Diego Rivera (1886–1957)is a loud presence on the art historical stage. With devout political principles and a turbulent romantic history, he was at once husband and paladin of, advocate and adversary of Stalin’s Soviet Union, and liberator and traitor of Leon Trotsky.

Vibrant, graphic, and often monumental, Rivera’s paintings carry the same live political and passionate charge as his personal biography. Fusing European influences such as Cubism with a socialist ideology and anexaltation of Mexico’s indigenous and popular heritage, he created a new iconography for art history and for his country. He became one of the most important figures in theMexican mural movementand won international acclaim for his public wall paintings, in which he presented autopian yet accessible vision of a post-revolutionary Mexico. In 1931, Rivera was thesubject of MoMA’s second ever monographic exhibition.

This book explores theunique blend of influence and ideologywhich secure Rivera’s place as both a unique and a universal painter, bound to the particular turbulent experience of early 20th century Mexico, and yet preoccupied with subjects such asrevolution and class inequitywhich continue to speak to us today.