Jose Diego Maria Rivera-Barrientos, along with his twin brother Jose
Carlos Maria, was born on 8 December 1886 (some sources say 13 December),
in the city of Guanajato, Mexico. They were the two eldest sons of Diego
Rivera and Maria del Pilar Barrientos. Both the parents were school teachers.
The father was of Creole origin; according to rumor the painter's paternal
grandfather had been born in Russia and immigrated to Mexico. Diego's mother
was one-quarter Indian. Diego's twin brother would die in infancy. In 1892,
the family moved to Mexico city, where Diego was sent to the Carpantier
Catholic College.
Diego exhibited a vocation for painting early in life. In 1896, he began
attending evening classes at the San Carlos Academy of Art. Two years later,
he enrolled at the Academy full-time, despite the wishes of his father,
who wanted a military career for his son. Diego studied under such painters
as Santiago Rebull, Felix Parra and Jose Maria Velasco, his artistic education
firmly grounded in classical principles. Continued...
|
Head of a Goat. / Cabeza de cabra. c. 1805.
Pencil on paper. 12.5 x 9.5 cm. Rafael Coronel Collection, Cuernavaca,
Mexico. |
|
Classical Head. 1898. Oil on canvas. 48.5
x 39.2 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico. |
|
The Threshing Floor. La era. 1904. Oil
on canvas. 100 x 114.6 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico. |
|
Self-Portrait. 1907. Oil on canvas. Museo
Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
Night Scene in Avila. 1907. Oil on canvas.
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
Notre Dame de Paris in the Rain. 1909.
Oil on canvas. Private collection. |
|
Portrait of Angelina Beloff. 1909. Oil
on canvas. Collection of the State of Veracrus, Xalapa, Mexico. |
|
House over the Bridge. / Casa sobre el puente.
c. 1909. Oil on canvas. 147 x 120 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, MUNAL - INBA,
Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
Head of a Breton Woman. / Cabeza de mujer bretona.
1910. Oil on canvas. 129 x 141 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato,
Mexico. |
|
Breton Girl. / Muchacha bretona. 1910.
Oil on canvas. 100-80 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico. |
|
View of Toledo. / Vista de Toledo. 1912.
Oil on canvas. 112 x 91 cm. Fundación Amparo R. de Espinosa Yglesias,
Puebla, Mexico. |
|
The Adoration of the Virgin. 1913. Encaustic.
Private collection. |
|
Portrait of Oscar Miestchaninoff. 1913.
Oil on canvas. 147 x 120 cm. Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz, Pinacoteca
Diego Rivera, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. |
|
Portrait d'Adolfo Best Maugard. 1913. Oil
on canvas. 227.5 x 161.5 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, CNCA, INBA, Mexico. |
|
Woman at a Well
(reverse of Zapatista
Landscape). / La mujer del pozo. 1913. Oil on canvas.
144 x 125 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, MUNAL - INBA, Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
La Tour Eiffel. 1914. Oil on canvas. 115
x 92 cm. Private collection. |
|
Portrait of Two Women. 1914. Oil on canvas.
The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. |
|
Sailor at Breakfast. / Marinero almorzando. 1914.
Oil on canvas. 117 x 72 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico. |
|
Portrait de Martin Luis Guzman. 1915. Oil
on canvas. 72.3 x 59.3 cm. Collection Funfacion Televisa, Mexico. |
|
Zapatista Landscape - The Guerrilla. / Paisaje
zapatista - El guerrillero.
1915. Oil on canvas. Museo Nacional
de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
Portrait of Ramon Gomez de la Serna. 1915.
Oil on canvas. Private collection. |
|
Motherhood - Angelina and the Child Diego. / Maternidad
- Angelina y et niño Diego. 1916. Oil on canvas. 132 x 86
cm.Museo de Arte Alvar y Carmen T. de Carrillo Gil, MCG - INBA, Mexico
City, Mexico. |
|
Still Life. 1918. Oil on canvas. Collection
of the State of Veracrus, Xalapa, Mexico. |
|
The Mathematician. 1918. Oil on canvas.
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico. |
|
The Outskirts of Paris. 1918. Oil on canvas.
Private collection. |