Diego Rivera

Born in Guanajuato, Mexico. After studying at the Academy of San Carlos from 1898 to 1905, Rivera traveled to Europe in 1907 and worked in Madrid and Paris. During his artistic exploration of various styles, he leaned towards Cubism. In 1917, Rivera met art critic Élie Faure, who deeply inspired him with the idea of non-Western art’s value and the social role of art. In 1920, at Faure’s advice, he conducted research on murals in Italy in the Renaissance period.
Returning to Mexico the following year, he embarked on mural paintings under the cultural policies to uplift the nationalistic spirits and establish the nation’s identity after the Mexican Revolution by means of art. With artists like Siqueiros and Orozco, Rivera propelled the movement of Mexican muralism. In 1930, Rivera came to the United States and worked on mural commissions in various locations, for which many young artists were involved: Hideo Noda assisted Rivera at the Rockefeller Center in New York in 1933 and Miné Okubo at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1940. Eitaro Ishigaki’s shift towards conveying stronger social messages on larger canvases during the 1930s evidently showed his sympathetic devotion to Rivera and Mexican muralism.