In 1920, following a decade of a civil war, the Mexican revolution overturned a dictatorship and emerged as a constitutional republic. Mexicanidad emerged as a way of establishing a new modern national identity.
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon had a special exhibit on Mexican Modernism. According to the display:
“Mexicanidad, a political and populist movement that developed following the revolution, blended agrarian and Indigenous traditions with the anti-colonialist sentiment that fought for independence from Spain one hundred years earlier. As key members of the revolutionary movement, artists captured this vision in murals, paintings, prints, and photographs.”
With regard to the artists of Mexican Modernism:
“They experimented with style and imagery and actively contributed to the creation of narratives linking Indigenous and mestizo cultures to the founding of the new modern nation. Aware of the global movement of modernism—which stressed innovation in form, a tendency towards abstraction, and an emphasis on materials and process—Mexican modernists turned to ancient artworks as models for abstraction and as guides for figurative realism.”
One of the key leaders of the Mexican Modernism art movement was Diego Rivera (1886-1957). Rivera, born in Guanajuato in Central Mexico, became one of the most celebrated artists of his day. In 1931, he was the second artist to be honored with a solo retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (Henri Mattisse was the first). Shown below are some of his works which were displayed.
Shown above is Calla Lily Vendor, 1943, oil on Masonite.
According to the display:
“Painting such as Calla Lily Vendor embody the revolutionary and modernist ideals that flourished in Mexico between 1920 and the 1950s. The women wear the traditional quexquémitl, a poncho-like garment that signifies the Indigenous cultures. The robust blossoms suggest the bounty of the earth and connect the figures to a rural way of life.”
Shown above is The Last Hour, 1915, oil on canvas.
Shown above is Landscape with Cacti, 1931, oil on canvas.
Shown above is Two Burros in a Mexican Town Scene, 1934, watercolor on paper.
Shown above is Untitled, 1930, graphite on cream laid paper.
Shown above is Modesta, 1937, oil on canvas.
According to the display:
“Rivera painted several small portraits of children. They were often the children of close friends and relatives or of his household staff. Modesta was a daughter of Delfina Flores who worked for Rivera. She wears a traditional dress and sits on a rush chair, a typical piece of furniture in a Mexican home at this time.”
Shown above is The Healer, 1943, gouache on paper.
According to the display:
“This traditional healer is surrounded by the materials of his trade: baskets full of medicinal ingredients, dried herbs, and other produce. Many of Rivera’s paintings from this period record aspects of culture that were quickly disappearing from urban life.”
Shown above is Sunflowers, 1943, oil on canvas.
Shown above is Nude with Beads (Frida Kahlo), 1930, lithograph.
Shown above is Portrait of Natasha Gelman, 1943, oil on canvas.
More art museum exhibits
Portland Art Museum: Frida Kahlo, mestiza artist (museum tour)
Portland Art Museum: Portaiture (museum tour)
Portland Art Museum: Isaka Shamsud-Din, Black artist (museum tour)
Museums 101: Rodin's Women (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Rodin's Vase of Titans (Photo Diary)
Missoula Art Museum: An Unnatural History (photo diary)
Missoula Art Museum: Burnt Fossils (photo diary)
Museums 101: Abstract Glass Sculpture (Art Diary)