Fresco – David Alfaro Siqueiros – Portrait of Mexico Today, 1932 (Andrea Gallo)

• Member of group Los Tres Grandes which also included Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco
• He was a Mexican Social Realist painter best known for his large murals
• His work reflects his constant political awareness throughout his life and his tireless efforts to help labor unions and communist political activities

Mural History and Technique

• Siqueiros painted Portrait of Mexico Today, 1932 while he was a political refugee in Los Angeles between April and November of 1932.
• Conversations with LA architects Richard Neutra and Sumner Spaulding convinced Siqueiros that his mural painting should relate to the modern buildings being constructed in Southern California.
• The traditional fresco materials are lime and sand and water based colors applied to wet plaster so that the paint dries within the plaster to become part of the wall.
• Siqueiros innovation was the use of cement and oil colors so that his images rest on the surface.
• In both techniques the painter applies only an amount of plaster or cement that can be painted in a given session before it dries
• Siqueiros was influenced by the world-renowned Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein
• In the murals Siqueiros began using filmic and photographic devices.
• He aimed to emulate the dramatic impact and scale of film.
• Projecting his photographic images assisted him in the process of underpainting.

Provenance of Mural

• Painted on interior walls of a semi-enclosed garden structure in the private Pacific Palisades home of filmmaker Dudley Murphy
• Cared for by the Murphy family and successive owners of their home
• Donated to the museum in 2001
• The painting and entire building in which it was housed was moved from Pacific Palisades to the museum

Brief Review of Mexican History

• Portrait of Mexico Today 1932 is a direct commentary on the social and political conditions of Mexico in the 1930’s
• To appreciate the conditions that existed to inspire Siqueiros’ art, one needs a basic awareness of Mexican history- from the ancient native civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs to the 300-year period of colonial rule beginning with the arrival of Francisco de Cordoba in 1517 until Father Manuel Hidalgo issued his call for Mexican independence in 1810
• In August of 1821 the last Spanish viceroy is forced to sign the Treaty of Cordoba marking the official beginning of Mexican independence
• Long period of upheaval and foreign intervention follows
• May 1846 U.S. declared war on Mexico and in spring of 1848 U.S. forces capture Mexico City
• By terms of the Treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo signed on Feb 2, 1848, the Rio Grande becomes the southern boundary of Texas and California and New Mexico are ceded to the U.S. which agreed to pay $15 million as compensation for the seized land which amounted to half of Mexico’s territory
• By the time Siqueiros was born in 1896, Porfirio Diaz has controlled rule of Mexico for 20 years and will continue to hold power until his long-standing personal rule is overthrown in 1911.  Since 1908, Siqueiros was studying art and architecture at the Franco-English College in Mexico City. His experience of this time in Mexican history is what politicized him.
• Diaz  disappointed his early followers because he turned from his earlier reformer ways into a corrupt politician intent on holding power. The fundamental inequality of Mexico’s political and economic system favors the upper class and breeds growing discontent which leads to the Mexican revolution that began in November of 1910
• A bloody intra-revolutionary struggle from 1914-1917 ends with a new constitution and Obregan is elected president. His new revolutionary regime was nationalist, agrarian, with a belief that land should be held in the hands of laborers, and anticlerical.
• The Mexican cultural revolution begins around 1923 and gives rise to the works of David Siqueiros Diego Rivera, and Jose Clement Orzco,  Los Tres Grandes , Frida Kahlo, and  writers, and composers who all helped to shape a national identity.

Reading the Mural

•  It is significant that in this mural Siqueiros attempts his earliest formulations of what he eventually called poly-angular perspective.
•  Poly-angular perspective means that the mural must be seen as an experience, more than just flat imagery.
• While the mural’s forms are grandly simplified and made monumentally arresting, the composition they comprise can only be read and understood by viewing all of the painted walls, which requires moving around the architectural space and then synthesizing the distinct but interrelated sections to arrive at a meaning.

Right Side Wall

• Image of Communist soldier kneeling with his rifle perched on his knee.
• By using this image Siqueiros identifies the Mexican Revolution with the Russian Revolution
• Siqueiros calls attention to how President Calles handled Mexico’s relations with the Soviet Union .
• Claimed that because he was proactive in addressing popular grievances, there was no need for a strong Communist presence in Mexico.
• Calles eventually broke off diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union to satisfy groups within the U.S. who were concerned about Communist activity in Mexico

Central Wall

•  Two anguished Mexican women are seated on a stepped pyramid with a child standing between them.
• To their left is a portrait of Plutarco Calles
• He was one of a generation of military generals who presided over Mexico during the revolutionary period from 1910-1940
• Calles is shown in revolutionary costume wearing a sombrero with the rifle he holds perched on his knee
• Next to him are money bags and a mask removed from his face but hanging from his neck signify ill gotten gains.

Left Front Wall

•  Portrait of J.P. Morgan, symbol of U.S. commerce, located on small wing wall opposite Calles
• Two portraits are in dialogue
• Siqueiros is addressing relations between U.S. and Mexico in the 1930’s- specifically their relationship over oil.
• Mexico wished to retain its sovereignty over oil while the U.S. wanted the Mexican government to protect  the ownership rights of its businesses operating in the oil industry in Mexico.
• 1927, Dwight Morrow, senior partner in Morgan’s famous financial firm, was appointed ambassador to Mexico-another example of the U.S. financial community exerting pressure on Mexico in order to benefit economically

Left Side Wall

• Between portraits of Morgan and Calles, Siqueiros placed two murdered workers, blood streaming from their mouths.
• By locating their bodies between Morgan, a symbol of U.S. economic power, and Calles, a symbol of Mexican corruption unmasked, Siqueiros dramatically expresses his views on the high social cost of the dealings between Mexico and the U.S. in the late 1920’s-early 1930’s
• Originally a liberal, even a radical, Calles became increasingly conservative over his 10 year reign.
• As the years passed, he became less tolerant and began using the force of the military to suppress his foes.
• His actions resulted in an increasing number of political prisoners
• In the case of Siqueiros, he was under house arrest in Taxco before coming to Los Angeles for an extended stay in 1932.