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Taschen Basic Art
Diego Rivera, 1886-1957: A Revolutionary Spirit in Modern Art (Taschen Basic Art) by Andrea Kettenmann (2001) Paperback
Revolutionary and troublemaker Diego Rivera (1886-1957) pioneered public art - particularly with his magnificent murals - that was both highly advanced and profoundly accessible. His tumultuous career is surveyed in this richly illustrated Spanish-language entry in the Basic Art series celebrating major artists. This enticing collection shows both the wide range of his art and its influence on other painters and artistic movements.
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First published January 1, 1996
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May 8, 2021RIVERA: A Revolutionary Spirit in Modern Art, by Andrea Kettenmann, translated from the German by Antony Wood, 1997/2016 - Taschen Basic Art 2.0 series
"As an artist I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wanted me to see." --Diego Rivera
The cover depicts a small scene from Rivera's much larger mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park", 1947-48, showing a child Diego, holding hands with a stylized Nahuatl goddess, as a maternal Frida holds a yin yang...
(There's a lot to psychoanalyze here!)
The long shadow and the complicated legacy / genius of Diego Rivera. His name, along with his wife Frida Kahlo, largely define 20th-century Mexican art.
His work is on full display in this beautiful volume, as well as details on his life: his childhood in Mexico, the death of his twin brother, his ethnic "mestizo" identity, early affinity for art, formal studies in Europe, personal life with several partners and children, and an illustrious and celebrated career - but not without controversy.
His infamous "Man at the Crossroads" mural was originally commissioned by the the titan Rockefeller family, for the Rockefeller Center in NYC. Later drew the harshest criticism for clear and recognizable depictions of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, and it was destroyed. Thankfully the piece was redraughted and painted in Mexico City at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, in a nearly 5 x 12 meter space.
Taschen's full color panels and biographical details have long been favorites of mine in the art history sphere. Primarily works by German-speaking art historians, these books are translated into English, and usually around 100 pages.
"As an artist I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wanted me to see." --Diego Rivera
The cover depicts a small scene from Rivera's much larger mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park", 1947-48, showing a child Diego, holding hands with a stylized Nahuatl goddess, as a maternal Frida holds a yin yang...
(There's a lot to psychoanalyze here!)
The long shadow and the complicated legacy / genius of Diego Rivera. His name, along with his wife Frida Kahlo, largely define 20th-century Mexican art.
His work is on full display in this beautiful volume, as well as details on his life: his childhood in Mexico, the death of his twin brother, his ethnic "mestizo" identity, early affinity for art, formal studies in Europe, personal life with several partners and children, and an illustrious and celebrated career - but not without controversy.
His infamous "Man at the Crossroads" mural was originally commissioned by the the titan Rockefeller family, for the Rockefeller Center in NYC. Later drew the harshest criticism for clear and recognizable depictions of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, and it was destroyed. Thankfully the piece was redraughted and painted in Mexico City at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, in a nearly 5 x 12 meter space.
Taschen's full color panels and biographical details have long been favorites of mine in the art history sphere. Primarily works by German-speaking art historians, these books are translated into English, and usually around 100 pages.
May 27, 2023
Книжка норм, Дієго хуй
March 31, 2021
Sisteminga ir neprimityvi informacija, puikios ir kokybiškos iliustracijos. Lėtai bandau susirinkti visą kolekciją Basic Art Series 2.0. Tobulas formatas, kai norisi sužinoti apie tam tikrą asmenybę plačiau, bet ne "sausai".
January 14, 2012
Artist Diego Rivera was born at the end of the nineteenth century and grew up in a time when the world was changing by leaps and bounds. He was repeatedly caught up in political intrigue around the world and featured some of these revolutionaries in his painting. Rivera also embraced a rare dedication to realism in his work.
Rivera painted the everyday man with honor and respect. In his hands, the peasant woman nursing her child, the worker chiseling at a wall, woman carrying baskets of fruit to market, nun working in the vines, men and women gathering corn in a field or celebrating a feast all became great works of art.
Rivera’s painting of the Great City of Tenochtitlan is stunning. Painted in 1945, this impressive work shows the market place of the Aztec city, alight with the colors of the day. Other frescoes painted in San Francisco highlight the promises of wealth in the new world.
Diego Rivera’s painting reflects the time at which he lived, filled with contrast and progress. Color and light evolve from the stylized portraits of the Flemish masters to grid composition and finally to the realistic style that we embrace today.
While reading this book, I learned a lot about art, but also much about the times in which Diego Rivera lived. These were difficult years, an era filled with peril, strife and hardship as the world swirled with Socialism and Communism. Factions fought against each other in brutal power struggles, often catching the innocent in a vice of destruction. Yet, through his splendid paintings, frescoes and line drawings, the man who was Diego Rivera lives on, something that all of us can appreciate.
Rivera painted the everyday man with honor and respect. In his hands, the peasant woman nursing her child, the worker chiseling at a wall, woman carrying baskets of fruit to market, nun working in the vines, men and women gathering corn in a field or celebrating a feast all became great works of art.
Rivera’s painting of the Great City of Tenochtitlan is stunning. Painted in 1945, this impressive work shows the market place of the Aztec city, alight with the colors of the day. Other frescoes painted in San Francisco highlight the promises of wealth in the new world.
Diego Rivera’s painting reflects the time at which he lived, filled with contrast and progress. Color and light evolve from the stylized portraits of the Flemish masters to grid composition and finally to the realistic style that we embrace today.
While reading this book, I learned a lot about art, but also much about the times in which Diego Rivera lived. These were difficult years, an era filled with peril, strife and hardship as the world swirled with Socialism and Communism. Factions fought against each other in brutal power struggles, often catching the innocent in a vice of destruction. Yet, through his splendid paintings, frescoes and line drawings, the man who was Diego Rivera lives on, something that all of us can appreciate.
January 26, 2020
Esta es mi primera vez leyendo un libro de arte, la verdad este es un tema que desde hace unos años me ha empezado a llamar la atención y aunque sabía algunas cosas por la escuela y por pequeñas investigaciones que realice en internet. Nunca había leído un libro dedicado a este tema. Y como este libro llego a mis manos hace unos meses decidí leerlo para aprender más sobre la obra de este gran artista mexicano, y en general, del arte.
Y tengo que decirles, que esta fue una lectura muy interesante, con la cual aprendí muchas cosas y que despertó aún más mi curiosidad por este tema.
Reseña completa AQUÍ: https://bloglittledreams.blogspot.com...
Y tengo que decirles, que esta fue una lectura muy interesante, con la cual aprendí muchas cosas y que despertó aún más mi curiosidad por este tema.
Reseña completa AQUÍ: https://bloglittledreams.blogspot.com...
March 23, 2024
lo poco que yo conocía de diego era solamente lo que era relevante para entender a frida, entonces llegar a conocerlo más en este libro fue demasiado especial. frida sigue siendo mi pintora favorita, pero tengo que admitir que diego rivera es el pintor más importante, revolucionario e influyente de méxico... al menos en mi opinión. su pasión por honrar la cultura mexicana indígena mediante su arte es admirable y sus trabajos con mensajes socialistas siguen impactando el día de hoy. no puedo esperar para volver a méxico y mirar sus obras nuevamente pero con una perspectiva diferente. diego rivera, you will always be famous.
December 30, 2025
I feel an amount of unavoidable passion, pride, and caution to the great artist Diego Rivera. As a Mexican artist, communist, and someone with great reverence to my indigenous ancestry, I look to señor Rivera as both inspirational and cautionary. This book well summarizes his life and passion, keeping it brief and showcasing his art. I think it's worth checking out for someone interested in checking out who Rivera was but this book is not am exhaustive glance at who he was or why he was a flawed man or what we can learn from his mistakes.
January 2, 2025
Upon seeing many of his frescoes in real life, this book has truly allowed me to appreciate just how incredible Rivera was as an artist. So grateful to have been to Casa Azul, Palacio Nacional, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and even the house of Trotsky. Great introduction, although the description of his romantic life was rather off-putting considering this man was a serial cheater… I hope to visit Museo Anahuacalli one day.
November 30, 2023
more of a play-by-play of Diego’s CV than anything else, which can be a bit dry at times. biographical facts and controversies are briefly mentioned, glossed over, or not discussed at all. most frustrating of all: the author never really examines *how* or *why* Diego was a revolutionary spirit for modern art—which is sort of the whole point of this book.
April 5, 2021
I used this for an essay and it was fairly helpful. I think they simplified and glossed over a lot of stuff, which makes sense for the goal of the book, but was still somewhat disingenuous. It was not very academic and talked more about Rivera's life than his art or its significance.
May 1, 2023
This was perfect for me to read. I just went to the Diego Rivera special exhibit at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Ark. This book gave me a needed overview of his life and many of the pictures in the exhibit were in this book.
May 9, 2020
Beautiful Tashen book - perfect introduction to the life and art of Diego Rivera
July 6, 2020
Amazing and colorful book. Great pictures of Rivera's murals.
June 12, 2022
Le livre raconte de manière très détaillé la vie de Diego Rivera ainsi que ses œuvres.
Livre très intéressant pour en apprendre plus sur cet artiste mais aussi sur le "muralismo".
Livre très intéressant pour en apprendre plus sur cet artiste mais aussi sur le "muralismo".
November 30, 2025
Outro livro da coleção Taschen-jornal Público de pequeno formato.
Escrito por Andrea Kettenmann, de quem eu lera o livro sobre Frida Kahlo na mesma coleção.
Com muitas fotografias e pinturas do artista mexicano Diego Rivera, que cedo revelou os dotes artísticos.
Estudou e viveu na Europa, onde pintou segundo várias escolas, cubismo, entre outras.
De regresso ao México torna-se um grande pintor de murais, representando a história do seu país.
Casou-se com Frida Kahlo, também artista, sendo ela hoje mais conhecida que ela.
Viveu nos Estados Unidos, Chicago, Nova Iorque, onde trabalhou para grandes magnatas, como Rockefeller, Ford. Podemos dizer era ideologia comunista para clientes capitalistas.
Apoiante de Trotski a quem ofereceu a sua casa, quando este era um pária sem pátria, pois nenhum país queria receber este opositor a Stalin. Mais tarde, desentendeu-se com este.
====
Citação do livro:
Como artista excepcional, político militante e contemporâneo excêntrico, Diego Rivera teve um papel primordial numa época muito importante no México. Tornou-se, embora polémico, o mais citado artista do continente hispano-americano no estrangeiro. Foi pintor, desenhador, artista gráfico, escultor, arquitecto, cenógrafo e um dos primeiros coleccionadores de arte mexicana pré-colonial. O seu nome está relacionado com os de Pablo Picasso, André Breton, Leo Trotski, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti e, como não podia deixar de ser, Frida Kahlo. Foi, simultaneamente, alvo de ódio e amor, admiração e rejeição, lendas e difamação. O mito que, ainda em vida, se criou à volta da sua pessoa, não se deve somente à sua obra, mas também ao seu papel activo na vida política da sua época, às suas amizades e aos seus conflitos com personalidades famosas, à sua aparência fascinante e ao seu carácter rebelde.
Nas suas recordações, difundidas em diversas obras biográficas, Rivera contribuiu bastante para a criação do mito à volta da sua pessoa. Gostava de se apresentar como menino precoce de ascendência exótica, que combatera na Revolução mexicana como jovem rebelde, um visionário que se recusava a fazer parte da vanguarda europeia, e que estava predestinado para ser o cabecilha da revolução artística. A sua biógrafa, Gladys March, confirma, no entanto, que a sua vida real era muito mais banal e que Rivera tinha grandes dificuldades em separar a ficção da realidade.
Escrito por Andrea Kettenmann, de quem eu lera o livro sobre Frida Kahlo na mesma coleção.
Com muitas fotografias e pinturas do artista mexicano Diego Rivera, que cedo revelou os dotes artísticos.
Estudou e viveu na Europa, onde pintou segundo várias escolas, cubismo, entre outras.
De regresso ao México torna-se um grande pintor de murais, representando a história do seu país.
Casou-se com Frida Kahlo, também artista, sendo ela hoje mais conhecida que ela.
Viveu nos Estados Unidos, Chicago, Nova Iorque, onde trabalhou para grandes magnatas, como Rockefeller, Ford. Podemos dizer era ideologia comunista para clientes capitalistas.
Apoiante de Trotski a quem ofereceu a sua casa, quando este era um pária sem pátria, pois nenhum país queria receber este opositor a Stalin. Mais tarde, desentendeu-se com este.
====
Citação do livro:
Como artista excepcional, político militante e contemporâneo excêntrico, Diego Rivera teve um papel primordial numa época muito importante no México. Tornou-se, embora polémico, o mais citado artista do continente hispano-americano no estrangeiro. Foi pintor, desenhador, artista gráfico, escultor, arquitecto, cenógrafo e um dos primeiros coleccionadores de arte mexicana pré-colonial. O seu nome está relacionado com os de Pablo Picasso, André Breton, Leo Trotski, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti e, como não podia deixar de ser, Frida Kahlo. Foi, simultaneamente, alvo de ódio e amor, admiração e rejeição, lendas e difamação. O mito que, ainda em vida, se criou à volta da sua pessoa, não se deve somente à sua obra, mas também ao seu papel activo na vida política da sua época, às suas amizades e aos seus conflitos com personalidades famosas, à sua aparência fascinante e ao seu carácter rebelde.
Nas suas recordações, difundidas em diversas obras biográficas, Rivera contribuiu bastante para a criação do mito à volta da sua pessoa. Gostava de se apresentar como menino precoce de ascendência exótica, que combatera na Revolução mexicana como jovem rebelde, um visionário que se recusava a fazer parte da vanguarda europeia, e que estava predestinado para ser o cabecilha da revolução artística. A sua biógrafa, Gladys March, confirma, no entanto, que a sua vida real era muito mais banal e que Rivera tinha grandes dificuldades em separar a ficção da realidade.
August 1, 2013
This is one of the few Spanish-language books that I have read. it is a beautifuly illustrated homage to an artistic genius and visionary. His contribution to public art is well-known and wonderfully detailed in this full-color book.
July 30, 2016
For me personally, this is an extremely good intro book on Diego Rivera. Through a broad yet still detailed overview on the artist' s life experiences and adventures in many aspects as well as many of his mural works embedded in the book, I now have more admiration and knowledge on Rivera.
February 27, 2008
great insights to the political life of diego rivera as well as his numerous romantic relationships.
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November 21, 2009None
July 10, 2015
Diego Rivera is such an engrossing, larger-than-life character. Kettenmann must have labored really hard to produce a book so dry.
March 8, 2009
Good introduction to Diego Rivera.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews