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.This lavish volume-the first book to feature Rivera's
complete mural oeuvre, including newly discovered works-features numerous large-scale details of the murals, allowing their various components and subtleties to be closely examined. In addition
to the murals is a vast selection of paintings, vintage photos, documents, and drawings from public and private collections around the world many of which the whereabouts were previously
unknown to scholars and whose inclusion here is thanks to the most intense research performed on Rivera's work since his death. Texts include an illustrated biography and essays by prominent
art historians offering interpretations of each mural. One could not ask for a more comprehensive study of Rivera's oeuvre; finally, a half-century after Rivera's death, his work is the subject
of the sweeping retrospective it deserves.Contributing authors: Luis-Mart簿聶翻n Lozano, Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera, Mar簿聶翻a Estela Duarte S簿聶翻nchez, Laura Gonz簿聶翻lez Matute, Renato Gonz簿聶翻lez
Mello, Mauricio L簿聶翻pez Vald簿聶翻s, Catha Paquette, Ana Isabel P簿聶翻rez Gavil簿聶翻n Avila, Nadia Ugalde G簿聶翻mez, Marina V簿聶翻zquez Ramos, James Wechsler The works of Diego Rivera are herein
reproduced with the authorization of CONACULTA-INBA, Mexico, 2007. D. R. 2007 Banco de M簿聶翻xico, Fiduciario en el Fideicomiso relativo a los Museos Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo. Av. Cinco de Mayo
No. 2, Col. Centro, Del. Cuauht簿聶翻moc 06059, M簿聶翻xico D. F.Photograph by Rafael Doniz c 2007 TASCHEN GmbH
