lesson 64 Diego Rivera2

 

The Day of Frida and Diego's Marriage- August 21, 1929

1.  Frida was petite, barely twenty-two years old when she joined her life with Diego, a huge, fat 

man of forty-three years old, divorced, and a communist.

2. The party took place in a house in Coyoacan owned by a great friend of the couple: 

Tina Modotti.

3. To everyone's surprise, the main dish of the banquet: black mole from Oaxaca was prepared by

Lupe Marin who was Diego's ex-wife, the same one who had starred in several scandals due

to her jealousy.

4. In addition to the black mole, there were a series of Mexican dishes to delight the guests'

palates:stuffed chiles, pozole, rice, capirotada and wedding cake, to drink: pulque and 

tequila.

5. The bride's mother was heartbroken, she had done everything possible to avoid that 

wedding, she who had put so much effort into her daughter's education.

6. Frida's mother could not understand how a Catholic girl could marry a man who was

an atheist and a communist.

7. Frida's father consoled his wife by making her see that it was not so bad.  Together they left

the part early.

8.  Late at night, Lupe Marin (Diego's ex-wife) approached the bride, lifted her skirt and

pointed to her legs while shouting, calling the guests' attention: "Look- See these sticks? 

This is what Diego has now instead of my legs.

9. Poor Frida freed herself as best she could and ran to hide from the moking giggles and 

uncomfortable exclamantions of the guests who had seen her right leg thinned by polio.

10. This was the marriage celebration of Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon

and Diego Maria de la Concepcion Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera and

Barrientos Acosta y Rodriquez, 94 years ago.

Diego Rivera -December 8, 1886- Novermber 24, 1957  (Guanajuato City, Mexico)

11. His twin brother died very young.  Rivera had a twin brother called Carlos Maria,

who unfortunately passed away at the age of one and a half.  

12.  Tragically, a simliar fate would await Rivera' first born son, who died at the age of two.

13. Diego's talent became apparent at an early age, when Rivera started drawing at the age

of three when he started drawing all over the walls and the furniture of his home.''

14.  Diego's parents grew frustrated with his doodlings that they put up canvas and chalkboards

on the walls.

15.  Diego famously married Frida Kahlo but she was his third wife out of four.  Rivera 

married Kahlo in 1929, divorced in 1940, but remarried her in 1941.

16. After Kahlo died in 1954, Rivera married his agent Emma Hurtado.  He was also famous

for various extramatrial affairs.

17.Upon Frida's death Rivera formed a trust to turn her house into the famous Casa Azul (Blue House) 

into a museum to commemorate the love of his life.

18. Despite the couples' recorded volatile marriage La Casa azul remains as a testament to

Rivera's love for Kahlo.

19. There was a twenty-year age difference between Kahlo (l907-1954) and Rivera (l886-1957),

their attraction was instant and mutual.

20. Kahlo was barely out of college, while Rivera was already one of the most celebrated artists

in the world.   They met at a party in 1928 and married the following year.

21. After moving to Paris around 1910, Rivera met Angelina Beloff, an artist from the 

Pre-Revolutionary Russian Empire and married her in 1911.  

22. Rivera and Beloff had a son, Diego (1916-1918) who died young.  Rivera also had a

relationship with painter Maria Vorobieff-Stebelska who gave birth to a daughter named

Marika Rivera in 1918 or 1919.

23. Rivera divorced Beloff and married Guadalupe Marin as his second wife in June 1922, after

having returned to Mexico.

24. Rivera and Marin had two daughters together: Ruth and Guadalupe.  

25. Rivera was still married to Marin when he met Kahlo and soon after divorced Marin to marry

Kahlo in 1929.

26. In Rivera's later years he lived in the United States and Mexico.  He died in 1957 at the age

70 and is buried at the Panteon de Dolores in Mexico City.

27,When Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) met in Paris in 1914, they had

a great deal in common.  Both were Spanish speaking expatriates, Picasso from Spain and 

Rivera from Mexico.

28. Each artist had been trained in an academic tradition that emphasized the values of ancient

Greek and Roman art.

29. In Paris Rivera had embraced Cubism, a new style that emphasized the values of the two-

dimensionality of the canvas by reducing and fracturing objects into geometric forms.

30,  Rivera was a great admirer of Picasso, one of the Cubist movement's creators, and the two

became friends.

31. Their friendship was short lived; they had a falling out just a year later, in 1915, when

Rivera accused Picasso of copying one of his techniques.

32. Rivera's work was initially heavily influenced by Cubism, and Picasso himself.  Only a few 

years later he was inspired by Cezanne to began to make Post Impressionist paintings using

simple shapes and vivid colors.

33.  Picasso met Frida Kahlo when she was invited by artist Andre Breton to exhibit in 1939. She

 

was able to meet other well known artists like Marc Chagal, and Piet Mondrian.

Andre Breton installation

Marc Chagall

                                                   Piet Mondrian