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.
c.1905. Pencil on paper. 12.5 x 9.5 cm. Rafael Coronel Collection, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
1898. Oil on canvas. 48.5 x 39.2 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico.
1904. Oil on canvas. 100 x 114.6 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico.
1907. Oil on canvas. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico.
1907. Oil on canvas. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico.
1909. Oil on canvas. Private collection.
1909. Oil on canvas. Collection of the State of Veracrus, Xalapa, Mexico.
c.1909. Oil on canvas. 147 x 120 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, MUNAL - INBA, Mexico City, Mexico.
1910. Oil on canvas. 129 x 141 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico.
1910. Oil on canvas. 100-80 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico.
1912. Oil on canvas. 112 x 91 cm. Fundación Amparo R. de Espinosa Yglesias, Puebla, Mexico.
1913. Encaustic. Private collection.
1913. Oil on canvas. 147 x 120 cm. Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz, Pinacoteca Diego Rivera, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
1913. Oil on canvas. 227.5 x 161.5 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, CNCA, INBA, Mexico.
1913. Oil on canvas. 144 x 125 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, MUNAL - INBA, Mexico City, Mexico.
1914. Oil on canvas. 115 x 92 cm. Private collection.
1914. Oil on canvas. The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
1914. Oil on canvas. 117 x 72 cm. Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, Mexico.
1915. Oil on canvas. 72.3 x 59.3 cm. Collection Funfacion Televisa, Mexico.
1915. Oil on canvas. Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico.
Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros by Desmond Rochfort. Chronicle Books, 1998.
My Art, My Life: An Autobiography by Diego Rivera with Gladys March. Dover Publications, 1992.
Diego Rivera by Pete Hamill. Harry N. Abrams, 2002.
Diego Rivera: A Retrospective by Linda Banks Downs, Cynthia Newman Helms. W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.
Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera by Patrick Marnham. University of California Press, 2000.
Diego Rivera: The Detroit Industry Murals by Linda Bank Downs. W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera by Bertram D. Wolfe. Cooper Square Press, 2000.
Diego Rivera, The Complete Murals by Luismartin Lozano, Juan Coronel Rivera. Taschen, 2007.