Product Description
Diego in detail: The most comprehensive study of Rivera's work ever made

A veritable folk hero in Latin America and Mexico's most important artist - along with his wife, painter Frida Kahlo - Diego Rivera (1886-1957) led a passionate life devoted to art and communism. After spending the 1910s in Europe, where he surrounded himself with other artists and embraced the Cubist movement, he returned to Mexico and began to paint the large-scale murals for which he is most famous. In his murals, he addressed social and political issues relating to the working class, earning him prophetic status among the peasants of Mexico. He was invited to create works abroad, most notably in the United States, where he stirred up controversy by depicting Lenin in his mural for the Rockefeller Center in New York City (the mural was destroyed before it was finished). Rivera's most remarkable work is his 1932 Detroit Industry, a group of 27 frescos at the Detroit Institute of Art in Michigan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Diego Rivera (New Zealand)
Having recently returned from an absolutely fantastic holiday in Mexico I was keen to relive the experience. A quick search of Amazon and I found exactly what I wanted. The book arrived within a week of ordering,well packaged and in pristine condition. I'll miss the sheer size and power of El Hombre Controlador Del Universo, miss that wonderful man who on our first day in Mexico excitedly explained brush stroke by brush stroke the political intrigue and depth; we were indeed privileged. Quite by chance that same wonderful man was at the Diego Rivera museum in the last hours we were in Mexico City. Once again he shared the intricacies of Sueno de una tarde dominical with us.
This book is the next best thing to being there.

A MUST-HAVE FOR DIEGO RIVERA FANS
This book is outstanding in many aspects - quality of printing, size, scope and editorial biograph.
It is a treasure for every true red-blooded Diego Rivera fan.The size of the book is 12" x 17.5" x 2.5".
So far, it is the most comprehensive study and reproduction of Diego's murals.It starts with his 1921 rendition of the CREATION at the Old College of San Ildefonso (1920s), and goes on to his to works at the Mexican Ministry of Education, the University of Chapingo, the Palacio Nacional, the Palacio de Cortez, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Rockefeller Center in New York, New Workers School in New York, San Francisco City College, Moscow's Pushkin State Museum of Art, Mexico's National Institute of Cardiology, the La Raza Medical Center and the Museo Anahuacalli, and his last works at the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico in 1957...a span of 37 years.

Another Taschen book for avid collectors. Luvit!

The best book ever about Rivera's Mural works
This is the best book ever about Rivera's murals work's. The book has a comprehensive list of murals and Rivera's WOrks and the image quality is excellents.

A beautiful book
My husband is a historian whose work involves art and culture in modern Latin America, so I got this for him as a birthday gift. It is absolutely gorgeous. All his friends are jealous! Amazon's price is great and the shipping was very thoughtful; even though it's a huge and heavy volume, it was well-padded and came through the mail in perfect shape. The color plates are fabulous, with fold-out pages to get the scope of the murals and lots of insets for greater detail, as well as plenty of text for a truly complete picture of Rivera's murals.

Zlatko
It doesn't get any better than this. I first saw the book at a friend's house and could not get home fast enough to order it. Couldn't wipe the smile off my girlfriends face when the book arrived addressed to her. We still look through it every day. Brilliant! ... Read more

Product Description
Diego Rivera - A revolutionary and troublemaker It was as a revolutionary and troublemaker that Picasso, Dall and Andre Breton described the husband of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, but he was also responsible for creating a public art that was both highly advanced and profoundly accessible. From 1910 Rivera lived in Europe where he absorbed the influence of Cubism. After the Mexican revolution, however, he returned to his homeland and harnessed the lessons of the European avant-garde to the needs of the Mexican people. His own murals, and those of the Mexican Muralists who followed his example, presented a utopian vision of a post-revolutionary Mexico. Rivera's historical paintings expressed his interpretation of the revolution and its ideals, in a style that showed him returning to the pre-Columbian roots of Mexican culture, re-inventing a colourfully realistic visual idiom that could appeal directly to a largely illiterate people. This is the first study which, independently of the exhibition circuit, coherently presents the work of this extraordinary artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Rivera by Andrea Kettnmann
Rivera by Andrea Kettenmann is a wonderful collection of reproductions of Rivera's work alongside biographical information, including photographs. Speaking of his apprentice years in EuropeKettenmann quotes him, saying, "The age of twenty is simply ridiculous, even when you're talking of Genghis Khan or Napolean."Rivera on board a ship says, "bawling out passages of Zarathustra in the face of the profound and melancholy silence of the ocean, is the most pathetic and kitchy thing I know.That was me." This quote is opposite the painting "House over the Bridge" done in Bruges in 1909 when he was young, bombastic and self-consciously intellectual.It is little known that the original drawing was done by his first wife Angeline Beloff(according to her memoir "Memorias") whose life is vividly depicted in "House on the Bridge: Ten Turbulent Years with Diego Rivera" (also available on Amazon.com.) I recommend both books highly.

Solid Overview
This concise book is a solid introduction to Diego Rivera.The text is a concise biography concentrating on his artistic career.There are abundant images showing his work across the whole length of his long and productive career. The images concentrate on his many important murals but there is a good selection of his other work.An important point, though it really emerges implicitly, is the eclectic nature of Rivera's influences.Rivera had rigorous classical training as a young man, had a modernist-cubist phase, was apparently influenced by Italian Renaissance fresco painting, and had a tremendous interest in Pre-Columbian art.I would have liked to read some more formal art criticism.For example, there are several comments on the influence of Renaissance fresco painting but we never see any specific examples.Image reproduction quality is good but the book is relatively small, which makes the murals look 'busy.'Still, as a short introduction, this is a very good effort. ... Read more

Product Description
A richly revealing document offering many telling insights into the mind and heart of a giant of 20th-century art. "Engrossing as a novel... throws a clear white light on one of the most spectacular artists of our time"—Chicago Sunday Tribune. "There is no lack of exciting material. A lover at nine, a cannibal at eighteen, by his own account, Rivera was prodigiously productive of art and controversy in his 70 years of life."—San Francisco Chronicle. 21 halftones. Index. Appendix.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Diego Rivera's Life Story
On a visit to Mexico City I saw this book at a store attached to a museum
depicting some of the work of Diego Rivera, the Mexican mural painter. I
promptly bought a paper - back copy of the book though at a greatly inflated price charged by the store.

Gladys March, an American journalist, commenced interviewing Rivera in 1944 for this book but it was not until a final manuscript had been checked by Rivera shortly before his death in 1957, that the book was finally published in 1960. She has done a superb job in writing the book as though it were an autobiography in Rivera's own words. An absolutely
fascinating 'extra' is the Appendix which recounts statements made by Rivera's four wives and/or live-in companions.

I strongly recommend the book to anyone who admires Mexican mural painting
and would like some knowledge of its supreme artist, Diego Rivera.

Fact and Fiction
This book is a mixture of fact and fantasy, the real real and imagined world as conjured by the mind of Diego Rivera as told to Gladys March. The invention of facts, the fabrication of the bits of truth to create a colorful story are the result of a newspaper interview that flourished into a series of interviews over many years. Beginning in1944 and continuing until his death in 1957 Gladys March spent several months each year collecting over 2000 pages of notes thateventually formed the basis of this book. As another customer reviewer stated this is not the place to start when you reading about the life of Rivera since the lines between fact and fiction are blurred at best. A more accurate picture can be found in "dreaming With His Eyes Open" by Patrick Marnham. If you have a foundation in the life and times of one of the great Mexican artists than this book reflects a colorfuland imaginative mind. The brillance of his art aside Diego reveals himself and makes no excuses for the parts of his pesonality that are less than desireable. He talks about his experiment in cannanbilsm, witchcraft, his blaphemous treatment of religion and the church, the communist party, his relationships with world leaders, artists and women, his advetures in Europe, the United Statesand Mexico, his troubles and ills , including his bout with cancer of the penis and in general the things that made his life as large as his physical presence.A very entertaining book that is easy to readbecause each small chapter deals with an extensive period of his life. All in all this is a good book to compliment other books on Rivera to get an even more accurate but distorted view of his brilliance. Included are several picturesand paintings from throughout his life. The man , the myth and the artist are here for you to decipher the truth and paint your own picture.

Strictly Fantasy
If you have not yet read anything about the life of Diego Rivera, don't start with this book. While Rivera's re-imagining of his life is riveting, it is merely one more tall tale.Rivera is known for many talents,however, sticking to the truth is not one of them.

If you already have asolid background in the artists life, then by all means read this book toget a sharper insight into his mental inner-workings! ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides an entertaining and humorous introduction to the famous artist, Diego Rivera. Full-colour reproductions of the actual paintings are enhanced by Venezia''s clever illustrations and story line.' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great for Elementary Art Teachers!
You can't go wrong with these Art books! I use them all the time in my Art room...great way to introduce the "sometimes" boring topic of Art history.

Diego Rivera
My son is 8 years old and had to do a book report over the summer on Diego Rivera.
This book was recommended by his teacher and I would highly recommend it as well.
Super easy to read and follow and made it interesting enough for my son to enjoy.
He was able to read this in a day! ... Read more

Product Description
A beautifully illustrated in-depth study of the most important North American work by the best-known Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. Early in the Depression, Diego Rivera was commissioned by Edsel Ford to create a series of murals in the gallery of the Detroit Institute of Arts, giant frescos whose theme would be America's industrial might. This volume studies the astonishing results and gives us a remarkably close look at Diego and his wife, Frida Kahlo. Rivera's Detroit Industry murals are one of this country's greatest treasures. In addition to providing full coverage and analysis of the murals, this volume includes chapters on the murals' planning and antecedents, Rivera's working methods (which can be read as a primer on frescos), Diego and Frida's lives for their nine months in Detroit, and the public's dramatic response to the strong socialist/communist themes in the works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Detroit: Then and Now
In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Diego Rivera arrived in Detroit, where, at the behest of Henry Ford, he beganmurals celebrating the American worker on the walls of the Detroit Institute of Arts.Completed in 1933, the piece depicted industrial life in the United States, concentrating on the car plant workers of Detroit.Though the fresco was the focus of much controversy, Edsel Ford, Henry's son, defended the work and it remains today Rivera's most significant painting in The United States.Rivera provided the first inspiration for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's WPA program.Of the hundreds of American artists who would find work through the WPA , many continued on to address political concerns that had first been publicly presented by Rivera.Both his original painting style and the force of his ideas remain major influences on American painting.At this critical time in the auto industry, Rivera's murals dramatically detail the beginning.

Viva Rivera, Viva Detroit!
For anyone who has ever been fascinated with Diego Rivera and his works, this is a wonderfully detailed guide to the Detroit Industry Murals. Readible either from cover-to-cover or in chapters, this book is filled throughout with photos, historic background, interviews and amazingly interesting details to all that went into the Detroit Industry Murals.Starting with other Rivera murals located across the United States, Downs leads into the situation of Henry Ford wanting a depiction of Detroit and the auto industry for a neglected garden gallery.A chapter details the fresco process used by Rivera during this immense project, and is skippable for those not interested in art technique.Another chapter details how Rivera and his wife, artist Fridah Kahlo, spend their time in the Motor City.The especially amazing introduction tells the story of how in 1979 Detroit Institute of Art staff found in a dusty closet the original "cartoons" (full size pencil sketches) that Diego Rivera had made during the planning and layout of the murals.Downs ends the book with reactions to the finished project, which ranged from churches outrage to extreme pride for the city's auto workers, which the work most positively depicted. Because of the artist's political convictions (Mexican communist) the murals were almost destroyed during the Cold War and had to be protected under armed guard.Detroit is the last place you would expect to find the masterpiece of the Mexican muralist movement's greatest son.Just like it's topic, this book is an amazing and unexpected masterpiece. ... Read more

Product Description
Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was the greatest Mexican painter of the century-an audacious muralist, voracious lover, and ardent leftist who befriended Pablo Picasso, married Frida Kahlo, and quarreled with Leon Trotsky. Pete Hamill, a best-selling novelist and one of America's most esteemed journalists, gives us an extraordinary book, now in paperback, on Rivera's life and art. Hamill, once a young art student in Mexico City, shows how, despite the political passions, Rivera created a body of work that still astonishes. Filled with superb reproductions and documentary photographs, Diego Rivera is a tour de force.

"In this tight and balanced look at Mexican painter Diego Rivera, Pete Hamill focuses on Rivera's work. While Hamill touches on Rivera's unpredictable temperament . . . notably displayed in his infamous marriage to Frida Kahlo . . . this gorgeous book devotes itself to Rivera's development as artist and political icon. . . .Hamill deftly shows why Rivera deserves to be remembered as one of the great painters of the twentieth century."-The Progressive

"A fascinating book . . . Hamill writes authoritatively about Rivera's work and diverse styles."-The New York Times Book ReviewAmazon.com Review
In another life, before becoming one of the best known and most popular journalists in New York and the author of the bestselling memoir A Drinking Life, Pete Hamill studied art on the GI Bill in Mexico City. Upon seeing the monumental work of José Clemente Orozco, however, he abruptly lost his nerve: "It seemed an act of self-delusion to try to be a painter."

After 44 years, Hamill has found a way to integrate his early affair with art, his lifelong love of Mexico, and his narrative gifts in this riveting and lushly illustrated book on Diego Rivera, Mexico's best-known, widely loved muralist. Hamill's text, he says, was completed before the publication of Patrick Marnham's Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera. This one is less scholarly but respectably researched, and Hamill's fervent opinions on which of Rivera's works are worthy and which are the sad effluvia of a Communist Party hack are remarkably persuasive. Hamill's esthetic judgment has led him to avoid reproducing any second-rate clunkers. He has chosen the great murals, paintings, and drawings that suit the godlike stature of this outsize artist who lied, cheated, womanized, and evaded responsibility his entire life, but who worked like a demon in the service of his art.

Rivera's shabby genteel childhood; his flight to France during the 10-year Mexican Revolution, during which nearly a tenth of his countrymen died; his callous abandonment of his first wife; his ugly political gambits and high-flown society contacts; his ultimately sad relationships with both men and women--Hamill weaves it all into a fantastic read. The book is not as balanced as Dreaming with His Eyes Open, but is nonetheless a passionate first look at an artist whose complicated life will probably still be examined decades from now. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

great artist, great writer
Buy this for the beautiful reproductions and intriguing photos that will have you dreaming of the non-beach areas of Mexico.

Buy this for the warm and beautiful writing even if you don't know who Diego Rivera is.

Re the reviewer who thought Hamill was hard on Rivera's politics: he was equally hard on Rivera's religious affiliation.Hamill is not interested in convincing the reader of any political or religious belief; he is interested in describing the difference between Rivera's greatest and weakest works.His opinion, of course, but the overall impression is one of great admiration for Rivera as a person as well as a painter, and the overall influence on the reader is one of opening the mind and not closing it.

Highly recommended.

Anti-left diatribe

The artwork in Hamill's volume almost makes the book worth its price, but his commentary is so unrelentingly anti-left that he does an injustice to Rivera's memory. Consider a representative passage: "The violent triumph of the Bolsheviks in October 1917 and the swift and bloody [sic] creation of the Soviet Union provided an instant model [for Mexican revolutionaries]. Many young intellectuals were persuaded that a Marxist-Leninist ideology could be imported to Mexico... They believed the lies about communist successes that were being sent to the world from Moscow. They truly believed that the new and glorious Soviet Union was a state where artists and writers flourished, and where millions of happy Russians, Slavs, and other ethnics were working selflessly toward common goals....It was an oddly innocent time. Nobody had yet heard the word gulag." Now any reader with even a limited knowledge of Soviet history can't help but find the sarcasm of this passage arresting. One need not be an apologist for Stalin and the crimes of the later Soviet Empire to acknowledge that in the early years of the revolution there was, in fact, a flowering of art and culture, a truly revolutionary environment that produced luminaries like Bakhtin and Eisenstein. Furthermore, Rivera, himself, was not an apologist for Stalinism and his own work fits well within the critical Western Marxist tradition that includes Lukacs (who, by the way, also admired Lenin), Benjamin, and even Adorno.

Hamill never loses an opportunity to attack Rivera's politics. Why such a strident anti-leftist would write a book on Rivera I'll will never understand. But the fact that this is the most readily available and one of the most handsome books on Rivera speaks volumes about the politics of the art publishing industry.

The life and the art. First rate!
Prior to reading Hamill's bio of Rivera I had read some of another, published the same year. I'm not sure why I was so cool to the book or why it left me irritated. But that would have been the end of my investigation of Rivera's life if I hadn't come across Hamill's book by accident.
I read a couple of pages and was hooked. Hamill is known to me as a fine journalist, editor and novelist but an art biographer? Yes! Yes! This book is a pleasure to read. The prose is clear, clean and engaging, yet it packs a lot of information. And what's the point of writing about a major painter and not printing any of his work? This book is filled with glorious, excellent color reproductions covering Rivera's entire life work. Hamill is not afraid to offer judgments but I thought they were fair and relevant. This is a solid piece of work. As a young man Hamill wanted to be a painter and went to Mexico City to study. He later lived in the city as a journalist. So there are many years of the love of Mexico and art behind this book.
If you want to know more about the Mexican revolution, the art scene in Paris around the years of WWI (Rivera accused Picasso of stealing ideas from him) how Mexico nurtured and esteemed its artists, and much more, read this book.

Coffee Table Material
If you admire Rivera, buy this book. It sits on our coffee table and is very alluring. It makes a great gift for any fan of this extraordinary artist.

Submitted by the author of "I'm Living Your Dream Life."

Blends both the highs and lows in his struggle
Unforgettable reading, Diego Rivera is a vivid, emotionally written biography of the famous Mexican artist, mural painter, and Communist activist Diego Rivera (1886-1957). Biographer Pete Hamill narration of Rivera's remarkable life is enhanced with Rivera's great works of art both in full color replications and through black-and-white photographs. With an informed and informative text more heavily weighted toward relating Rivera's life story than simply being a showcase of Rivera's great murals, Diego Rivera blends both the highs and lows in his struggle through life for meaning against a background of turbulent politics, as well as the overwhelming messages of his art. ... Read more

Product Description
Diego Rivera was perhaps the most beloved, well-known, and controversial Mexican artist of our era. Rivera's most famous paintings combine a warm sensitivity to rural life, while his murals explode with fiery political messages. Here are 22 of Rivera's most illustrious works, perfect for Mexican art lovers. 22 full-color postcards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Diego Rivera
Great depictions of some of Diego Rivera's work.Used in classroom during Mexican studies.

Diego Rivera Postcards
I bought these for my 7 year old grandson, who had just read about Rivera at school. I usually buy books, but this a a great alternative to add variety to learning. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A lovely biography of Diego Rivera by his daughter
My Papa Diego and Me is written by Diego Rivera's daughter-Guadalupe Rivera Marin-lending a nice personal touch to the biography. Marin has gathered 13 of her father's paintings and written her own recollections of them. The artwork, as you might imagine, is lush and colorful and does a wonderful job of introducing Diego Rivera's work to young readers. Marin's narrative gives us a glimpse into rural Mexican life at the turn of the century. Here's an example where she describes a drawing of a cover of a book called Fermin.

My father created this drawing for the cover of a book called Fermin. This book was used in rural schools of Mexico. It told the story of Fermin, the boy you see in the center of the drawing.

Fermin was a peasant boy who worked hard in the hot sun of the countryside. He went to school, read books about history, and eventually became a revolutionary leader. The story of Fermin was very important to my father. He wanted to show that all children, even those who grow up with very little, can become leaders. (p. 14)

The endplates on My Papa Diego and Me feature one of his most famous murals-Sueno de una tarde dominical en la Alameda. In it you see Diego as a young boy with an adult Frida Kahlo standing directly behind him. There are also some very sweet photographs of Diego and his daughter.

Awesome!
This book is beautiful! It is perfect for integrating culture, art, and narrative story telling in the classroom, at bedtime, or whenever! ... Read more

Product Description
This best-selling book, now available in an attractive flexi format, reveals the story of two creative geniuses whose important contributions to twentieth-century art were equaled by the public’s fascination with their tumultuous romance.

This captivating book delves into the forces that shaped Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s lives and art, and made them important painters in their own right. Elegant reproductions of their best-known works and historical photographs illustrate the thoughtful text, which explores the political, social, and cultural upheaval that was at the center of their relationship. What emerges is a portrait of the artists, the tension between their love for each other and their commitment to their work, and the indelible legacy of paintings, murals, and words they left behind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Intro into the Life of Kahlo & Rivera
This book is a very good introduction to the tragic love story of Frida Kahlo and her husband, the famous Mexican muralist and womanizer Diego Rivera. It presents an insight into their stormy relationship and how it affected her personal life and her art. If you are just getting acquainted with Frida Kahlo this is a great "Frida Kahlo 101" book. It's very well written and easy reading. There are several color illustrations of works by both artists as well as several black & white photos.Although several illustrations of their works are included, there is very little discussion of the works....this book is, for the most part, biographical.And, yes, as another reviewer on Amazon.com pointed out, there are a few typos in the text, and some of the sentence structure is a bit "unusual" and there are a couple of facts that aren't quite right...but just overlook that and you'll find this book very interesting and informative.

Beautiful
This is a wonderful short collection of color prints and includes an account of the lives of two great artists, troubled though they were. For art lovers who don't love spending a fortune on their art books, this volume is a natural. I highly recommend it.

FRIDA KAHLO AND DIEGO RIVERA
This book gave me a glimpse into Frida's life, the turmoil she must have constantly felt to love a man whose weakness was all women. I could almost feel her thoughts through the author's words.
The ending brought me to tears.I wish I knew her.Once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down!thank you for a glimpse into Frida and Diego's lives.

Errors, Typos - Poor quality - Photo selection good.
I'm baffled that a book can be published with so many typos and gross errors.Frida's name is even misspelled "Kahalo" in one place.It states her tragic accident happened on "17 December 1925" which it did not (it was September) and it says this twice.On the very next page it shows her diary entries discussing her pain from the injuries, the entries are dated October 1925 and on.I mean it's really distracting and totally unacceptable.Sentences were incomplete and you are left rereading and looking for the rest of the statement.Some of the sentences just didn't make any sense. I ended up reading with a pencil in hand to make corrections.As for the actual bio info, I agree it's interesting, but Frida and Diego were unquestionably fascinating people even in poorly written text.Thankfully I checked this out from our public library.I would NOT recommend this book to anyone.Get another bio from a different publisher.One that is reputable, responsible and does good work.I give it two stars for photo selection.

Does Life imitate Art?
This book provides better than average insight into lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.While people are now eagerly awaiting the Fall 2002 Selma Hayek movie on Frida, this book does provide some background into the world of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. If you are unfamilar with these artists this book would be a good place to start. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Latin American Culture and Art
Great resource for teaching about Latin American artisits and culture.The project ideas were original and the background information was very helpful. ... Read more

Product Description
Fun and innovative portrayal of the finest Mexican-style mural in the United StatesAn insightful look into the art of one of the most celebrated and controversial painters of his time

An important resource on this masterwork of modern artDiego Rivera's (1886-1957) Detroit Industry fresco cycle in the Detroit Institute of Arts is the finest Mexican-style mural in the United States. Completed in nine months, between July 1932 and March 1933, the murals are a tribute to Detroit industry and labor, and Rivera considered the cycle to be the most successful work of his career.Throughout the murals, Rivera celebrates the harmonies between man, nature, and machine. The cycle begins on the east wall, which depicts the origins of human life and technology. The panels on the west wall represent technologies of air and water and introduce the automobile industry. The north wall is devoted to representations of two races of humanity, the automobile industry, and scenes from other major Detroit industries: medicine, pharmaceuticals, and commercial chemicals. Panels on the south wall primarily depict the production of an automobile body.This unique volume details the murals with horizontal and vertical fold-outs ideal for the paintings' size and scope. A lively text includes information on the artist and his technique; the patron, Edsel Ford; and a detailed analysis of the various panels that make up the fresco cycle. ... Read more

Product Description
A celebration of a renowned artist and political activist.

Diego Rivera, in a career that spanned sixty years, produced some of the most distinctive and socially powerful works in modern art. Rivera was very much a twentieth-century renaissance man. He was a painter, printmaker, sculptor, book illustrator, one of the first collectors of pre-Columbian art, as well as a political activist. In both the United States and Mexico, Rivera's monumental frescos gave life to revolutionary themes, often offending the critics as well as the public. In New York's Rockefeller Center, for instance, his murals were destroyed because of public outrage over their strongly pro-communist content. This volume illustrates Rivera's life and work from his early years at the Mexican Academy of San Carlos and studies in Spain; his subsequent eleven-year sojourn in Paris in the first part of this century; to his efforts to establish a truly national Mexican style in the murals for which he is most famous. Accompanying Rivera's work are essays by noted scholars reevaluating his place in the history of modern art. 200 color plates, 325 black-and-white illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not upfront
Ordered this as a last minute gift.Advertised as new- then after the date it was supposed to have been shipped, got an email from the seller that it was actually used.I asked for a price adjustment based on the changed information but then sent a second email telling them to just send it as it was needed quickly.The seller never altered the price and actually charged more for shipping than what was stamped on the sent package.The book was fine and made a good gift for a Diego Rivera lover, but I felt the seller was not customer friendly therefore I will not be buying from them again.

Diego
Long out of print, this book has never been surpassed as "the complete Rivera." This volume illustrates Diego Rivera's life and work, from his early years at the Mexican Academy of San Carlos and studiesin Spain; his subsequent eleven-year sojourn in Paris in the first part ofthis century; to his efforts to establish a truly national Mexican style inthe murals for which he is most famous. Illustrations of Rivera's work areaccompanied by essays by noted scholars who reevaluate his place in thehistory of modern art. ... Read more

Product Description
Por estas paginas desfilan el colorido Coyoacan y el ambiente bohemio de Pari­s o Nueva York. Personajes como Leon Trosky y Tina Modotti, la famosa Casa Azul y las banderas rojas y, por supuesto, la famosa historia de amor entre Frida y Diego, como arquetipo de una epoca tumultuosa y aventuras transitorias. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

La obra mural completa de Diego Rivera Edición en Español
Cada mural de Rivera se puede observar con un lujo de detalle que ni siquiera es posible obtener frente al mural original.
Las explicaciones son satisfactorias.
El libro pesa 8,8kg.Es un libro para mesa y perfectamente un adorno para la sala de la casa.

EXCELENTE
Un libro monumental, con una calidad excepcional.

Las imágenes de los murales de Diego Rivera son nítidas, impresionantes.
Las explicaciones dadas a los trabajos, de primer nivel.
Debido a su tamaño XL, se trata de una obra que no es de consulta diaria, sino más bien es un libro de colección, para leer ocasionalmente y tener una mejor visión y comprensión de la obra de Rivera.
Hay que tener especial cuidado de sostener bien el libro, pues debido a su peso, probablemente sea fácil que tenga daños, como separarse las hojas o despegarse del lomo -a mi no me ha sucedido- aunque sabemos de la calidad de la casa editorial Taschen.

En conclusión, una muy buena obra, que si bien es un libro $$$caro$$$ vale la pena coleccionarlo. Sabemos que Taschen no los mantiene en imprenta por mucho tiempo, y en cuanto se terminen los ejemplares, su valor irá en aumento. ... Read more

Product Description
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. ... Read more

Product Description
The boldly political mural projects of Diego Rivera and other leftist artists in San Francisco during the 1930s and early 1940s are the focus of Anthony W. Lee's fascinating book. Led by Rivera, these painters used murals as a vehicle to reject the economic and political status quo and to give visible form to labor and radical ideologies, including Communism.

Several murals, and details of others, are reproduced here for the first time. Of special interest are works by Rivera that chart a progress from mural paintings commissioned for private spaces to those produced as a public act in a public space: Allegory of California, painted in 1930-31 at the Stock Exchange Lunch Club; Making a Fresco, Showing the Building of a City, done a few months later at the California School of Fine Arts; and Pan American Unity, painted in 1940 for the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Labor itself became a focus of the new murals: Rivera painted a massive representation of a construction worker just as San Francisco's workers were themselves organizing; Victor Arnautoff, Bernard Zakheim, John Langley Howard, and Clifford Wight painted panels in Coit Tower that acknowledged the resolve of the dockworkers striking on the streets below. Radical in technique as well, these muralists used new compositional strategies of congestion, misdirection, and fragmentation, subverting the legible narratives and coherent allegories of traditional murals.

Lee relates the development of wall painting to San Franciscos international expositions of 1915 and 1939, the new museums and art schools, corporate patronage, and the concerns of immigrants and ethnic groups. And he examines how mural painters struggled against those forces that threatened their practice: the growing acceptance of modernist easel painting, the vagaries of New Deal patronage, and a wartime nationalism hostile to radical politics.

"Anthony Lee is quickly emerging as a key figure for a whole new generation of scholars.This book on Diego Rivera is significant not only for the notable new insights it yields, but also for the disciplinary shifts that it signals. Deftly written yet replete with a density of engaged meaning that inspires critical admiration, this new look at Rivera will remain an important stimulus in the field for quite a while."--David Craven, author of Diego Rivera: As Epic Modernist

"This was a moment when painting mattered! In a deeply divided society, public art was a vector for contestation about what it was to be an American, a committed citizen, a moral being. With care and subtlety, and in fascinating detail, Lee shows how art, especially mural painting, became for a time the primary medium for the brokerage of power in the city of San Francisco itself. We see the murals afresh, we decipher the intense, sprawling, diversifying energies which shaped their now stilled surfaces. We might wish, these days, for a public art of similar consequence."--Terry Smith, author of Making the Modern: Industry, Art, and Design in America ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent!
(From Planeta Journal) - For visitors to Mexico City, obligatory visits include the National Palace, Bellas Artes and the Supreme Court -- all places where one can see the work of famed muralist Diego Rivera. His workis found elsewhere, and notably San Francisco, California, where the artistinspired and infuriated a generation of painters. Painting on the Left goesbeyond the work of Rivera and illuminates how public art was perceived atthe beginning of the 20th century. The descriptions of the bland muralsdecorating the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition are pricelessand likewise the authors interpretation of how artists began to depictsocial issues in their work. The lively narrative text is complemented withcolor photos and sketches. Excellent! ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses the childhood of Diego Rivera and how it influenced his art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A Biography for Young Readers about Diego Rivera
Diego is astraightforward biography that focuses on Diego Rivera's early life. The sentences are clear and concise, so that early readers will be able to follow along. We learn that he showed artistic promise at an early age, and that his parents supported him in his endeavors. Little things that happened to him as a child are described and give us an idea of his early childhood influences.

Diego didn't like everything he saw. That's why he helped the poor people fight their war for equality. They were fighting for fair wages and a better life. Diego loved his people more than anything, almost...
The thing he loved most was painting.

The illustrations are done in bold, vivid colors, and are very reminiscent of Rivera's style.

great choice
This book tells the story of Diego Rivera in a simple yet acurate fashion allowing children to follow along.The artwork is beautiful. I only wish it was a larger book (like the Frida book by the same author). I would highly recommend it, particulary to those of mexican/latino descent.

Diego for young people
This is a concise little biography about the artist, Diego Rivera. Winter (The Librarian of Basra, 2005) begins Rivera's story with his birth. He was a sickly infant who survived because of the devoted care of an Indian healer. His twin brother did not live. He was a daydreamer in school but his parents encouraged his artistic abilities. He studied art in Europe but was inspired by his memories of life in Mexico. Winter ends the book as Rivera's career as a painter whose "murals told the story of the Mexican people" is just beginning.

The text is in English and Spanish. Each of Winter's illustrations is edged in a unique painted frame. I wish they had chosen to feature the illustrations in a larger format. The paintings are colorful and engaging and deserve more page space.

The boy who was born to paint


Told in simple, straightforward text, this small children's book relates the story of Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican artist who loved his art and the people of his country. Diego spent his whole life painting, drawn to the vibrant colors and magical rituals of Mexico as well as the troubles of the people as they fought for equality and better working conditions.

At birth, Diego was not a strong child. He had a twin bother, Carlos, who died before he reached the age of two. Diego's parents, fearing their other son would die from the same illness as his small brother, sent him to a nurse, Antonia, who was also an Indian healer and lived in the mountains. Her cozy hut fragrant with burning candles and healing herbs, Antonia's mountain home was filled with fresh air and the natural plants necessary to make the boy well. Diego entertained himself with the animals around him; he even had a pet parrot and was soon well enough to return home to his parents.

Upon Diego's homecoming, his imagination already infused with the brilliant colors of nature, the boy began to draw and paint on very surface. He had difficulty in school, constantly distracted by the paintings he was dreaming of creating, unable to concentrate on anything but the wonderful world his mind inhabited. Finally Diego attended art school, but even that failed to stimulate the artist, for he felt constrained by the rules and the life drawings the teachers expected from their students. The paintings Diego imagined were of the bright fiestas, the celebration of the Day of the Dead and the struggles of the people confronting soldiers in the streets. Holding nothing back, it was Diego's plan was to show it all, the many faces of his beloved land. Returning from a visit to Italy, where he was impressed by the religious murals that covered the walls of the churches, Diego knew what he wanted to do.

He spent the rest of his life painting murals throughout Mexico, drawn to the folklore, rituals and struggles of the Mexican people, hiding from nothing, even the sometimes brutal street battle between soldiers and the workers. Diego Rivera is revered in Mexico, his paintings as popular today as when he first created them. Surely this little boy was destined to write the history of his country on the walls and churches of Mexico, a gift to last through time. The illustrations are small and filled with brilliant colors, retaining the same style as Diego's murals, the faces of people and place recognizable in their simplicity and natural beauty. Luan Gaines/ 2007.

Viva Diego!
Diego Rivera's biography is told in this superbly illustrated text. The story begins as he is born, and ends many years later after Rivera has become a famous Mexican muralist, however much of the text focuses on Rivera's childhood. The text is written in both English and Spanish on every page. Both languages are written in concise sentences that clearly convey information about Rivera's life and work. Each page also has a brightly colored picture that reinforces the text's message.The illustrations by Jeanette Winter are beautiful, richly colored accompaniments to the colorful life of Diego Rivera. The motifs in them are those typically found in Mexican folk art and include appropriate colors and subjects, often echoing those found in Rivera's work. This is a delightful and age appropriate introduction to an artist whose tempestuous personal life sometimes overshadows his outstanding artistic accomplishments both inside and outside of Mexico. Students who are interested in art or Mexican history will find this book to be a treasure. Native Spanish speakers could use this text in the classroom to share their knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican culture.
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Product Description
In this English translation of the colorful recreation of the childhood and early adulthood of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, his daughter Guadalupe Rivera Marín explores the ideological and artistic development of a revolutionary painter.Rivera Marín begins with a pivotal trip that Diego took with his father at the age of six and continues through his travels in Europe, prior to his return to Mexico, where he would later marry Frida Kahlo and found the muralist movement.

With bold colors and decisive brush strokes, Diego Rivera’s legacy to the international arts community is undeniable.His murals and paintings grace iconic buildings and cultural centers throughout Mexico, in accordance with Rivera’s commitment to making his art available to the working-class people he often portrayed in his works. In these buildings and popular spaces, Rivera’s art serves to educate succeeding generations about Mexican history, art, and society. As passionate about politics as he was about art, Rivera dared to fight for societal change with a brush and a bomb.Not content to watch from the comfort of his studio, Rivera became an active participant in world politics, fighting alongside the Zapatistas in the hills of southern Mexico and the socialist and anarchist revolutionaries on the streets of Barcelona and Paris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The definitive biography of a most remarkably talented man
Ably translated into English by Dick Gerdes, Diego Rivera The Red is written by Guadlupe Rivera Marin, the daughter of the renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Rivera's murals and paintings grace iconic buildings and cultural centers throughout Mexico as a result of his personal commitment to making his art available to the working-class people he so often portrayed in his works. In addition to his art, Rivera was also engaged in the struggle for societal change and became an active participant in the movements of his day, including fighting alongside the Zapatistas in the hills of southern Mexico and the socialist/anarchist revolutionaries on the streets of Barcelona and Paris. This 256-page biography of Marin includes his encounters with and attitudes towards such history making figures as Emiliano Zapata and Vladimir Lenin. Highly recommended and very informative reading, Diego Rivera The Red is the definitive biography of a most remarkably talented and quite passionately dedicated man of "interesting times" and accomplishments.
... Read more

Product Description
Diego Rivera's energy, physique, love for women, and work were all "bigger than life." Born in a small Mexican mining town in 1886,
he drew his way through childhood, entered art school at age
ten, and later traveled throughout Europe, studying the great masters and
imitating their techniques. When he returned to Mexico in 1921, he found
his own unique style. He began painting the poetry of the common people --
working, suffering, fighting, seeking joy, living, and dying -- on the
walls of public buildings. His murals were passionate, controversial, political,
and enormous -- like the painter himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Diego Gets a Wonderful Moving Portrait in this Terrific Biography.
This book is written poetry and that scared me off a little bit.I am not the biggest poetry reader but this book was very easy to read and was a pleasure.The poetry is written in free verse and is not a difficult read.The story and the writing is interesting and many students will enjoy it too.I liked the book very much.

beautiful book
we gave it to a friend named diego.the poems are lovely and the illustrations are vibrant.

This biography written in free verse was very refreshing and surprisingly appealing!
Diego was a superb storyteller, so much that not everything he said about his life could ever be taken as fact."I am DIEGO-the charming, monstrous, caring, hideous Mexican muralist."He was indeed, a very complicated man.He was born in Guanajuato, Mexico on December 8, 1886 along with his twin brother José Carlos Maria, a child that would die before he reached two years of age.He was sent away to live with Antonia, a Tarascan Indian, for more than two years.She nursed him back to health and when he was returned to his parents he was a "fat frog with bulging, eager eyes."The urge to paint his world gripped his very heart and he began to draw on everything in sight, including the "furniture, walls, floors."

In this book you will learn all about the life of one of the world's greatest artists.You will learn of the birth of his sister, Maria del Pilar, his passion for art when he was very young, his trip to Spain to study art, his sudden obsession with Cézanne (very amusing), his interest in "socialist beliefs," his part in the Mexican Revolution, his marriage to Angelina Beloff, the birth of his son Diego Miguel Angel, the child's premature death and much more.Do you know that Diego actually painted a mural on the Rockerfeller building in New York City?You'll read about that very interesting story in this book!

I really enjoyed this novel take on writing a biography in free verse.I read a page at a time, paused and took a look at the art work on the adjoining page.The verse was very poised, clear, concise and enjoyable.For the younger reader each page would appear to be a "mini-chapter" that gives a bit of information about Diego Rivera in easily absorbable sections.There are only a couple reproduced works by Diego.David Diaz's work is very colorful, appealing and has a nice Mexican flare to it.In the back of the book is a three-page biography of Diego, a glossary, a chronology, book sources and several quotations from Diego.If you want a real "feel" for Diego, this would be one book you should consider. ... Read more