Home > Facts > Artists Facts > Diego Rivera Facts

Diego Rivera Facts

Diego Rivera Facts
Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist, considered to be one of the country's most famous painters, who strayed from traditional painting and created work that embodied Mexican culture, society, history, and politics. He was born Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez on December 8th, 1886, in Guanajuato, Mexico. He was a twin but his brother died at the age of only two. He was born into an affluent family. When he was only three years old Diego was caught drawing on the walls in his home, and to encourage his artistic side his parents put chalkboards and canvases on the walls. He grew up to be a prominent Mexican artist and his murals helped to establish the Mexican Mural Movement.
Interesting Diego Rivera Facts:
Diego studied art at Mexico City's San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts when he was only 10.
Diego traveled to Europe to further study art in 1907. He met and became friends with several famous artists including Pablo Picasso.
Diego Rivera married Angelina Beloff in 1911 and together they had a son Diego who lived for only two years. While married to Angelina his mistress Maria gave birth to his daughter Marika. His marriage subsequently ended.
While in Europe Diego Rivera became successful as a Cubist painter.
Inspired by the Mexican Revolution that began in 1914, and the Russian Revolution in 1917, Diego's artistic style and subject changed. He began to create work that reflected the lives of the native Mexicans and of the working class in his country.
While in Italy Diego was inspired by the murals of the Renaissance period.
In 1921 Diego Rivera began to create a series of murals in Mexico City's public buildings, thanks to a government program. The first mural was completed in 1922 in the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria.
In 1922 Diego married Guadalupe Marin, and together had two daughters, Guadalupe and Ruth.
While marred to Guadalupe Diego met his third wife Frida Kahlo, who also became a famous Mexican painter, most notably for her self-portraits.
In the 1930s and 1940s Diego Rivera completed murals in the United States. One in particular that he created for the Rockefeller family in New York City titled 'Man at the Crossroads', was destroyed because the Rockefeller family felt it was not in good taste because it included the Russian leader Vladimir Lenin. The Rockefeller's were heavily criticized for destroying the work.
Between 1945 and 1951 Diego Rivera worked on a mural series that became known as "From the Pre-Hispanic Civilization to the Conquest'.
Diego married his agent Emma Hurtado in 1955, a year after Frida died.
Diego Rivera's last mural was 'Popular History of Mexico'.
Diego Rivera's health was failing in the mid-1950s, and had cancer which could not be cured.
Diego Rivera died on November 24th, 1957, in Mexico City, due to heart failure.
Diego Rivera's childhood home was turned into a museum.
Some parts of Diego's life have been brought to life on film, in the movie Cradle Will Rock in 1999, and in Frida in 2002.


Related Links:
Facts
Artists Facts
Animals Facts
The Rise of Modernism: Cubism, Fauvism and Abstraction
Mexico History Timeline
Modernism & Post-Modernism Quiz