Transforming public spaces at Dartmouth College & elsewhere
What is the purpose of public art? What is the significance of an art museum for society? What did the Mexican muralists and/or Walter Beach Humphrey strive to do through their/his mural art? How and where can public art and/or museums make a difference? What purposes do you think art should have in our society? How do the Hovey Murals represent some of the issues we have been discussing about art and society?
Revolutionary Mexican Artists
Overall, I would describe Siquieros’s ideology and style as radical and fearless. He was not afraid to express his extreme thoughts or experiment with new art forms. He was a revolutionary in his character and in the work that he did. He was very aggressive and the opposite of soft spoken, often picking fights with Rivera over the topic of politics and communism. He also fought in both the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Civil War and these political and physical battles influenced his work greatly. These fearless, outspoken traits make him a revolutionary because they inspired his controversial ideas. For example, when he painted América Tropical, he depicted the controversial image of a crucified indigenous man being oppressed by an eagle, a blatant critique of American imperialism. But nonetheless, he still painted this image and did not change his ideals and stance even when his mural was whitewashed. I believe this strong will, attitude, and beliefs make him a revolutionary figure.
I also believe that his work is revolutionary, innovative, and radical. He not only incorporates his rebellious ideas into his work, he also paints in a distinct manner. Unlike Rivera and Orozco, Siquieros began to paint on the exterior of buildings and developed a new method to be able to do so. He also incorporated the architecture of the building into his work, such as in the Portrait of the Bourgeoisie, where he incorporated vanishing points into the work. He also had an experimental lab where he would use methods such as splatter painting and dripping in his works. He was not afraid to break free from tradition and try something new, a quality of a revolutionary.
Revolutionary Mexico
Consider how the Mexican Revolution was instrumental for the inception of the Mexican muralist movement. How did this time of tremendous social change influence the key artistic and political figures of the early twentieth century? Why do you think "Los Tres Grandes" painted what they did on the walls of the National Preparatory School, the Ministry of Education, the National School of Agriculture in Chapingo, at the Palacio Nacional, and in other locations?
The political turmoil definitely had an immense affect on the muralists of this time, especially since what they all hoped to depict was the truth of the situations happening at that time. For example, many, such as Rivera and Orozco drew satire and caricatures. They criticized the aristocrats and the wealth gap by depicting the wealthy trampling and taking advantage of the poor. I think the reason muralists painted these issues is to bring attention to these issues. Unlike a piece of writing or another form of communication, art is universal; everyone can understand and interpret a picture. Especially for public art, the works of Los Tres Grandes would attract a lot of attention to themselves and also an issue they deeply cared about, whether it was their political viewpoint, communism, or.
I believe there are parallels between Azuela’s novel and the muralists’ works, as both are trying to send a message about the revolution. We can see that a theme of The Underdogs is the question of what the purpose of the revolution is, especially near the end of the novel when everyone seems to be fighting for the sake of fighting or for no reason. This is criticism towards the revolution, and likewise, the murals are often a criticism of society as well. For example, Orozco’s mural at Dartmouth is a criticism of utopia and modernity, with its dark, negative depictions of education, technology, Christ, and the future. Although both written and drawn works are critiques of society, they both also have a lot of pride for their heritage in them. Both the novel and the murals depict and show contrast between the indigenous people and Europeans. In the novel, Macías and his crew are extremely proud of their humble beginnings and seem to judge those, such as Cervantes, who are of lighter skin. In the Dartmouth mural, the indigenous are shown hard at work, laboring and building new technology.