6th Grade Culture Project

Diego Rivera:  Mural Painter (1886-1957) Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuanto, Mexico in 1886.  Diego was raised in the countryside because of this poor health.  He began drawing at age three and then studied art at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City seven years later.  Diego’s artistic talent was soon noticed at his first exhibition in 1907, and the governor awarded him a scholarship to study in Europe where he met many modern artists!  After the Mexican revolution in 1910, Diego returned home to create political art for the newly independent nation along with other Mexican artists.  His first important mural, “Creation,” took Diego six years to finish.  This chronicle of Mexican history was painted in the amphitheater at the University of Mexico.  He married fellow painter Frida Kahlo in 1929 and then began painting murals in the United States, including New York City’s Rockefeller Center and Detroit Institute of the Arts.  Diego Rivera died in Mexico City in 1957.

Marsh, Carole, The Best Book of Hispanic Biographies.,Galopade Interational:  2003 p.7.

Helpful sites:

http://www.fbuch.com/diego.htm

http://who2.com/jeeves/diegorivera.html