Jose David Alfaro Siqueiros (Spanish: José David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1896-1974) - Mexican artist. Painter, graphic artist and muralist. Political activist, participant in the communist movement.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
David Alfaro Siqueiros entered the San Carlos Academy of Arts in Mexico City in 1911, where he participated in a student strike, protesting against the rules in the institution. Then he studied at the Santa Anita Art School.
From his youth he felt like a revolutionary; in 1911 he took part in the civil war on the side of the constitutionalists. He served as an officer in the army of Mexican President Venustiano Carranza.
In 1919-1922, Siqueiros lived in France and Spain. In 1921 he published the Manifesto of Revolutionary Art in Barcelona, and in 1922 he founded the Revolutionary Syndicate of Technological and Art Workers. Member of the Mexican Communist Party (MCP) since 1922.
Since 1924, a member of the Central Committee of the ITUC, an active participant in the organization of the trade union movement and international communist congresses, served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Mundo, and collaborated with other left-wing newspapers. Along with him, other Mexican artists took part in the communist movement, in particular.
In 1930, Siqueiros was arrested and then exiled to the town of Taxco. The link turned out to be creatively fruitful - the artist created several dozen works here.
Between 1932 and 1936, Siqueiros lived and worked primarily in the United States; there he painted the facades of the Chouinard Art School and the Plaza Art Center in Los Angeles (1932).
In 1937-1939 Siqueiros participated in Civil War in Spain as an officer in the Republican army under the command of Enrique Lister. He rose to the rank of colonel.
On instructions from the NKVD, the communist-Stalinist Siqueiros takes part in a group of militants (codenamed “Horse”) formed to eliminate Trotsky. On May 24, 1940, together with "Filipe", Leopoldo and Luis Arenal and others, he participated in the failed assassination attempt on Trotsky. At the end of 1940, he was arrested along with other members of the “Horse” group in connection with the murder of Trotsky.
In 1960 he was elected a member of the Political Commission of the Central Committee of the ITUC. That same year he was imprisoned for political activity, but in 1964 the authorities released him under international pressure public opinion.
CREATION
WITH youth and until the end of his life, Siqueiros combined political activity with professional painting, and Siqueiros’ work itself was maximally ideological, imbued with the pathos of the struggle against social oppression and violence.
Almost always, Siqueiros gave his works a relevant political sound.
In his work, Siqueiros imparted increased expression and greater plastic power to his images, defending new principles of the active influence of artistic works on the masses. The artist created monumental compositions in which specific characters were combined with symbolic personifications of socio-historical forces, used the effects of dynamically shrinking perspective, boldly introduced painting into interaction with sculptural forms, used new artistic materials (synthetic paints, ceramic relief mosaics, etc.) .
Since the late forties, Siqueiros has turned to constructively new surfaces on which the paintings are located:
“Future paintings will do away with the exclusively flat surface of panels inherent in easel painting; they will cover the convex and concave, that is, the active surface of the walls.”
In the lobby of the Hospital de la Raza in Mexico City, Siqueiros paints an oval wall. The spherical surface of the wall gives the figures dynamics, saturates them with activity, and connects a static image, which is the nature of painting, with the rhythms of movement of the surrounding life.
In the 50‒60s. In the work of Siqueiros, specific expressiveness in the interpretation of historical events and types especially increases, and the political content of the images becomes sharper. All the time, Siqueiros developed new visual means and technical methods painting.
The murals and plastic mosaics executed by Siqueiros at the University Campus in Mexico City are located on the external walls of the Rectorate building. They occupy an area of over 4 thousand square meters. Their theme is “The University in the Service of Nations.” Huge figures, reaching ten meters in height - symbolic personification of science and progress - are made in relief, including mosaics, ceramics and electrolytically edged metal tiles.
He came to Moscow several times (1927, 1955, 1958 and 1972). Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967), laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1967). A street in St. Petersburg is named in his honor.
The March of Humanity is perhaps one of the largest murals in the world. Siqueiros and his group painted 8 thousand square meters of the building’s walls, inside and out. There is one innovation in. This fresco - the artist introduced sculpture, mosaics, and stained glass into it.
This work is both the final chord and apotheosis of David Alfaro Siqueiros...
QUOTES AND STATEMENTS OF THE ARTIST
Mexico is an endless field of sword-bearing grayish-blue agaves, studded with tenacious thorns.
Mexico is a country of huge jugs and sweet fruits, over which birds hover.
Mexico is the country of the eagle, snake and cactus depicted on its coat of arms. Mexico - a country of flowers and thorns, droughts and hurricanes, rich colors and gentle melodies, a country of volcanoes and amazing creative growth - bewitched and blinded me with its enchanting light.
Everything that we have experienced and accomplished in art is wonderful, it is a lot, it is very important, but this is just the beginning, the beginning of the great path to the happiness of mankind, the first step towards which was taken by Lenin and the Great October Revolution. Without them, there would have been no communist. Siqueiros would perhaps only be an artist under this name, but without the prefix communist, such an artist would hardly have become known outside Mexico.
Realism is not a formula established once and for all, not a dogma, not an unchangeable law. Realism, as a form of reflection of reality, must be in constant motion.
The viewer is not a statue that is included in the linear perspective of the painting... he is the one who moves across its entire surface... a person, observing the painting, complements the artist’s creativity with his movement
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- David Alfaro Siqueiros. They called me the Dashing Colonel. Memories 1986
- Grigulevich I. R. Siqueiros - M.: Art, 1980
- Zhadova L. Monumental painting of Mexico. M., 1965
- Semenov O.S. David Alfaro Siqueiros. Essay on the life and work of the artist. M., 1980
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Jose David Alfaro Siqueiros(Spanish) Jose David Alfaro Siqueiros , December 29 (1896-12-29 ) , Camargo - January 6, Cuernavaca) - Mexican artist. Painter, graphic artist and muralist. Political activist, participant in the communist movement.
David Alfaro Siqueiros was born in 1896. In 1911, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Mexico City, where he participated in a student strike, protesting against the rules in the institution. Then he studied at the Santa Anita Art School. From a young age I felt like a revolutionary [ ], in 1911 took part in the civil war on the side of the constitutionalists. Served as an officer in the army of Mexican President Venustiano Carranza.
From 1919 to 1922, Siqueiros lived in France and Spain. In 1921 he published the Manifesto of Revolutionary Art in Barcelona, and in 1922 he founded the Revolutionary Syndicate of Technological and Art Workers. Member of the Mexican Communist Party (MCP) since 1922. Since 1924, a member of the Central Committee of the ITUC, an active participant in the organization of the trade union movement and international communist congresses, served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Mundo, collaborated with other left-wing newspapers. Other Mexican artists took part in the communist movement with him, in particular Diego Rivera.
In 1930, Siqueiros was arrested and then exiled to the town of Taxco. The link turned out to be creatively fruitful - the artist created several dozen works here.
Between 1932 and 1936, Siqueiros lived and worked primarily in the United States; there he painted the facades of the Chouinard Art School and the Plaza Art Center in Los Angeles (1932).
From 1937 to 1939, Siqueiros fought in the Spanish Civil War as an officer in the Republican Army under the command of Enrique Lister. He rose to the rank of colonel.
On May 24, 1940, together with Leopoldo and Luis Arenal and others, he took part in an action to intimidate L. D. Trotsky. Dressed in police uniform, a detachment of 25 people breaks into Trotsky's villa, ties up the five policemen guarding the villa, and starts shooting indiscriminately. No one was injured as a result of the attack. The action had two goals: to steal documents discrediting Trotsky, in particular evidence of receiving funds from ultra-reactionary US newspapers, and to force him to leave Mexico. Siqueiros himself considered the murder of Trotsky or his guards “counterproductive.” The attackers failed to get to the archive, and they also failed to force Trotsky to leave the country. June 23 Communist Party Mexico released an official statement that none of the party members were involved in the attack on Trotsky, and all the attackers were “uncontrollable elements and provocateurs.” As a result of the investigation, Siqueiros was arrested on October 4, 1940
Siqueiros actually Alfaro Siqueiros Jose David (12/29/1898, Chihuahua, - 1/6/1974, Cuernavaca), Mexican painter and graphic artist, one of the founders of the Mexican school of monumental painting; public figure. He studied in Mexico City at the Academy of Arts (1911) and the Santa Anita School (1913). Since 1911 he participated in revolutionary movement. In 1914-18, army officer V. Carranza. In 1919-22 he worked in France and Spain; in 1921 he published the “Manifesto of Revolutionary Art” in Barcelona. Founder (1922) and general secretary (1923-25) of the Revolutionary Syndicate of Technological and Art Workers. Since 1924 - one of the leaders of the Mexican Communist Party, editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Mundo. In the 20s - active trade unionist, general secretary of the Mexican Unitary Trade Union Confederation (since 1929). Arrested in 1930, exiled to Taska in 1931. In 1932-34 and 1935-36 he worked in the USA and founded an experimental workshop in New York (1936). In 1937-39, an officer in the Republican Army in Spain. S.'s activities in Argentina (1933), Chile (1941-42), and Cuba (1943) had a great influence on the development of monumental art in Latin American countries. In 1927, 1955, 1958 and 1972 S. visited Moscow. In 1960 he was imprisoned for political activities and released in 1964 under pressure from international public opinion. Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967). Laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1966). A fighter for revolutionary art, imbued with communist ideology, S. imparted increased expression to images, greater plastic power, defending new principles of the active influence of works of art on the masses. He created monumental compositions in which specific characters were combined with symbolic personifications of socio-historical forces, used the effects of dynamically shrinking perspective, boldly introduced painting into interaction with sculptural forms, used new artistic materials (synthetic paints, ceramic relief mosaics, etc.) . In the 50-60s. In S.'s work, specific expressiveness in the interpretation of historical events and types especially increases, and the political content of the images becomes sharper. S.'s main works: paintings - in the National Preparatory School (fresco, 1922-23), in the Electricians Trade Union Club (1939), in the Palace of Fine Arts (1945 and 1950-51), in the National Museum of History (started in 1959): mosaics and relief on the façade of the University Campus Rector's Office (1952-54); the monumental and decorative structure “Polyforum”, combining architecture, painting and sculpture (1971); all work is in Mexico City; easel paintings - “Proletarian Mother” (1929-30), portrait of J. Gershwin (1936), both in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He made many lithographs and drawings. Works: Cómo se pinta un mural, Fur., 1951; L'art et la révolution, P., 1973. Lit.: Zhadova L., Monumental painting of Mexico, M., 1965; Polevoy V., Art of Latin America, M., 1967; David Siqueiros, [L., 1969]; Tibol R., David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mex., . V. M. Polevoy.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what "Siqueiros" is in other dictionaries:
Siqueiros A. S.- SICÉIROS Alfaro Siqueiros David (18961974), Mex. painter, part-time Academy of Arts of the USSR (1967). Since 1924 one of the hands. Mexico KP. In 193739, an officer of the Republic. armies in Spain; in 1940 he organized a failed assassination attempt on L. D. Trotsky.... ... Biographical Dictionary
- ... Wikipedia
SIKEIROS, JOSE DAVID, or Alfaro Siqueiros (Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose David) (1896 1974), Mexican painter and graphic artist. Born in Chihuahua. From a young age until the end of his life, Siqueiros combined political activities with professional pursuits... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
- (actually Alfaro Siqueiros, Alfaro Siqueiros) (1896 1974), Mexican painter and graphic artist, public figure. One of the founders and largest master of the Mexican school of monumental painting. Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967). Studied at... Art encyclopedia
Siqueiros, actually Alfaro Siqueiros Jose David (December 29, 1898, Chihuahua, January 6, 1974, Cuernavaca), Mexican painter and graphic artist, one of the founders of the Mexican school of monumental painting; public figure. Studied at... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
SIKEIROS (Alfaro Siqueiros) David (1896 1974) Mexican painter, honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967). Since 1924 One of the leaders of the Mexican Communist Party. In 1937 39 officer in the Republican Army in Spain; in 1940 he organized the failed... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Siqueiros Xoce David- D. Siqueiros. Siqueiros Xoce David, Alfaro Siqueiros (18961974), Mexican painter, graphic artist and public figure. One of the founders and greatest masters of the Mexican school of monumental painting. In 1911... ... Encyclopedic reference book "Latin America"
Siqueiros, David- D. Siqueiros. Polyforum in Mexico City. 1971 SIKEIROS (Alfaro Siqueiros) David (1896 - 1974), painter. One of the founders of the Mexican school of monumental painting. To express the pathos of the struggle for freedom and peace, I used bright... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Alfaro Siqueiros (1896 1974), Mexican painter, honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967). Since 1924 one of the leaders of the Mexican Communist Party. In 1937 39 officer in the Republican Army in Spain; in 1940 he organized a failed attempt on... Encyclopedic Dictionary
José David Alfaro Siqueiros is an artist with a very unique style of execution, who made previously lifeless walls speak. This restless man did not limit himself to art and showed himself in a completely different field - as a revolutionary and communist. It is even known that he was involved in the murder of Trotsky. Politics and creativity are inseparable for Siqueiros, therefore, in his works there are motives of struggle for Siqueiros’s biography is very rich and full of intense struggle.
They say that in childhood the artist’s name was not exactly David. The boy's name was Jose. However, later he himself chose a second name for himself. Perhaps it was symbolic. Of course, it was not the proverbial meekness that attracted him. This biblical hero, who, as a shepherd boy, fought a giant, was a symbol of a challenge to something huge. Siqueiros felt like a fighter who was ready to fight against superior forces.
Burning out at work
It is said that Siqueiros was very passionate about his work. He could not eat or sleep, without interrupting the creative process for 20 hours. His actions were more reminiscent of battle than peaceful painting - he used a spray gun rather than a brush, and he also covered huge areas. Usually the artist did not make sketches. Each time he approached the wall, he boldly improvised.
Living walls
Siqueiros is a muralist. Who is this? This is an artist who paints walls. Fresco painting has been known for a long time. Its heyday occurred in the Middle Ages. Then fresco painting brought the Word of God to the illiterate population. In revolutionary times, it began to perform the same function, but with different goals. Propaganda took the place of preaching. Just like in the Soviet Union, in Mexico, where there is a large, poorly educated peasant population, artistic images have become a means of educating the people.
A natural fighter
Not only was he not afraid of failures and hatred, but he himself went towards them, provoking society and the authorities. “The evil howl of my opponents is dearer to me than all praise!” - said the artist. This explains his enormous self-confidence, and above all in his beliefs. Situations like the one with the school painting were typical for him. In Mexico, local authorities asked an artist to paint the wall of an educational institution facing the street. The muralist depicted a group of protesting workers, among whom was a black woman with a child. This freedom greatly outraged people. Equality was not yet in honour. At the opening ceremony, clods of earth flew into the wall. Someone even tried to shoot.
They say that this artist had a hot-tempered, unbridled temper. He loved to argue. Any arguments against did not bother him, but only turned him on. He skillfully operated with logic and convincingly refuted everything. True, he also knew how to be cool-blooded, especially in a situation of danger. His wife Angelica wrote a lot about his character and details of his personal life in her memoirs. By the way, he also painted it with enlarged hands, thanks to the “exit from the picture” - this was one of the artist’s favorite techniques.
Revolutionary from youth
In 1911, the future celebrity entered the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico City and already there took part in the first uprising. The striking students were not satisfied with the prevailing order at the academy. That same year, Siqueiros took part in the Civil War on the side of the constitutionalists.
In 1919-1922 he lived in Spain and France. In 1921 he published the Manifesto of Revolutionary Art in Barcelona.
In 1930, he was exiled to the small town of Taxco for revolutionary activities. Like many creative people, exile and solitude turned out to be a productive period for him. Several dozen works were created here.
Siqueiros and Gershwin
In the 30s, the artist lived in the USA - in Los Angeles and New York. He repeatedly carried out orders from tycoons, but at the same time firmly followed revolutionary ideas. It didn't always go smoothly. Sometimes the frescoes were destroyed by the police. All this did not stop the artist from communicating with Hollywood stars, and also live in the homes of famous American cultural figures. For example, one of them was composer and pianist George Gershwin. Siqueiros depicted this famous musician in one of the paintings. It’s hard to call this a portrait - the figure of the pianist playing is small, but the whole hall is included in the picture. The focused George Gershwin, the piano, the rhythmic rows of people, the curved lines of the theater's balconies seem to merge into a single sound of music.
Assassination attempt on Trotsky
The artist Siqueiros was a convinced Stalinist. On instructions from the NKVD, he participated in the militant group “Horse”. In 1940 they made an attempt on Trotsky's life. Having burst into his house, the attackers opened fire. But the murder failed: Trotsky and his wife hid under the bed. But the next attempt, organized by other people, was successful. Together with his accomplices, he hit the politician on the head with an ice pick. Trotsky soon fell into a coma and ultimately did not survive. And Siqueiros admitted to participating in the first attempt. The artist spent a year in prison, and after that he was expelled from the country. By the way, he had to be in prison or exile more than once. Of course, in such a situation the artist was limited in his creativity. But even there he found the opportunity to create. But, breaking free, he took up the matter on a special scale.
Siqueiros style
The paintings of the artist Siqueiros are diverse and different from each other and at the same time united by a common spirit and style. You can feel either ethnic motifs or even features of surrealism in them. The artist did not strive for a realistic depiction of the world. The form expressed, first of all, the content, and it was expressive and emotional. Almost all the figures are full of movement. He deliberately coarsened images and lines in order to achieve expressiveness. The lines are very often careless. The colors that predominate in Siqueiros's paintings are brown, red, yellow, sometimes gray and green. That is, there is a noticeable preponderance towards the warm part of the color spectrum, but it would be hard to call these colors warm. They are rather hot and ebullient, which is emphasized by the sharp contrast of light and dark.
Working hands
One of the very common images in his works is the huge hands of the heroes, stretched out to the viewer directly from the walls. They are found in the composition “Social Security of Workers under Capitalism and Socialism”, and even in the artist’s self-portrait of 1945. Hands become symbols of the fighting proletariat, labor, action. Their disproportionate, exaggerated proximity to the viewer seems to bring them into contact. Most often they are wiry and rough.
A brave experimenter
Siqueiros loved to experiment in his creativity. We can say that in it he was as much a revolutionary as in painting. The Mexican artist actively used new artistic materials - synthetic paints, ceramic relief mosaics. The expressive structure of the walls also played into his hands. Siqueiros adhered to the idea that convex and concave walls, as well as perspective, would enliven and make painting dynamic. The artist turned to this in the 40s.
In the 50s, his work became more concrete. The artist increasingly explicitly touches on political themes.
March of Humanity
"March of Humanity" is one of the largest murals in the world. It covers the surface of a building with a complex shape. More than 8 thousand square meters inside and outside the building were painted by the artist and his group, which included artists and sculptors from different countries. Continuing to experiment, Siqueiros introduced mosaics, stained glass, and sculpture into this monumental composition. This grandiose work was created in 1971 and became, perhaps, the most striking, but also the very last of his major creations - in 1974 (at the age of 77), the artist passed away.
Siqueiros and the USSR
The question arises: being a communist, did the artist have anything to do with the communist country itself? Yes. Siqueiros came to Moscow several times - from 1927 to 1972 he was in the Soviet capital 4 times. In addition, the artist became an Honorary Member of the USSR Academy of Arts. And traces of the artist’s presence in our homeland and interest in it remained in St. Petersburg in the form of a street name.
Jose David Alfaro Siqueiros (Spanish: José David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1896-1974) - Mexican artist. Painter, graphic artist and muralist. Political activist, participant in the communist movement.
David Alfaro Siqueiros entered the San Carlos Academy of Arts in Mexico City in 1911, where he participated in a student strike, protesting against the rules in the institution. Then he studied at the Santa Anita Art School. From his youth he felt like a revolutionary; in 1911 he took part in the civil war on the side of the constitutionalists. He served as an officer in the army of Mexican President Venustiano Carranza.
In 1919-1922, Siqueiros lived in France and Spain. In 1921 he published the Manifesto of Revolutionary Art in Barcelona, and in 1922 he founded the Revolutionary Syndicate of Technological and Art Workers. Member of the Mexican Communist Party (MCP) since 1922. Since 1924, a member of the Central Committee of the ITUC, an active participant in the organization of the trade union movement and international communist congresses, served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Mundo, and collaborated with other left-wing newspapers. Other Mexican artists took part in the communist movement with him, in particular Diego Rivera.
In 1930, Siqueiros was arrested and then exiled to the town of Taxco. The link turned out to be creatively fruitful - the artist created several dozen works here.
Between 1932 and 1936, Siqueiros lived and worked primarily in the United States; there he painted the facades of the Chouinard Art School and the Plaza Art Center in Los Angeles (1932).
In 1937-1939 Siqueiros served in the Spanish Civil War as an officer in the Republican army under the command of Enrique Lister. He rose to the rank of colonel.
On May 24, 1940, together with Leopoldo and Luis Arenal and others, he took part in an action to intimidate L.D. Trotsky. Dressed in police uniform, a detachment of 25 people breaks into Trotsky's villa, ties up the five policemen guarding the villa, and starts shooting indiscriminately. No one was injured as a result of the attack. The action had two goals: to steal documents discrediting Trotsky, in particular evidence of receiving funds from ultra-reactionary US newspapers, and to force him to leave Mexico. Siqueiros himself considered the murder of Trotsky or his guards “counterproductive.” The attackers failed to get to the archive, and they also failed to force Trotsky to leave the country. On June 23, the Mexican Communist Party released an official statement that none of the party members were involved in the attack on Trotsky, and all the attackers were “uncontrollable elements and provocateurs.” As a result of the investigation, Siqueiros was arrested on October 4, 1940.
In 1960 he was elected a member of the Political Commission of the Central Committee of the ITUC. The same year he was imprisoned for political activities, but in 1964 the authorities released him under pressure from international public opinion.
He came to Moscow several times (1927, 1955, 1958 and 1972). Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967), laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1967).
One of the streets in the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg is named after Alfaro Siqueiros.
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