Siqueiros, David Alfaro

born Dec. 29, 1896, Chihuahua, Mex.

died Jan. 6, 1974, Cuernavaca

Mexican painter.

A Marxist activist from his youth, he fought in the Mexican Revolution alongside Venustiano Carranza, who rewarded him by sponsoring his studies in Europe. Back in Mexico (1922), he began his lifework of decorating public buildings with murals and organizing unions of artists and workers. With Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he cofounded the renowned school of Mexican mural painting. His activism interrupted his career several times when he was imprisoned, chose self-imposed exile, and fought in the Spanish Civil War. His murals are marked by great dynamism, monumental size and vigour, and a limited colour range subordinated to dramatic effects of light and shadow. His easel paintings (e.g., Echo of a Scream, 1937) helped establish his international reputation. In 1968 he became the first president of the Mexican Academy of Arts.

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▪ Mexican painter

born December 29, 1896, Chihuahua, Mexico

died January 6, 1974, Cuernavaca

 Mexican painter and muralist whose art reflected his Marxist political ideology. He was one of the three founders of the modern school of Mexican mural painting (along with Diego Rivera (Rivera, Diego) and José Clemente Orozco (Orozco, José Clemente)).

      A political activist since his youth, Siqueiros studied at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, Mexico City, before leaving in 1913 to fight in the army of Venustiano Carranza during the Mexican Revolution. Later he continued his art studies in Europe.

      In 1922, after returning to Mexico, Siqueiros helped paint the frescoes on the walls of the National Preparatory School and also began organizing and leading unions of artists and workingmen. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), he commanded several brigades for the Republicans. Over four decades, his labour-union work and his communist political activities led to numerous jailings and periods of exile. He visited the United States, the Soviet Union, and many Latin American countries as a lecturer and guest artist.

      Most of Siqueiros's large murals are in government buildings in Mexico. His murals are distinguished by great dynamism and compositional movement, monumental size and vigour, sculptural treatment of forms, and a limited colour range that is subordinated to dramatic effects of light and shadow. Siqueiros and his followers produced thousands of square metres of vivid wall paintings in which numerous social, political, and industrial changes were portrayed from a left-wing perspective. He commonly used synthetic lacquer colours sprayed from paint guns in order to speed up the process of decorating large public buildings. He also did many easel paintings, the best-known of which is perhaps Echo of a Cry (1937).

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