Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter born on December 8th, 1886. He became famous thanks to his art and also because he was the husband of Frida Khalo. 

He is the Mexican artist best known for his expansive and politically-charged murals.

His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in Mexican art.

Diego Rivera studied painting in Mexico before going to Europe in 1907. While in Europe he took up cubism and had exhibitions in Paris and Madrid in 1913.

In 1921 he returned to Mexico, where he undertook government-sponsored murals that reflected his communist politics in historical contexts. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals among others in Mexico City, Chapingo, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. 

He married Frida Kahlo in 1929, and their tempestuous marriage got to be just as famous as their art.

In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Rivera worked in the United States and Mexico in the 1930s and '40s, and many of his paintings drew controversy. In1948 he painted mural for the Hotel de Prado in Mexico that included the words "God does not exist". This part of the artwork was covered and held from public view for nine years.