s, when the construction of the Anahuacalli began, O'Gorman had already stopped projecting in accordance with said architectural style. Distinctively, the Anahuacalli architecture was as a response to the growing presence of the International Style ; O'Gorman realized that his early buildings, influenced by Le Corbusier , were not agreeing with

5350-415: The cardboard were removed, and the image was corrected". The first attempts were not satisfactory, hence when a definitive solution was reached, the first slabs were demolished. Initially, the roof of the ground floor had skylights, which had to be sealed because the artist was unable to solve the passage of light without the use of vitroblock to give firmness to the floor of the next level. The complexity of

5457-415: The care of his mother, when he went to live and work in Europe. Upon his return in 1921, he was forced to restart his collection because his mum told him that she had to sell it due to economic problems. That same year, Rivera restarted the gradual acquisition of the pre-Columbian artworks that are currently exhibited at the Anahuacalli. Since the 1930s, Diego had the intention of depositing his collection in

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5564-599: The celebration of the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution . The following year, while still in the Soviet Union, he met American Alfred H. Barr Jr. , who would soon become Rivera's friend and patron. Barr was the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Although commissioned to paint a mural for the Red Army Club in Moscow, in 1928 Rivera was ordered by authorities to leave

5671-521: The circle in her painting Homage to Friends from Montparnasse (1962). In those years, some prominent young painters were experimenting with an art form that would later be known as Cubism , a movement led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque . From 1913 to 1917, Rivera enthusiastically embraced this new style. Around 1917, inspired by Paul Cézanne 's paintings, Rivera shifted toward Post-Impressionism , using simple forms and large patches of vivid colors. His paintings began to attract attention, and he

5778-440: The construction concluded in 1963 and the museum was inaugurated on September 18, 1964. In memory of its creator, the following quote was chosen for the inscription engraved on the museum foundation stone: "I return to the people what I was able to rescue from the artistic heritage of their ancestors. Diego Rivera". Due to the essential participation of Juan O'Gorman in the Anahuacalli's construction, it has been wrongly assumed that

5885-474: The contemporary and museographic altars are beautifully placed, alluding to those that served to worship deities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican contexts. Since this section represents the Underworld, it doesn't have much lighting. On the first floor that is also the middle floor, the four vertices were kept as "crypts" and there are four exhibition halls. Among these rooms, the two smaller ones face south, and

5992-480: The continuation of the construction works, with the condition that the muralist donate his collection to Mexico and turn the Anahuacalli into an archaeological museum. Nevertheless, this proposal was not carried out, at least not at the time. The first museographic design was prepared by Rivera himself under the direction of the anthropologist Alfonso Caso y Andrade (1896–1970). Both Caso and his collaborators recognized Diego's ability to distinguish, in his collection,

6099-466: The country because, he suspected, of "resentment on the part of certain Soviet artists." He returned to Mexico. In 1929, following the assassination of former president Álvaro Obregón the previous year, the government suppressed the Mexican Communist Party . That year Rivera was expelled from the party because of his suspected Trotskyite sympathies. In addition, observers noted that his 1928 mural In

6206-612: The country's art history, the government of Mexico declared Rivera's works as monumentos históricos . As of 2018, Rivera holds the record for highest price at auction for a work by a Latin American artist . The 1931 painting The Rivals , part of the record-setting Collection of Peggy Rockefeller and David Rockefeller , sold for US$ 9.76 million. Rivera was born on December 8, 1886, as one of twin boys in Guanajuato , Mexico , to María del Pilar Barrientos and Diego Rivera Acosta,

6313-608: The couple had four children. After her death in 1966, he married her sister Aida. Caso completed a law degree in 1919 and immediately started teaching at the National Autonomous University of Mexico . The systematic legal training he received would mark his archaeological and administrative work throughout his life. While a young lawyer, Caso visited the then-remote hilltop ceremonial center of Xochicalco in Mexico's state of Morelos. The art and architecture of Xochicalco fascinated him and turned his mind to

6420-403: The cultural newspaper El Gallo Ilustrado : "Go away, I tell you to take your tepalcates and leave my husband alone. Just see what Rivera does to me: he buys those mannequins and then he doesn't care that we don't even have enough money to eat. Surely the few cents that were for today's expense, this chacharero takes them". Regarding the nature of his collection, Rivera did not want it to be

6527-403: The decorative endings inside the Anahuacalli, using the cast mosaic technique, which consists of: "Place some cardboard with the drawn sketches directly on the wooden formwork. On these cardboards, with a glue emulsion, the pieces of stone were adhered following the image that the painter had created. Later, it was completed with the mortar stone to fix it. When all this dried up, the formwork and

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6634-425: The design projected by Rivera for the Anahuacalli, designed to achieve a balance between the pre-Hispanic and the modern. The Mexican architect considered Wright's work as the passage from a "servile veneration of European stupidity" to a confidence in the creative capacity of the American continent. The Anahuacalli's design is inspired by a teocalli , which means " gods’ house". It is built with volcanic stone from

6741-404: The downtrodden masses". Diego was of Spanish, Amerindian, African, Italian, Jewish, Russian, and Portuguese descent . Rivera began drawing at the age of three, a year after his twin brother died. When he was caught drawing on the walls of the house, his parents installed chalkboards and canvas on the walls to encourage him. After moving to Paris, Rivera met Angelina Beloff , an artist from

6848-560: The eruption of the Xitle volcano; these rocks were extracteded from the same land where the museum was built. Its aesthetic includes symbolic and architectural elements that were originated in Mesoamerica. Accordingly, the main building of Anahuacalli is a manifestation of a spatial architectural perception that is characteristic in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican constructions. The corners of the edifice are dedicated to an element of nature that

6955-670: The excavations at Monte Albán , in particular "Tomb Seven" , in which several gold pieces and offerings were found (now shown in the Regional Museum of Oaxaca ). He also discovered many sites in the Mixteca (a region in the state of Oaxaca), such as Yucuita , Yucuñudahui and Monte Negro . As well as discovering new sites Caso also sought to interpret them, establishing the chronology of Monte Albán history, and deciphering Mixtec codices . Throughout his life Caso wrote books about native Mesoamerican cultures, including those of

7062-675: The government sponsored Mexican mural program planned by Vasconcelos. See also Mexican muralism . The program included such Mexican artists as José Clemente Orozco , David Alfaro Siqueiros , and Rufino Tamayo , and the French artist Jean Charlot . In January 1922, he painted – experimentally in encaustic – his first significant mural Creation in the Bolívar Auditorium of the National Preparatory School in Mexico City while guarding himself with

7169-556: The head and shoulders of a skeletal woman in a big hat. Rivera endowed his Catrina figure with indigenous features and thus transformed her into a nationalist icon. Catrina is the most common image associated with Day of the Dead . In 1926, Rivera became a member of AMORC, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis , an occult organization founded by American occultist Harvey Spencer Lewis . In 1926, Rivera

7276-545: The inscription. He stated: "To affirm 'God does not exist', I do not have to hide behind Don Ignacio Ramírez; I am an atheist and I consider religions to be a form of collective neurosis." From the age of ten, Rivera studied art at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City . He was sponsored to continue study in Europe by Teodoro A. Dehesa Méndez , the governor of the State of Veracruz . After arriving in Europe in 1907, Rivera first went to Madrid, Spain to study with Eduardo Chicharro . From there he went to Paris , France,

7383-418: The land that he acquired in the Pedregal de San Ángel to plan his museum and City of the Arts. In the preparatory drafts, a plaza for art and handcart workshops was included, as well as forums dedicated to the performing arts, permanent exhibition halls and a Mexican art museum with nine venues. Rivera expended a considerable amount of his earnings in what would be one of the most ambitious projects of his life:

7490-425: The larger ones are longitudinal, one being clearly more integrated into the central space. On that same level is the space known as Diego Rivera's Studio. This section represents the earthly world, so its rooms are endowed with natural light, unlike the lower floor. After finishing the spaces mentioned above, the roof was built. The design of the second level forms a "U". In this area, the "crypts" were integrated into

7597-421: The longitudinal rooms, while the small rooms remained, repeating the layout of the lower ones. Although O'Gorman was determined to respect the scheme proposed by Rivera, this was not entirely possible in the case of the roof, since Diego had planned it with a singular lightness. This is demonstrated by two letters mentioned in this regard by the architect Ruth Rivera, Diego's daughter, and by Pedro Alvarado, one of

7704-407: The lower part of them. Likewise, the trapezoid-shaped roof is observed, reminiscent of ancient Mesoamerican structures. The ground floor of the Anahuacalli stands out for its complexity; it is made up of walls of different thickness depending on their function. The walls that are thicker, have a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete inside. The four vertices were preserved as "chambers", where

7811-524: The main building is the Diego Rivera gallery, a space for high-quality temporary exhibitions. Another fundamental place in this enclosure is the Sapo-Rana art library, which houses the collection of 2400 copies from the personal library of the anthropologist Eulalia Guzmán , who donated them to the Anahuacalli Museum in the 1950s. This library also has valuable art books, available to be consulted in

7918-579: The management company. Anti-Communism ran high in some American circles, although many others in this period of the Great Depression had been drawn to the movement as offering hope to labor. When Diego refused to remove Lenin from the painting, he was ordered to leave the US. One of Diego's assistants managed to take a few photographs of the work so Diego was able to later recreate it. American poet Archibald MacLeish wrote six "irony-laden" poems about

8025-457: The mosaics varies depending on the museum levels. While the designs of the ground floor mosaics are monochromatic, the mosaics on the upper sections were made with stones of different colors. In the windows, stones were placed in vertical cuts that simulated a fine rhythm that closed the large windows without horizontal lintels, but rather angular ones. The decision was to use a tecali stone in slabs as thin as they are translucent and thus achieve

8132-432: The most authentic and important components. Despite the essential collaboration of Caso, Pellicer did not organize the exhibition following historical or anthropological criteria while working under the supervision of Rivera. Differently, Pellicer prioritized the artistic quality of the pieces to organize its display, since this had been Rivera's motivation to assemble the collection in the first place. For this reason, none of

8239-554: The most beautiful works of this set in the museum's main building. Accordingly, a selection of 2,000 artworks, especially well executed and preserved, has been on display since the opening of the Anahuacalli to the public on September 18, 1964. The extravagant architecture of the building is inspired by Mesoamerican structures, with a unique style of its kind that mixes Mayan and Toltec influences mainly, although Rivera himself defined it as an amalgamation of Aztec , Mayan and "Traditional Rivera" styles. The Anahuacalli Museum building

8346-495: The mural Pan American Unity for the "Art in Action" program of the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE). In this mural painting, the artist shows a clear interest in extolling the pre-Hispanic cultures. After his return to Mexico in 1941, he is willing to begin the construction of a museum that socialises the pre-Columbian aesthetics, both through its architecture and the collection on display. For these purposes, Diego chooses

8453-539: The mural. The New Yorker magazine published E. B. White 's light poem, "I paint what I see: A ballad of artistic integrity", also in response to the controversy with number of sponsors taking offense to it. As a result of the negative publicity, officials in Chicago cancelled their commission for Rivera to paint a mural for the Chicago World's Fair . Rivera issued a press statement, saying that he would use

8560-421: The muralist's grandchildren. In these letters, Rivera highlighted: "the importance of Ajusco for the solution of his project" and how the roof should "rhyme with the nose of Pico del Águila ", due to its slender design. Rivera thought of a "light crowning", since "the truncated pyramid" must have "a new body that gives the building a vertical character", which contrasts "with the horizontal character achieved by

8667-415: The nation", writes Rodrigues. The mural also depicts Rivera's wife Guadalupe Marin as a fertile nude goddess and their daughter Guadalupe Rivera y Marin as a cherub. The mural was slightly damaged in an earthquake, but has since been repaired and touched up, remaining in pristine form. In the autumn of 1927, Rivera went to Moscow , Soviet Union, having accepted a government invitation to take part in

8774-558: The object of inspiration for renowned artists such as Dr. Atl and the architect Luis Barragán . Though it is believed that the main reason why Diego Rivera chose the San Pablo Tepetlapa rocky area to erect his Temple of the Arts was the availability of materials for the construction of his building there, it is not ruled out that Rivera could also have inherited the interest in Mexican flora and fauna from one of his teachers:

8881-445: The objects are shown linked to a museum card, since Rivera's intention does not respond to an archaeological classification, but to an aesthetic admiration. When master Rivera died, the Anahuacalli was still in its process of construction; hence his daughter, Ruth Rivera (1927–1969) together with the architects Juan O'Gorman (1905–1982) and Heriberto Pagelson, finished this project with the financial support of Dolores Olmedo . Thus,

8988-487: The organization of El Pedregal" in the newspaper Novedades . In this article, he outlined the advantages of rocky terrain for building houses. In said document, he speaks of the Pedregal as a possible site for the creation of a new city, since it did not present the climate and economic complications belonging to the older regions of Mexico City, where the soil was spongier. On the other hand, one of Diego's greatest concerns

9095-467: The outside and translucent from the inside. These thin windows allow the passage of dim natural light; this is a sensible feature considering that the level where these windows are located represents the Underworld . On the part that is immediately upstairs the access level, the enormous windows that illuminate the interior of the intermediate floor stand out, among which two snake heads can be seen in

9202-487: The painter José María Velasco . Velasco's work is not only concentrated on landscape painting, but also ventured into the field of scientific illustration. In addition, it is likely that the foregoing influenced Diego's preference for using plants typical of semi-arid regions and xerophytic scrub, as opposed to the trends of the time that showed a clear preference for gardens with European aesthetics and botanical composition. In 1949, Rivera published his text "Requirements for

9309-458: The painter, declares: "When the collection was very incipient, around 1934, he actually had very selected pieces; each one of them he placed on a base. Later, when the quantity was overwhelming, when it went up to 30,000 pieces, he just placed them where they fit". By the year of his death, in 1957, master Rivera had more than 40,000 pieces collected. Dolores Olmedo (1908–2002), Rivera's former patron, counted 59,400 pieces. Diego Rivera's interest in

9416-434: The painter, the American journalist Betty Ross commented that "The master affectionately touched a stone figure, which probably dated back thousands of years (…) he introduced me to Centéotl , a corn goddess, near whom Tlaloc was sitting, god of the waters (...)". The foregoing demonstrates the great veneration that Diego Rivera had towards his pre-Hispanic artworks, as well as the appropriate manner he approached them. It

9523-474: The pre-Hispanic past coincides with the years in which nationalist thinking was formed as a result of the Mexican Revolution . Like his contemporaries, he did not only value the remains of pre-Columbian cultures, but also considered the pieces from Tlatilco , Teotihuacán and Western Mexico as foundational works of Mexican aesthetics. The painter saw in the enlargement of his collection much more than

9630-504: The pre-Revolutionary Russian Empire. They married in 1911, and had a son, Diego (1916–1918), who died young. During this time, Rivera also had a relationship with painter Maria Vorobieff-Stebelska , who gave birth to a daughter named Marika Rivera in 1918 or 1919. Rivera divorced Beloff and married Guadalupe Marín as his second wife in June 1922, after having returned to Mexico. They had two daughters together: Ruth and Guadalupe . He

9737-479: The process necessary to communicate the complexity of his ideas. Among the drafts that are exhibited, stands out the one made for the mural Man at the Crossroads , painted in 1932 at the Rockefeller Center and later destroyed by the orders of magnate Nelson Rockefeller . Likewise, Historia del Estado de Morelos , part of the mural at the Palacio de Cortés in Cuernavaca , Conquest and Revolution (1933), and

9844-412: The remaining money from his commission at Rockefeller Center to repaint the same mural, over and over, wherever he was asked, until the money ran out. He had been paid in full although the mural was reportedly destroyed. There have been rumors that the mural was covered over rather than removed and destroyed, but this has not been confirmed. In December 1933, Rivera returned to Mexico. He repainted Man at

9951-480: The room. In 2021, a remodeling of this library was inaugurated, within the framework of the project "Remodeling and Construction of New Spaces of the Anahuacalli Museum". This intervention turned the Library into a multidisciplinary place, endowed with an interior architecture that enjoys a modern and functional design, which enables it to exhibit contemporary art installations and artworks of all kinds, as well as being

10058-595: The sketches for The Portrait of America at the New Workers School New York, are impressive. There is a sketch of a nude made for the mural in the Chapingo Chapel and a drawing that does not belong to any mural, entitled "Diego as a child drawing", in which he conveys his early passion for figuration. Diego Rivera Diego Rivera ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo riˈβeɾa] ; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957)

10165-583: The then director of the National Museum of Anthropology , Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla Cedillo (1907–1990), carried out a project in collaboration with the Directorate of Primary Night Education. The initiative consisted of a traveling exhibition of pre-Columbian art, which should allow students to appreciate an enhanced graphic panorama of pre-Hispanic life. Pieces from the Diego Rivera's collection formed part of this educational art show. Currently,

10272-545: The time, the Mexican Communist Party excluded persons involved in Freemasonry , and regarded AMORC as suspiciously similar to Freemasonry. Rivera told his questioners that, by joining AMORC, he wanted to infiltrate a typical "Yankee" organization on behalf of Communism. However, he also claimed that AMORC was "essentially materialist , insofar as it only admits different states of energy and matter, and

10379-449: The university's chapel between 1923 and 1927. Fertile Land depicts the revolutionary struggles of Mexico's peasant (farmers) and working classes (industry) in part through the depiction of hammer and sickle joined by a star in the soffit of the chapel. In the mural, a "propagandist" points to another hammer and sickle. The mural features a woman with an ear of corn in each hand, which art critic Antonio Rodriguez describes as evocative of

10486-432: The will that Rivera expressed for the Anahuacalli, contemporary art exhibitions are presented on the premises. These proposals are carefully chosen, as they must alternate harmoniously with the museum's architecture, with the pre-Columbian art on display, with the nature that surrounds it, and with the foundational and evolving concept of Diego's Anahuacalli. The Anahuacalli is a testimony to Rivera's generosity; he created

10593-402: The words of Frida herself: "(…) after his painting work, what excites him most in his life are his idols (…). His idea was always to build a house for the idols." In said letter, Frida expresses her concern for the sadness of her husband, not having sufficient financial resources to complete the building. As a result, she proposes to the engineer Marte R. Gómez, that the Mexican government supports

10700-537: Was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals in, among other places, Mexico City , Chapingo , and Cuernavaca , Mexico; and San Francisco , Detroit , and New York City , United States. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; this

10807-460: Was a student, and she was 22 years old when they married; Rivera was 42. Also in 1929, American journalist Ernestine Evans 's book The Frescoes of Diego Rivera , was published in New York City; it was the first English-language book on the artist. In December, Rivera accepted a commission from the American ambassador to Mexico to paint murals in the Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca , where the US had

10914-419: Was able to display them at several exhibitions. Rivera claimed in his autobiography that, while in Mexico in 1904, he engaged in cannibalism, pooling his money with others to "purchase cadavers from the city morgue" and particularly "relish[ing] women's brains in vinaigrette". This claim has been considered factually suspect or an elaborate lie. He wrote in his autobiography: "I believe that when man evolves

11021-424: Was among the founders of AMORC's Mexico City lodge, called Quetzalcoatl after an ancient indigenous god. He painted an image of Quetzalcoatl for the local temple. In 1954, Rivera tried to be readmitted into the Mexican Communist Party. He had been expelled in part because of his support of Trotsky , who had been exiled and assassinated years before in Mexico. Rivera was required to justify his AMORC activities. At

11128-426: Was before he completed his 27-mural series known as Detroit Industry Murals . Rivera had four wives and numerous children, including at least one illegitimate daughter. His first child and only son died at the age of two. His third wife was fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo , with whom he had a volatile relationship that continued until her death. His fourth and final wife was his agent. Due to his importance in

11235-499: Was published posthumously in 1960. Beginning with a 1944 interview for a newspaper article, March "spent several months each year with Rivera, eventually filling 2,000 pages with his recollections and interpretations of his art and life", and compiled an autobiography, written in the first person. Alfonso Caso Alfonso Caso y Andrade (1 February 1896 – 30 November 1970) was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico . As

11342-477: Was still married when he met art student Frida Kahlo in Mexico. They began a passionate affair and, after he divorced Marín, Rivera married Kahlo on August 21, 1929. He was 42 and she was 22. Their mutual infidelities and his violent temper resulted in divorce in 1939, but they remarried December 8, 1940, in San Francisco , California. A year after Kahlo's death, on July 29, 1955, Rivera married Emma Hurtado, his agent since 1946. In his later years Rivera lived in

11449-556: Was the preservation of the natural landscape; accordingly he drafted a series of specifications so as not to damage the ecosystem during the works. The artist considered that the lava had to be protected, since it endowed the territory with its unique beauty. Rivera sought to preserve this same lava attribute, in what is now the Ecological Reserve of Anahuacalli. The Anahuacalli Museum is the only museum in Mexico that has an ecological zone of 28000 square meters that remains in

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