Mexico Travel: The Diego
Rivera Museum in Guanajuato
After this morning’s exciting mountainbiking
adventures outside of the city, this afternoon I
would have a chance to delve into Guanajuato’s
cultural attractions one last time e before my early
evening departure back to Guadalajara. Among the
many museums in the city of Guanajuato is the Diego
Rivera Museum, dedicated to one of Mexico’s
most fascinating and enigmatic artists.
Diego Rivera is probably Mexico’s most famous
muralist and he was born in the city of Guanajuato
in December of 1886. His often twisted relationship
with famous painter Frida Kahlo is well-known, and
as an ardent communist and perennially rebellious
character, he is still a controversial figure in
Mexico. In 1907 Rivera went to Spain and France
where his artistic talent started to blossom. There
he became acquainted with many of the new artistic
movements, particularly Cubism, that had developed
in Europe and met many famous painters, including
Pablo Picasso.
Diego Rivera and his famous wife Frida Kahlo
In the 1920s Rivera was commissioned to paint several
series of oversize murals in different locations
around Mexico. An ardent communist, he travelled
to Moscow in 1927 to take part in the ten-year anniversary
of the October Revolution. In 1929 Rivera married
Frida Kahlo, who was a young promising art student
at the time. That same year Rivera was expelled
from the Mexican Communist Party. In the mid 1930s
he painted frescoes in Mexico’s Palacio Nacional,
the Presidential Palace, which showcased his ideological
view of Mexico’s pre-Columbian past. His political
views were Marxist and he persuaded the Mexican
president Lazaro Cardenas to give asylum to Leon
Trotsky, the Russian Bolshevik revolutionary.
Detail of Diego Rivera's most famous mural
During the 1930s Diego Rivera was invited to go
to the United States where in 1930 he painted a
mural at the San Francisco Stock Exchange. In 1933
he unveiled a series of murals at the Art Institute
of Detroit, and then moved on to a project at the
RCA Building at the new Rockefeller Center in New
York City. Rivera, being his usual provocative self,
had included a portrait of Vladimir Lenin in his
mural which stretched the patience of his wealthy
patrons a bit too much. They paid him the full price
of the commission, ended his project and eventually
destroyed his mural.
From the mid-1930s to 1943 Rivera found it difficult
to get any commissions. He and his wife Frida Kahlo
divorced in 1939 after Rivera, a notorious womanizer,
had been involved in many infidelities and Frida
herself had started an affair with Leon Trotsky.
They ended up remarrying a year later. The pair
certainly had a very turbulent private life. Rivera
was reaccepted by the Communist Party in 1954, the
same year Frida Kahlo died. Devastated by Frida’s
death, Diego Rivera’s health started to decline
and he himself passed away three years later. Today
he is celebrated as one of Mexico’s most influential
muralists, along with José Clemente Orozco
and David Alfaro Siqueiros.
One of Diego Rivera's portraits of Vladimir Lenin
In Guanajuato, the Museo Casa Diego Rivera is located
in the house where Diego Rivera was born. Being
part of a well-to-do family he grew up in a sizeable
house with a large central courtyard. More than
100 original works of art by the master are on display,
including works from his formative years when he
experimented with Cubism. A diverse collection of
landscape paintings, allegories, portraits, nudes
and still life paintings provides insight into this
brilliant artist’s mindset.
Our last walk through Guanajuato: the University
After leaving the museum we had one last chance
to see the stunning buildings of the University
of Guanajuato. We also made a stop at the Cathedral
of Guanajuato, the Basilica de Nuestra Señora
de Guanajuato. This impressive church has three
entrances that are made of cantera stone and two
asymmetrical towers grace its front façade.
The Basílica de Nuestra Señora de
Guananjuato was completed in 1671 and holds a 7th-
century Spanish wooden image of Our Lady of Guanajuato,
reputed to be the oldest piece of Catholic art in
Mexico.
Interior of the Basilica of Nuestra Señora
de Guananjuato
From the museum Sujei took me back to the Jardín
Unión, Guanajuato’s main square. We
decided to head into one of the eateries overlooking
the main square. Frascati is located on the the
south end of the square and from the upstairs dining
room it offers a fabulous view of the square. We
sat right in the corner in front of an open balcony
and enjoyed a very tasty late lunch with Italian
pizza and pasta.
Our great corner table at Restaurant Frascati with
a view of Guanajuato's main square
The late afternoon had arrived and on our way
to the bus station we drove one more time through
the unique tunnels of Guanajuato. My two-and-a-half
days in this historic city, a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, had exposed me to colonial history and architecture,
live music, outstanding hospitality and some physical
exercise in a gorgeous mountain setting. It was
a city where I felt very safe and welcome. As I
relaxed in the bus on my way back to Guadalajara,
I knew in my heart that Guanajuato would rapidly
develop in my of favourite places in Mexico.
