Mexican Modern Art 1910 - 1950 (25)


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Source: WTL photograph© at the Special Exhibition of "Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910 - 1950," at the Philadelphia Art Museum, December 13, 2016.
Image: "Liberation of the Peon" (1931) by Diego Rivera (1886-1957). Fresco on reinforced cement in galvanized steel frame.
Comments: Rivera created this fresco panel for a traveling solo exhibition that started at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and moved next to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1932. This particular panel is based on a mural he created at the Ministry of Public Education in 1923, at the beginning of the national public eduational program that fostered Mexican Muralism. The content of this work is a reflection of a 1305 fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Giotto, which Rivera saw on his visit to Italy before he returned to Mexico. Some elements of the Mexican Revolution to notice in this panel: (a) the burning hacienda in the upper background; (b) the four Revolutionary soldiers untying--that is, liberating--a bleeding peon who had been flogged at and tied to a post; (c) and the four horses who seem to be depicted in attitudes of sympathetic or empathetic witnesses.
Humanities Question: Comment on the similarities and difference in (a) your own view and reaction to this work, (b) how museum visitors in the United States might have reacted to this work in 1931 and 1932 (i.e., worldwide Depression years), and (c) how Mexicans would have seen this work in 1923 and now.


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