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Published on Leave a comment on Discussion 5: Revolutionary Mexican artists

I believe Orozco to be the most revolutionary of Los Tres Grandes. By not being overly political or radical and criticizing both sides, as opposed to Rivera and Siqueros, he leaves more impact on everyone as a whole. The viewer is then able to form their own opinions on the matter. Orozco's pessimistic outlook was translated through his murals. I believe that cynical demonstrations provoke more thought from the viewer than optimistic points of view. Orozco uses great symbolism in his work. For example, in "Carnival of Ideologies" he uses symbolism to show the conflict between the two sides. I also can't ignore the fact that Orozco lost his left hand at a young age. Being able to still be the artist he was despite this impairment is truly revolutionary.

Published on Leave a comment on Discussion 4: Revolutionary Mexico

The Mexican Revolution was undoubtably instrumental in the inception of the Mexican muralist movement. During a time with extensive political turmoil everyone wanted to be heard, and to influence others. Murals were a way that art, being one of the rawest forms of expression, was able to influence others. These murals were more often than political and meant to influence people. The murals that "Los Tres Grandes" painted were also most often depicting the lower class people, therefore they were easily relatable.

In the novel The Underdogs written by Mariano Azuela we get a look into what life was like during the Mexican Revolution; what it was like to be the "common man". We also see correlation between the violence depicted in the novel and works such as El Pueblo y Sus Falsos Líderes, and Hispano-America.

Published on Leave a comment on Discussion 3: The Orozco Murals at Dartmouth College

During the fall term I walked through the Orozco room quickly because I had heard about it. I didn't pay much attention to detail and didn't have context for the murals so I didn't think much of them.

When we discussed them the other day in context and I way paying attention it really helped. I really liked the murals. I found the use of colour and their change over the panels to be very effective. I also found the transition from olden day to modern day interesting, especially for comparing the ones that were the same like "Gods of the old age and Gods of the modern age". I found the weapons in the very first painting we looked at to be very striking because of the sheer amount there were. In the corner there were so many knives all pointed in the same direction and that really had an effect on how I viewed the painting.

Published on Leave a comment on Discussion 1: Why Spanish 7 and the Mexican muralists?

I chose this course because I love murals and art even though I don't know very much about any. I've only heard of Rivera and Kahlo but am not familiar with a lot of their work. And I know Orozco because of the murals in the library.