Mexican Muralism

About

After the Mexican Revolution of 1910–20, the new government, through the education minister José Vasconcelos, began in 1921 to commission artists to paint the walls of schools, ministries and other public buildings. The aim was to give a population that was still largely illiterate a shared story, from pre-Hispanic civilisations through conquest to revolution and modern labour.

Three painters dominated. Diego Rivera covered the courtyards of the Ministry of Public Education with festivals and scenes of work, and painted the Detroit Industry murals (1932–33) in the United States. José Clemente Orozco painted darker, expressionist images of violence and sacrifice, notably at the Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara in the late 1930s. David Alfaro Siqueiros experimented with industrial lacquers, spray guns and dynamic perspective. Rufino Tamayo, Juan O'Gorman and the American-born Pablo O'Higgins extended the movement, which inspired New Deal murals in the United States and, later, Chicano community murals.