In this free course, Art and the Mexican Revolution, you will explore one of Diego Rivera’s key murals which was commissioned by the Mexican government in the period after the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. These monumental public artworks, designed to win over the Mexican peasantry and working-class to the new post-revolutionary state, brought Mexican mural artists international acclaim and Rivera was subsequently awarded important commissions in the United States. Yet, due to his commitment to a figurative form of propaganda, Rivera’s reputation suffered during the Cold War period and these Mexican murals are now largely left out of dominant accounts of twentieth-century United States art.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
situate a key example of Mexican muralism within the post-revolutionary context in which it was made
explore recent debates around the interpretation of Mexican muralism
examine the concepts of 'realism' and 'modernism' in relation to Mexican muralism
address the relevance of social and cultural contexts for interpreting works of art
analyse works of art in terms of different ideas and approaches.
Overall I enjoyed this course. However I would have preferred a couple more activities to put my new found knowledge to the test. Also the quiz at the end was a bit lame.
Quick note: Pancho Villa does not appear twice in Rivera's "History of Mexico" (he is not by Zapata's Tierra y Libertad banner). Also, it's important to identify Francisco Madero (rather than Vasconcelos) in the mural, since Madero was the iconic leader of the revolution until 1913..
Nice course, but a little weak on revolutionary history.