Diego Rivera's America

Diego Rivera’s America revisits a historical moment when the famed muralist and painter, more than any other artist of his time, helped forge Mexican national identity in visual terms and imagined a shared American future in which unity, rather than division, was paramount.

This volume accompanies a major exhibition highlighting Diego Rivera’s work in Mexico and the United States from the early 1920s through the mid-1940s. During this time in his prolific career, Rivera created a new vision for the Americas, on both national and continental levels, informed by his time in both countries.

Rivera's murals in Mexico and the U.S. serve as points of departure for a critical and contemporary understanding of one of the most aesthetically, socially, and politically ambitious artists of the twentieth century. Works featured include the greatest number of paintings and drawings from this period reunited since the artist's lifetime, presented alongside fresco panels and mural sketches.

This catalogue serves serves as a guide to two crucial decades in Rivera’s career, illuminating his most important themes, from traditional markets to modern industry, and devoting attention to iconic paintings as well as works that will be new even to scholars—revealing fresh insights into his artistic process.

Published by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in association with University of California Press.

Exhibition dates:

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: July 16, 2022—January 1, 2023
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas: March 11—July 31, 2023

MEDIA REVIEWS

"Diego Rivera’s America reintroduces Rivera to twenty-first century audiences by reinforcing the deep-rooted historical and cultural foundations between the neighboring countries that must be reexamined rather than overlooked. The content innovates within the field of art history as well as interdisciplinary fields like Chicana/o/x studies and Central American studies, analyzing Rivera’s perspective on America as an interconnected body of people, land, and culture beyond geopolitical borders."