Diego Rivera 

Diego Rivera (8 December, 1886 - 24 November, 1957)

One of the most important Mexican artists of the 21st century, Diego Rivera was known for his politically charged murals, strong ties to communism, and more recently his volatile relationship with Frida Kahlo. 

Rivera is considered one of the Tres Grandes (Big Three) artists from Mexico, which consist of himself, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. All three artists are recognised as some of Mexico’s most impactful artists, spearheading the Mexican Muralist movement. 

Although a devote communist, Rivera did business with some of the most influential capitalists of his day, including John D. Rockefella and Henry Ford. Diego Rivera’s most extensive body of murals was in fact commissioned by Henry Ford and is still on display in the Ford Center in Detroit, Michigan. John D. Rockefella also commissioned Rivera to paint a mural at the Reckefella Center in New York in 1932, but after the artist refused to remove images of prominent communist leaders from the mural, the work was chiseled off the wall in 1934.

Diego Rivera spend a number of years living and working in Europe, where he shared a studio with Pablo Picasso, and helped form the cubist movement. There is debate to this day of which artists created the first cubist painting. 

Rivera also lived and worked in San Francisco, California where he created his largest single mural - Pan American Unity for the  Golden Gate International Exposition held on San Francisco’s Treasure Island in 1940. The mural is currently on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Every work of art created by the hand of Diego Rivera is considered by the Mexican government to be a “national treasure” of Mexico. 

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