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A review by dairyqueen84
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People by Susan Goldman Rubin
3.0
Recommended
This beautiful and colorful biography perfectly captures Rivera’s passion for making art, Mexico, the common people, and the ladies. Written in straightforward prose, students will be delighted by tidbits about his personal life such as the nickname his second wife Frida Kahlo used, Frog-face, and the fact that he was over six feet tall and rarely bathed. The text is interspersed with plentiful reproductions of his full murals and details of them, photos of him and Frida, and charcoal cartoon renditions of his murals drawn to scale. It follows his career from his school days in Mexico to his travels to Paris, Spain and other European countries where he soaked up all he could from the art scene and various teachers. When he returned to Mexico he decided he “wanted to teach the people of Mexico through pictures” and dedicated his art to painting murals in which the “common people” and peasants were often the subjects. It contains controversies as well as the story of his career and frescoes, including the destruction of his fresco in the RCA building made for Nelson Rockefeller. This book is better read from beginning to end making it inconvenient to use for a report for students because there are no headings or subheadings. It includes a glossary of terms and people, source notes, an index, and a list of places to view Rivera’s work.
Positive reviews SLJ and Kirkus
This beautiful and colorful biography perfectly captures Rivera’s passion for making art, Mexico, the common people, and the ladies. Written in straightforward prose, students will be delighted by tidbits about his personal life such as the nickname his second wife Frida Kahlo used, Frog-face, and the fact that he was over six feet tall and rarely bathed. The text is interspersed with plentiful reproductions of his full murals and details of them, photos of him and Frida, and charcoal cartoon renditions of his murals drawn to scale. It follows his career from his school days in Mexico to his travels to Paris, Spain and other European countries where he soaked up all he could from the art scene and various teachers. When he returned to Mexico he decided he “wanted to teach the people of Mexico through pictures” and dedicated his art to painting murals in which the “common people” and peasants were often the subjects. It contains controversies as well as the story of his career and frescoes, including the destruction of his fresco in the RCA building made for Nelson Rockefeller. This book is better read from beginning to end making it inconvenient to use for a report for students because there are no headings or subheadings. It includes a glossary of terms and people, source notes, an index, and a list of places to view Rivera’s work.
Positive reviews SLJ and Kirkus