1. Impact of the Mexican Revolution on the Arts
Educational reforms of Vasconcelos
Music
Literature
Murals: Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros
Mahon 2011

2. Ideas of the Revolution: SPIRE *
Social – new Mexican identity – mestizo blend
Political – rejection of dictatorship
Ideological – socialism, communism, anarchy
Religious – role of the church
Economic – land & labor reform
Emergence of the political left – new ideas
Siqueiros, From the Dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz to the Revolution—
The People in Arms (detail), 1957–65

3. New Ideas Communism – Karl Marx, resources are held in common (ejidos)
Socialism – both private & public
Anarchy – no gov’t is needed
Middle-upper class youth group Ateneo de la Juventud, (this group of young professionals, writers and artists provided cultural backbone from above by supporting anti-reelection advocate and wealthy provincial elite Francisco I. Madero.); liberal & humanist ideas –
Also ideas of Karl Marx, philosopher of mid-1800 who took another look at history and decided that history reflected a series of societies where those who controlled resources ruled and the rest of society labored for them. Conflicts arose when new means of production came along that challenged the old order. As when merchants began to control wealth thru trade and the old system of land wealth & hereditary privilege was displaced.
Out of this came the idea that there might someday be a state where all people had equal access to the results of resources and means of production. Each person would give to the system what they could best give and each would receive exactly what they needed for support of themselves. This is the big “C” = communism.
An in-between step – socialism where there is still private property but some major aspects of society are so important that they are deemed worthy of complete public access & support – education, working conditions, public lands, healthcare.
Anarchists – who, like extreme libertarians, have faith in the individual and value individual liberties over mass order imposed by external force like government. If people interact on a completely equal footing with no overlords at all, all will be better off.
But these challenge capitalism to a certain extent – where the idea is that resources are distributed based on supply and demand. The value of goods is determined by the free market. If people want it, they’ll have to pay for it and the more the item/service is wanted, then the more the seller can ask for it.
Diego Rivera Paisaje Zapatista (Zapatist Landscape) 1915

4. Educating for the Revolution,1921
Jose Vasconcelos, Minister of Education
Article 3 of constitution
70-80% illiteracy rate
Objective: Forge a national identity
Mestiso, unique blend of races = La raza cosmica (cosmic race)
Carranza
Rector of the National University of Mexico ( ): ‘At this time, I do not come to work for the university but to ask the university to work for the people.’
Organized Mexican Popular University yrs prior – intellectuals to offer free cultural events.
Launched a massive literacy campaign based on a team of ‘honorary’ teachers, so called because they were unpaid.
Promise of free, secular education % illiteracy rate when he & Obregon launched educational campaign. Ministry of Education reestablished. Himself = Secretary for Public Education with a sizable budget.
The triumphs of the indigenous cultures and the Spanish together make something uniquely Mexican, his “cosmic race”.
Elementary ed increase 50% (teachers, pupils & schools)
A network of almost 2,000 libraries over the country. Books printed & cheaply available.
Department of Fine Arts: Promotion of San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, the National Conservatory of Music, and the National SymphonyOrchestra.
Tools: Schools - 50% increase, Libraries – ~2,000
& Fine arts - academy, conservatory & symphony
1 million dead
Stabilize
Obregon

5. Popular Music of the Revolution:
Corridos – voice of the common man
Simple, poetic form & basic music
Common language
Themes – heroes; fighting unjust authority
1st stanza provides a setting for the story
Structure: 6 stanzas of 6 lines each (New Corrido of Madero) OR
9 stanzas of 4 lines each (Tillers of the Land (Track 6)
Even without gov’t support – popular song promoting ideals of rev.
Pablo Picasso. Three Musicians, 1921

6. Nuevo Corrido De Madero New Corrido of Madero (Track 9) LA 4/25/1930
Music
Nuevo Corrido De Madero New Corrido of Madero (Track 9) LA 4/25/1930
La viuda le dice a Huerta
Que no subiera al sillon
Que no despues anduviera
Con dolor de corazon,
Porque alla viene Carranza
Con nueva revolucion.
Carranza Le Puso un parte,
Que no perdia la esperanza
De tumbarlo de la silla
Con su punal y su lanza,
Para que gritaran todos:
-Muchachos, viva Carranza!-
Pancho Villa y Maytorena,
Que en el norte se voltearon,
Reconocieron las causas
Que de un prencipio pelearon,
Y se unieron al partido
Que ellos mismos derrotaron.
The widow (of Madero) told Huerta
Not to assume the presidential seat,
Because it would end up
breaking his heart,
And Carranza was coming right behind
With another revolution.
Carranza sent (Huerta) a message
Saying he didn’t lose hope
Of toppling his government
By sword and knife,
So that everyone would shout:
“Viva Caranza!”
Pancho Villa and Maytorena,
Who switched sides up North,
Acknowledged those they had originally fought against
And joined the forces
They had once defeated.
En mil novecientos diez,
en la suida de San Luis
Expidio su plan Madero
Pa Porfirio combatir:
Empezo por Ciudad Juaez
A recorrer el pais.
Ah, que Madero tan hombre,
Le conozco sus acciones!
Derecho se fue a la carcel
A echar fuera las prisiones:
Virgen Santa ‘e Guadalupe
Lo Ilene de bendiciones.
Aqui me siento a cantar
Estos versos familiares:
Comenzare con la muerte
De Madero y Pino Suarez,
Que a Mexico traicionaron
Esas fuerzas federales.
In nineteen hundred and ten,
In the city of San Luis (Potosi),
Madero set up his plan
To battle Porfirio (Diaz):
He set out from Ciudad Juarez
On a nationwide campaign.
What a man Madero was?
I know his deeds,
He went straight to the jails
And set free the prisoners,
May the Saintly Virgin of Guadalupe
Fill him with blessings.
Here I sit to sing,
These familiar lyrics,
I’ll begin with the deaths
Of Maderso and Pino Suarez
And how those federal forces
Betrayed Mexico.
6 stanzas of 6 lines
Theme in 1st stanza

7. Music
El Corrido Del Agrarista Tillers of the Land (Track 6) New York, 08/1929
Let us march, agaristas, to the fields,
To sow the seeds of progress,
Let us march always united, without fail,
Working for the peace of our nation.
We don’t want any more dissension among brothers,
Let us forget our ill feelings, friends,
Let the granaries be filled with wheat
And may our long-awaited redemption arrive.
I shall sing the song
Of the agarista,
It will tell you many truths,
Capitalist gentlemen.
This is the song of the poor
Who work in the fields,
Of those of us who sweat
To work our land.
For a long time we’ve suffered
the slavery of the vanquished
Until we finally could see
Our people together.
Ay, ay, ay…
Struggling for our dreams
Many of our brothers died,
May God have them in heaven.
Porfirio and his government
Formed by dictators
Never listened to the complains
And demands of the people.
Always work, and more work,
And always owing to the company store,
And when harvest time came
The sharecropper ended up losing.
Our hovels and shacks
Were always filled with grief,
We lived like animals
Surrounded by wealth.
Ay, ay, ay…etc.
Spoken:
The tenth parter
If to an inn or café
A poor man arrives
Immediately a servan comes out
Saying: “you have to wait.”
But if it is a rich man
Who asks for a meanl or a drink,
They say: “ May I help you, sir,
Please order, what will you have?’
Because in this establisment
The poor man is out of place.”
The ranchers, on the other hand,
Owners of life and land,
Acted with indifference,
Without hearing our complaints.
9 stanzas of 4 lines; 1st stanza theme.
Still a popular form today – although the subject matter may include migration and migrant labor, struggles of everyday life along the US-MX border, and criminal dealings. Some songs are not appreciated by authorities and differences in freedom of speech are evident.
At least to the majority of populace the revolution was a socio-economic revolution. Unlike the revolution of the British colonies which was predominantly political.

8. Classical – The Symphonic Voice
Music
Classical – The Symphonic Voice
Carlos Chavez – composer ( )
Mexican nationalist music with Aztec themes
Elevates indigenous
musical elements
Rhythms
Sounds
Instruments
Folk elements of Aztec and Mexican music - colorful rhythms, exotic percussion and themes.
Cantos de Mexico
1921 the new revolutionary government (Obregon) shortly thereafter commissioned Chávez to compose a ballet based on ancient Aztec themes. In El Fuego Nuevo, Chávez incorporated many indigenous Indian themes
Orquesta Sinfónica de México – the 1st stable orchestra in Mexico’s history, flourishing for 21 seasons under Chávez’s directorship.
Also director of the Conservatorio Nacional - composition and inspired a new generation of Mexican composers, among them Candelario Huizar, Silvestre Revueltas, Daniel Ayala, Blas Galindo, Salvador Contreras, and José Moncayo.
1930’s - Sinfonía de Antígona (1933), Sinfonía india (1935), Chapultepec (1935), 10 Preludes for Piano (1937), and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1938).
1940 compose a work for an exhibit of Mexican art New York’s Museum of Modern Art = Xochipilli: An Imagined Aztec Music, variety of indigenous Mexican instruments.

9. Silvestre Revueltas – composer (1899-1949)
Music
Silvestre Revueltas – composer ( )
Colleague of Chavez
Movie, Redes, 1934 – community fights corruption
Symphonic Voice with a More Popular Twist:
In 1933 Paul Strand filmed Redes (released in the U.S. as The Wave) Initially the score assigned to Chavez but then politics happened. In 1934 Cardenas came to power, a new director of the arts is assigned and the project is approved but the musical score now Sevueltas’s. Caused a break between the two.
The film contrasts the labor of the fishermen with the manipulations of a businessman and a politician. Collective action, the fishermen decide, is the only recourse when they are shortchanged once again. They are split, however, and end up fighting each other. In the fracas, the leader of the unionists is shot, and when he dies the fishermen finally unite.

10. Literature – Voice of the Educated
Mariano Azuela ( )
Los de abajo [the Underdogs] (1915)
Mariano Azuela ( ) – Madero supporter, a doctor in Villa’s army, used these experiences to flesh out a peasant caught up in the fighting, not clear of the objectives, just fighting, always fighting – ultimately betrayed by his leaders. Los de abajo [the Underdogs]
(1915). The gulf between laborers and intellectuals.
Martin Luis Guzman ( ) – El aguila y la serpiente (1926) A maderista & his view of the peasant revolutionaries; La sombra del caudillo (1929) critique of Calles authoriatrian regime.
– Tierra (1932) recounting the agrarian struggle of the Zapatistas & El indio (1935) commenting on the maltreatment of indigenous communities both during & after the revolution.
A socio-political-economic revolution.
Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes ( )
Rivera´s paintings with Poncho Villa and Zapata, National Palace
Martin Luis Guzman ( )
La sombra del caudillo (1929) critique of Calles’ regime

11. The Visual Arts - Muralists
Rivera
Siqueiros
Orozco

12. Post-Revolutionary Art of Mexico
Visual Arts
LEADER: Gerardo Murillo, Dr. Atl ( )
Academy of San Carlos
Cooperative works
Murals, art for the public
National identity in
indigenous cultures
Art as a force for change
1914 supports Carranza
against Villa/Zapata
Art Mexico – since the 1500s; system for arts and education - The National Preparatory school; Academy of San Carlos; National orchestra
Reaction to the Porfirioto - A socio-political-economic revolution.
Leadership of Gerardo Murillo ( ), Dr. Atl (adopted Nahuatl name, language of the Aztecs & most non-Mayan tribes) – teacher and then later director of the Academy of San Carlos (ASC)
Rejects objective realism, positivism promoted by ASC – reflection of the Diaz Cientificos. And Eurocentric themes & styles. Exclusivism – excludes the majority; art as only for the elite.
Atl’s trip to Europe 1903 – importance of mural painting – awed by the Sistine Chapel – how to bring to light a spiritual reality - forge a national identity by connecting to pre-Hispanic indigenous cultures – art in public murals for all to access
Sees art as a determining force in society:
1914 He leads students to support Carranza (as one of the remaining cabinet members from Madero’s gov’t) against the forces of Villa & Zapata. Evacuate Mex City to Orizaba – group (Siqueiros, Orozco & others) churns out propagandist newspaper helping to organize the Red Battalions
Self-portrait
Post-Revolutionary Art of Mexico

13. Realism - Associated with:
Visual Arts
Realism - Associated with:
Positivism
Science = path to knowledge
Stepping stones to knowledge
supplied thru observing & measuring
(Empirical knowledge)
What do you see? Real Abstract Mood/tone
Technique – real, classical perspective Train, bridge, harmony, sign of progress.
Up thru Porfiriato – art of Mexico – Spain-Euro dominated. Romanticism and Realism, staying there while European art – especially Parisian moved on - Impressionism late to Mexico
The key approach of the scientific method is the experiment, the attempt to discern natural laws through direct manipulation and observation.
Empiricism: The underlying principle of the scientific method. (US 1950s behaviorist movement in psychology, resurgence of positivism.)
Scientific policies associated with mass disenfranchisement removal of 90% of communal lands.
Rural pop – 9.5 of 12 million landless – debt peonage (sharecrop & company store models)
Need for a new image; a new expression – definition of what is “Mexican” (mexicandida ?)
& Porfirio Diaz’s cientificos
Salvador Murillo El Puente del Chiquihuite (The Chiquihuite Bridge) ca – Porfiriato

14. Diego Rivera Visual Arts Surrealism Muralist 1886-1957
Absent during revolution (*)
1921 Communist member & editor – El machete
Expelled for bourgeois association
National union for artists with Orozco & Siqueiros
Idealist style may be due to the fact he missed much of the actual bloodshed of the revolution yrs.
Politically active & not religious; in fact he wrote in his mural at the Alameda Central "Dios no existe“ – this caused much controversy.
Returned in 1921, during Vasconcelos period – involved in communist party - member of central committee until kicked out. Problem of his heavy commissions from wealthy patrons & the gov’t. “Opportunist painter for millionaires.” Worse still, accepted 1926, directorship of San Carlos.
Arranges for Trotsky’s visa to Mexico (1936) Trotsky, loser in the struggle for control after Lenin’s death – flees to Mexico; assassinated in 1940 (Siqueiros, in on the next to last attempt).
Rivera was an active member of the Communist party and he started, with José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, the "Sindicato Nacional de Pintores."
Frieda Kahlo – regarded as one of Mexico’s most influential painter - surrealist
Frieda Kahlo & Diego Rivera 1931
Husband of Frieda Kahlo
Diego Rivera,,Self-Portrait,1941 Smith College Museum of Art, MA
Surrealism

15. Diego Rivera The History of Mexico: Tierra y Libertad, Central Arch Detail, Fresco Mexico City, National Palace, Central Arch
Zapata - top
Bottom - struggle of native peoples against Spanish
Aztec symbol – eagle with the serpent
From the larger mural, The History of Mexico; this panel, Land & Liberty
Emiliano Zapata
Father Miguel Hildago, hero of independence from Spain
Inquisition

16. Diego Rivera The History of Mexico: Mexico Tomorrow
1935 National Palace, Mexico City
Rebels hung
Huelga - strike
Rebels about to be shot
Huelga" poster, meaning strike, two rebels are shown hanging: one an agrarian rebel and one a communist. Three other agraristas are shown moments before they are to be shot. Their fearless expressions illustrated the determination of the revolutionaries to continue the fight despite the horrific consequences. The hipocrisy of the clergy is depicted on the left center where a cleric is clearly more intersted in sexual pursuits than the sprirtual needs of his parishion
Corrupt priest
Communist flag

17. Diego Rivera Man at the Crossroads 1934, Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City
Originally this composition was designed & painted for the Rockefeller Center in NYC. Irony of wealthy capitalist – Captains of industry or Robber barons – paying communist painter for socialist message.

18. Diego Rivera City College of San Francisco - Panel 1 Pan- American Unity 1940 fresco, 6.74 x 22.5m
Glorification of Pre-Hispanic Civilization
Harmony of technology & culture
Hyperlink to Orozco’s ancient human sacrifice
(*)

19. Jose Clemente Orozco
Not as privileged as Rivera; later start – originally aiming to be an engineer or architect.
Rivalry with Rivera, the chosen one – extraverted & confident..Orozco working and attending classes at night. Never saw Europe until his 50s.
Orozco was considered the pre-eminent muralist of his generation, and archrival Rivera called him "the greatest painter Mexico has produced."

20. Orozco Pro-worker, anti-imperialist Mestizo culture
The Rich Banquet while the Workers Fight by José Clemente Orozco Fresco, 1923
Cortés and Malinche,  1926 – the fundamental root of mestizo culture – national source of Vasconcelos’ cosmic race.
Matter of fact presentation
The Rich Banquet while the Workers Fight, 1923
Pro-worker, anti-imperialist
Cortés and Malinche,  1926
Mestizo culture

21. Jose Clemente Orozco: The Dartmouth Mural 1932-34

22. Details, Dartmouth murals
Jose Clemente Orozco
Details, Dartmouth murals
American Civilization— Ancient Human Sacrifice by José Clemente Orozco Fresco, 1932
Hyperlink to Rivera’s slide #18
Gods of the Modern World by José Clemente Orozco Fresco, 1932
Ancient Human Sacrifice *
Gods of the Modern World

23. Miguel Hildago , "The People and Its Leaders" government palace
"The People and Its Leaders" Stairway ceiling with portrait of angry Miguel Hidalgo by Jose Clemente Orozco. Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico 1935
Miguel Hildago , "The People and Its Leaders" government palace

24. David Alfaro Siqueiros 1896-1974
Man of action -14yrs old fought in revolution
Politically active
Interfered with ability to complete some works
Joined Batallon Mama – army of kids – by 15 a leader, lieutenant.
Organized artists – organized labors
Always ready for a protest, rally, or some other action. Frequently ended up in jail. At other times had to flee the country.
In the 1930s ended up in LA – new materials & technique – spray gun – perfect for massive murals. Commissioned for a mural there – painter crucifixtion scene – figures on crosses surmounted by an American eagle – had to leave town again. Welcomed back in Mexico 1934 – Cardenas.
Was in Brazil, was in Spain fighting in the Spanish civil war – until 1939
Got to come back to Mexico again but then was part of an attempted assassination of Trotsky (1940) and had to flee again.
Introduced new materials & tools – spray gun

25. Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros ( ) Campesinos (Peasants) ca. 1913
David Alfaro Siqueiros, From the Dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz to the Revolution—The People in Arms (detail), 1957–65
Siqueiros - Nuestra Imagen actual, 1947
Dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz to the Revolution, The People in Arms

26. Siqueiros Portrait of the Bourgeoisie, 1940

27. David Alfaro Siqueiros
Agelica Arenal de Siqueiros, wife modeling
The New Democracy 1944
Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City

28. Summary Slide Ideas of the Revolution Education program of Vasconcelos
Music – corridos, classical – Chavez & Revueltas
Literature - Azuela & Guzman
Muralists – Rivera, Orozco, & Siqueiros
Social – new Mexican identity – mestizo blend
Political – rejection of dictatorship
Ideological – socialism, communism, anarchy
Religious – role of the church
Economic – land & labor reform
Three pronged approach – school, libraries & fine arts
Music – corridos, classical, & movies. Corridos, the voice of common people
Carlos Chavez & Silvestre Revueltas elevating the sounds & rhythms of indigenous cultures – promoting on an international scale
Literature - Azuela & Guzman
Muralists – Rivera, Orozco, & Siqueiros