Mexican Muralism: Indigenous Roots, Communist Politics, and US Controversies

Mexican muralism emerged after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) as a state-sponsored movement to forge a national identity, reviving pre-colonial Indigenous art traditions (indijenismo) and blending them with left-wing politics. Murals were accessible to illiterate masses and used for political education. The Big Three—Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—dominated the movement, each with distinct backgrounds: Orozco and Siqueiros fought in the Revolution, while Rivera studied in Europe and befriended Modigliani. Rufino Tamayo, the 'Great Fourth,' rejected overt politics for native mythology and taught Helen Frankenthaler in the US. Women like Aurora Reyes Flores (first female muralist) and Rina Lazo also contributed, addressing gender and education. Most muralists were Communists; Rivera supported Leon Trotsky, while Siqueiros, a Stalinist, led a failed assassination attempt on Trotsky in 1940 at his Mexico City home. In the 1930s, the Big Three were invited to the US, influencing the Federal Art Project. Siqueiros's mural 'America Tropical' (1932) was whitewashed for its anti-colonial imagery, and he was deported. Rivera's Rockefeller Center mural 'Man at the Crossroads' (1934) was destroyed after including Lenin's portrait; he later recreated it in Mexico City with Rockefeller's portrait added.