Nov. 1 Class

Today I collected and marked everyone's preliminary work for the Hero project.  You should all be ready to start on the final drawing as of today.

I also took some time to talk about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.  They are the most famous Mexican artsits and we will be seeing their work on the field trip next week!

Handout: Questions on Frida and Diego

Here are examples of their work that we discussed.

Starting with Diego who was inspired by the Renaissance frescos to paint large scale murals:

He painted murals that represented the history of Mexico on a grand scale.

Man, Controller of the Universe.   You can find hints of his political and religious views in this piece.  He belonged to the Communist Party in Mexico and he was an atheist.

You can see his fondness of depicting working class people at the centre of his images. 

Liberation fo the Peon.  Read about this one on page 529 of your textbook.

Now for Frida Kahlo.  She was not very famous when she was alive, but in recent decades she has gained immense polarity.  In 2002 a movie was made of her life called Frida.  Whereas Diego painted the Mexican society, Frida turned her artistic talents inwards to paint her inner struggles and torment.  She contracted polio at the age of 8 and was seriously injured in a bus accident at the age of 18.  The accident broke almost every bone in her body and made it impossible for her to have children.  Her injuries caused her to experience intense pain throughout her life.

Most of her works are self portraits because she claims that is what she knew best.

Two versions of herself; one with a broken heart, one that is whole.

Can you feel her pain and torment in her work?

Frida and Diego Rivera.  Read about this one on page 532 of your textbook.

 Their relationship was a tumultuous one.  They were married, divorced and remarried, both having multiple affairs.  He was 20 years older than her and was already a famous figure when they met, while she was still an art student.  She died in 1954 and he died three years after.