Jean Charlot,
Rivera on his First Mural
,
pen and ink,
1922
In
1907
, Diego Rivera, a
24
year-old prodigy from Mexico, arrived in Spain
to begin a four year scholarship to study painting in Europe. Thirteen
years later, after befriending Picasso, Modigliani, Gris, Léger, and Carlo
Carrà and having integrated the principles of Cubism into his paintings,
Rivera was offered the position of chief mural painter of Mexico by the
Mexican government. Rivera accepted the
appointment on the condition that they first
pay him to take “the Italian tour” before
returning to Mexico. Over a period of
17
months, from Winter
1920
to Spring
1921
,
he followed the itinerary developed for him
by his friend and mentor, the art historian
Elie Faure, traveling from Ravenna to the
southern tip of the country, then back up
the eastern coast. Rivera sketched as he
viewed the frescoes and paintings of the
Renaissance, making handwritten notes directly on his drawings. He was
keenly interested in the relationship between painting and architecture,
putting his observations of Italian Renaissance frescoes to brilliant use in
the masterpieces he painted later on the walls of the Ministry of Education
in Mexico City, Rockefeller Center in New York, and the Detroit Institute
introduction
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