Mexican Muralism: A Critical History

In this comprehensive collection of essays, three generations of international scholars examine Mexican muralism in its broad artistic and historical contexts, from its iconic figures-Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siquieros-to their successors in Mexico, the United States, and across Latin America. These muralists conceived of their art as a political weapon in popular struggles over revolution and resistance, state modernization and civic participation, artistic freedom and cultural imperialism. The contributors to this volume show how these artists' murals transcended borders to engage major issues raised by the many different forms of modernity that emerged throughout the Americas during the twentieth century.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Robin Adele Greeley Part 1. Mexican Muralism: Beginnings, Development, Ideologies, and National Responses 1. Muralism and the State in Post-Revolution Mexico 1920 -- 1970 Robin Adele Greeley 2. Los Tres Grandes: Ideologies and Styles Alejandro Anreus 3. "All Mexico on a Wall": Diego Rivera's Murals at the Ministry of Public Education Mary K. Coffey 4. Siqueiros' Communist Proposition for Mexican Muralism: A Mural for the Mexican Electricians' Syndicate Jennifer A. Jolly 5. Jose Clemente Orozco's Use of Architecture in the Dartmouth Mural Leonard Folgarait 6. Murales Estridentes: Tensions and Affinities between Estridentismo and Early Muralism Tatiana Flores 7. Young Muralists at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market Esther Acevedo 8. Nietzsche contra Marx in Mexico: The Contemporaneos, Muralism, and Debates over "Revolutionary" Art in 1930s Mexico Robin Adele Greeley Part 2. Muralism's Hemispheric Influences 9. Siqueiros' Travels and "Alternative Muralisms" in Argentina and Cuba Alejandro Anreus 10. Social Realism and Constructivist Abstraction: The Limits of the Debate on Muralism in the Rio de la Plata Region (1930 -- 1950) Gabriel Peluffo Linari 11. Mexican Muralism in the United States: Controversies, Paradoxes, and Publics Anna Indych-Lopez Part 3. Contemporary Responses to Muralism 12. Murals and Marginality in Mexico City: The Case of Tepito Arte Aca Leonard Folgarait 13. Radical Mestizaje in Chicano/a Murals Holly Barnet-Sanchez 14. An Unauthorized History of Post -- Mexican School Muralism Bruce Campbell Part 4. Chronology and Primary Texts Chronology Alejandro Anreus with Holly Barnet-Sanchez and Bruce Campbell Primary Texts edited by Alejandro Anreus Manifesto of the Syndicate of Technical Workers, Painters and Sculptors (Mexico City, 1923) Jose Clemente Orozco, "New World, New Races and New Art" (New York, 1929) Diego Rivera, "The Revolutionary Spirit in Modern Art" (Baltimore, 1932) David Alfaro Siqueiros, "A Call to Argentine Artists" (Buenos Aires, 1933) David Alfaro Siqueiros, "Toward a Transformation of the Plastic Arts" (New York, 1934) Jose Clemente Orozco, "Orozco 'Explains' " (New York, 1940) Bibliography Contributors Index

About the Author :
Alejandro Anreus is Associate Professor of Art History and Latin American Studies at William Paterson University. He is the author of Orozco in Gringoland: The Years in New York . Leonard Folgarait is Professor of Art and Art History at Vanderbilt University and the author of Mural Painting and Social Revolution in Mexico, 1920-1940: Art of the New Order. Robin Adele Greeley is Associate Professor of Art History and Latin American Studies at the University of Connecticut and the author of Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War.

Review :
"Situates key artists and influences within the context of other authors, ideas, and developments... Highly recommended." -- L. E. Carranza, Roger Williams University Choice