This summer's Diego Rivera Blockbuster at SFMOMA delivers a statement about North America, San Francisco, the working class and a promise that still resonates today.
Diego Rivera once noted that anyone striving for art that’s universal must plant in his own soil. That is, paint, write and sing about what you know. The more native art is, he said, the more it belongs to the entire world.
“As an artist, I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life, and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wished me to see,” said Rivera (1886-1957), whose work and storied life, especially with fellow artist Frida Kahlo, had a profound influence on generations of artists.
This summer, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art unveils Diego Rivera’s America, the most in-depth examination of the artist’s work in more than 20 years. The show features 150 of Rivera’s paintings, frescos and drawings—focusing on his work from the 1920s through the mid-1940s (his most prolific years)—as he created a new vision for North America via his travels. Patrons also will find three galleries devoted to
