Myth Understood

"The Endowment of Communal Lands" (1923-24), detail

"Diego Rivera got his first major mural commission—and the one that deservedly defined him as a great artist—by virtue of his friendship with José Vasconcelos, one of the intellectuals in the forefront of Mexico’s 1917 revolution. Serving the new government as Minster of Education, Vasconcelos hired Rivera to embellish the four floors of outdoor walls surrounding the Ministry building’s courtyard.

As recounted in the gorgeous new book 'Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals,' Rivera began his Herculean task in 1922 and during 1923-24 got around to the ground-floor panel entitled 'The Endowment of Communal Lands.' The secret of Rivera’s greatness begins with his drawing. Under the simplicity of form (that is, simplified but not formulaic) lies a real academic gracefulness. He gives his figures—O.K., not the capitalists—a muscular quasi-universality, but not the sort that lends European socialist realism its dreary falseness. In short, the people Rivera depicts are believable both as individuals and archetypes. Look, for instance, at the wonderful face of the weary-eyed fellow at the top of the 'Endowment,' slyly on guard. It’s subtle enough for an early Flemish oil, let alone a fresco mural. And the white horse’s head, by the way, is as good as Ucello. Rivera is also a remarkable colorist who knows how to pepper his panels with morsels of orange (his signature color: a blend of revolutionary red and the bright yellow Mexican sun) to keep the viewer’s eye moving. Example? The necktie on that same sly guy. And Rivera is also quite adept at avoiding monotony in white, a necessarily ubiquitous color in his murals, given the traditional costume of the Mexican peasant; his different shades of blanc are masterful."

Dan Bibb