The Art of Diego

Diego Rivera is best known as a mural painter, but he also did a large number of smaller paintings and drawings.  Dolores Olmedo was a close friend of Rivera's and collected 145 of his works.  It comprises the largest collection of Rivera's art in the world.  Not all of the collection is on exhibit at any one time, but there were still a formidable number of his works on display.  It's going to take several blog posts to present them all.

In this post we'll look at some of the art he did as a young man while living and studying in Spain and France between 1907 and 1920.

"Self Portrait with a Broad-brimmed Hat" 1907

"The Picador"  1909

"At the Toledo Fountain"  1913

"The Old Men" 1912

While in Europe, Rivera experimented with Cubism.

"Sun Breaking Through the Mist"  1913

"The Young Man with a Fountain Pen"  1914

"The Trail" 1915

"The Telegraph Post"  1916

"Still Life with Utensils"  1917

"Composition with Bust"  1916

"Knife and Fruit in Front of a Window"  1917

With this painting Rivera begins to break from Cubism.

"Woman with Geese"  1918

You have to look closely to see the woman and her geese.

"Landscape in Midi"  1918

The painting is reminiscent of Cezanne

"Still Life"  1918

"The Mathematician" 1919

By this time the break with Cubism is complete.

In 1921 Rivera returned to Mexico where he became a leading member of the Mexican muralist movement.

More art by Diego Rivera in the next post.

The Art of Frida

The Dolores Olmedo Museum has the world's largest collection of works by Frida Kahlo.  Two galleries of the museum are devoted to her art.  The last time I was at the museum, many years ago, the Kahlo paintings were not on display.  They were on tour outside of Mexico.  So I was interested in seeing the collection.

I know that many will disagree with me, but I have never been a big fan of Kahlo's art.  I was studying in Mexico in the 70s when I first saw any of her paintings.  At the time I thought, "Who is she, and what's the big deal?"  I think that a part of today's "Frida mania" is as much about the tragic and dramatic circumstances of her life as her artistic talent.  I feel that there are a number of other female artists from Mexico that deserve as much recognition.

Seeing the collection at the Olmedo Museum really did not really change my opinion of her.  One thing that I did note, however, was that her work did not consist solely of self portraits.  Every painting that I had seen previously was a depiction of herself with an occasional picture of her husband Diego Rivera thrown in.  It made me think that she was very self-centered.  This collection contained a number of portraits of other people. 

"Portrait of Luther Burbank"  1932

(Burbank was a famous botanist and horticulturist.)

 "Portrait of Alicia Galant"  1927

(Galant was a personal friend of Frida's)

"Nude of Eva Frederick" 1931

(This drawing was done while Frida was visiting California.  The identity of the subject is debated.  Some say that she was an acquaintance of Frida's; others say that she was a professional black model.)

"The Hand" 1930

"The Mask of Madness"  1945

"My Nurse and I"  1937

"A Few Small Nips" 1935

This grisly scene is based on a newspaper story about a man who murdered his girlfriend, and who in court later said, "I just gave her a few small nips."

"The Broken Column" 1944

"Without Hope"  1945

"Henry Ford Hospital"  1932

Frida traveled with Diego to Detroit when he was commissioned to paint a series of murals at the Detroit Institute of Art.  While in Detroit, Frida, who was three and a half months pregnant suffered a life-threatening miscarriage.

"Frida and the Miscarriage"  1932

"The Bus" 1929

This painting is a subtle allusion to the horrific bus accident in 1925 when she was an eighteen year old schoolgirl which left her with life-long pain.

"The Girl Virginia" 1929

"Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo"  1944

The woman was the mother of Eduardo Morillo, a Mexican diplomat who commissioned Frida to paint several portraits of his family members.

"Self Portrait with Small Monkey"  1945

Pre-Hispanic and Folk Art

Although the Dolores Olmedo Museum is best known for its collection of paintings by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Olmedo was also an avid collector of pre-Hispanic and folk art.

Interspersed among the galleries of Rivera paintings are showcases filled with some of the more than 900 pieces of pre-Hispanic art that she collected.

As I mentioned before, she was very fond of "xolos", Mexican hairless dogs, and she collected earthenware figures of dogs from the ancient Colima culture of western Mexico.

Mayan incense burners

A monumental Mayan carving

A piece from the Zapotec culture

I assume that this was the kitchen in the original house.  It is decorated in a traditional style, and there are clay cooking pots.

A case filled with porcelain dinnerware

In the courtyard there were two "Trees of Life", large, elaborate clay pieces from the town of Metepec in the State of Mexico.

This one follows the original theme of "Trees of Life"... the Bible story of Adam and Eve.

Later artists created "Trees of Life" that have a wide variety of themes.  This one is a Day of the Dead tree with skeletons and skulls.

At the far end of the grounds is a building which I almost missed.  It contains some of Olmedo's extensive collection of Mexican handicrafts and folk art.  As I mentioned previously, Olmedo was an avid supporter of traditional Mexican culture, and she collected all things Mexican.

At the entrance, however, there was a grouping that I suspect was not a part of her collection, but something that was placed there to celebrate the World Cup games in Mexico.  It is a group of skeletons playing soccer.

Not all of the folk art is labeled.  I have seen enough Mexican handicrafts over the years that I could tell the origin of most of the pieces.

  Ceramic animal figures from the town of Tonalá in the state of Jalisco

The distinctive red glassware from Guadalajara, Jalisco

Masks from the state of Guerrero

"Cartonería" is the art of creating figures out of cardboard and papier mache.

A band of skeletal musicians of "cartonería"

Even though the eyebrows don't quite meet to form an unibrow, I think this skeleton is supposed to represent Frida Kahlo.

 Talavera pottery, a specialty of the city of Puebla

Two more "Trees of Life"

The famous black pottery from the town of San Bartolo de Coyotepec in the state of Oaxaca.

A clay jaguar figure from Amatenango del Valle in Chiapas.

Next we will begin to look at the museum's main claim to fame... its collection of paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, unsurpassed in the world.