The Muralistas of Mexico ... and New Hampshire

Mexico and Hanover, New Hampshire

Dartmouth Orozco

While we were at grad school in New England, we discovered there was a well-known, and controversial (at least back when they were made) set of 24 mural panels in Baker Library, created by a Mexican artist named Jose Clemente Orozco (1932-34). They cover a history of Mesoamerica, from the Aztecs to the then-modern industrial society of the 1930s. Even with no training or background in this art, we found them striking – they tell a story you can start to follow, without knowing all the players or facts. Even better that they upset certain folks of the Dartmouth Establishment back when they were created.

We don't have a favorite! (Guadalajara)

We had a brief introduction to Mexican muralists during a tour of Guadalajara, but Mexico City is knee deep in murals from some of, if not THE greatest muralistas ever – Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, Juan O’Gorman, Jose Orozco, and Dr. Atl. So we made it a part of our 3-week sojourn in DF to find many of these public works of art, and to try to learn more about the stories they tell, and the people who created them. 


One thing to consider is that muralistas were also moralistas of a sort. They had a story to tell, based on facts but like any history also imbued with their take on what it all meant.

Diego's version of Posada's Catrina

Mural painting in Mexico started in the 1920s, after the Mexican Revolution, generally with social and political messages. It was supported by the Mexican government as a way to unify the country in post-Revolution times. Even before the Revolution, Jose Guadalupe Posada created the now-famous image of Catrina, which graces much of Dia de Muertos art. Posada was making fun of the European influence on Mexican elites at the turn of the 20th century.

The first modern muralista was Dr. Atl, born Gerardo Murillo Cornado in 1875. Atl, the Nahuatl word for water, believed that Mexican art should reflect Mexican life and values. He convinced President Porfirio Diaz that too many Mexican artists were trained in a classical way which simply mimicked European culture. By putting art large in public spaces on walls of buildings, Mexican artists could be liberated from this approach, while teaching and inspiring the people of Mexico.

Dr. Atl, photo by Tomas Montero Torres

Orozco was from Jalisco

Dr. Atl also did a series of famous paintings (which we were lucky enough to stumble cross in a museum in Morelia) of the 1943 eruption of Paricutin, which literally grew from the earth. He was injured while observing the eruption and his leg was amputated. He was the teacher of another muralista, the aforementioned Orozco, who ironically lost his left hand at age 21 building fireworks. Atl also wrote a short story called La Perla, which inspired a story of similar title from John Steinbeck later, a book which Orozco illustrated. 

Man on Fire

Orozco’s best-known work is a set of 57 murals in the Hospicio Cabanas in Guadalajara. We had a very good tour there, and literally got sore from craning our necks to look at all the works on the ceiling.

Diego's dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Alameda central park

Diego Rivera is probably the best known of the painters. His best known work to us is Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central. It was originally in a hotel near its present location at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera in Mexico City. The 1985 earthquake destroyed the hotel but miraculously the mural was mostly unscathed, and moved to the Museo. We spent a long time at the “key” to who all the people are in the painting, and if you took the time to place them all, you would have a great start in learning the history of Mexico!

Diego in Palacio Nacional. Amazing.

Rivera was, of course, married (twice!) to Frida Kahlo, and lived for a time in a compound, designed by O’Gorman (another muralista) with Frida and O’Gorman (in 3 separate houses). He has other huge and detailed murals in many places, our favorite aside from Suerte was at the Palacio Nacional on the Zocalo. There is also a huge collection of Rivera murals at the Secretario de Educacion. They are all worth the effort to find them.

Oh boy! O'Gorman!

Juan O’Gorman’s murals in the Chapultepec Castle are vivid, detailed and striking. This is the place from which the Ninos Heroes leapt to their death during the American invasion in 1847. Perhaps his most famous work is the Central Library at Ciudad Universitaria at UNAM. His mosaics cover the 4,000 square meters of the four faces of the building and are made of stones from all corners of Mexico, which O’Gorman traveled extensively to find the colors he wanted. In case you are wondering, his father was Irish (and a painter) and his mother Mexican. It covers pre-Hispanic history all the way to the present, and to see the scale and detail in person is nothing short of jaw-dropping. 

Siqueiros' Torture of Cuauhtémoc (by Cortez of course)

David Siqueiros – He has a definite dramatic style. Interestingly, he fought in Spain against Franco in 1938, and in 1940 he attempted to assist Stalin by assassinating Leon Trotsky, who had been granted asylum in Mexico. Trotsky was a friend of Diego and Frida (and apparently a very good friend of Frida for a while).

Keggy the Keg

So back to Hanover, NH. After the Orozco murals were completed, there was a hue and cry from Dartmouth alumni (the College was all male until 1974) about the controversial nature of the Orozco’s content. It was perceived as critical of institutes of higher learning, and Western civilization.

The "better?" replacement...Hovey 

An alumnus who worked as an illustrator proposed a set of murals, more “Dartmouth in character”, based on an old Dartmouth song, written by Richard Hovey – titled Eleazar Wheelock (founder of Dartmouth in 1769). Among other things, “Eleazar went into the wilderness to teach the Indian…with 500 gallons of New England rum.” The murals, sort of Maxfield Parrish in style, were approved and painted in the faculty dining hall. They are quite interesting, and also basically portray the Indians in ways less than flattering. Dartmouth was known as the Indians until the mid-1970’s when it was replaced officially by the color green, and unofficially by Keggy the Keg. Nowadays, the Hovey Murals are kept on the wall but under wraps except for occasional viewings by the public.

Yes, that's FDR...Pointed commentary, eh? (Orozco)

Why are murals so striking?  Such oversized public pieces of “enduring" art tell a story, even to the illiterate, and make a statement, often controversial, that reflects the times and thinking at that time, while also evoking universal themes: justice, injustice, hopes and dreams. While taking our breath away at the sheer scale of the statement.

2018 diciembre y 2019 enero