– via Voice of America

“Since art is essential for human life, it can’t just belong to the few.” – Diego Rivera

In 1931, the fledgling Museum of Modern Art chose Mexican muralist Diego Rivera for its second major show, inviting him to New York to create “portable” murals onsite. Now, some of the works he created in six feverish weeks are again on display at MoMA.

They are aggressive and vibrant, testimony to Rivera’s fascination with Mexican history and his loathing of capitalism.

A communist, Rivera created fiercely political works picturing Mexico’s colonial past and the struggles of indigenous peoples. Indian Warrior, for example, illustrates his anger at Spain’s conquest of Mexico in the 1600s. An Aztec warrior wearing a fearsome Jaguar costume uses a stone knife to cut down a conquistador who lies dead, still encased in his armor.

Rivera also painted scenes of what he saw as capitalist oppression in the U.S. and the struggle for workers’ rights in a rapidly industrializing America.

Read more at Voice of America.

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