SKETCHES

On display in the great cultural arena situated on the first floor of the Anahuacalli are sixteen sketches for murals completed by Rivera in the early 1930s. Through these, we are able to admire the dominion over classic composition acquired by the muralist in his youth.

Diego Rivera’s murals convey his totalizing conceptualization of history as a class struggle in which his heroes are featured, as well as the different trends that inspired them. These sketches allow us to appreciate the artist’s technical and aesthetic experimentation, vital to the fruitful communication of his ideas in all their complexity.

Outstanding among the sketches exhibited are those completed for the mural Man at the Crossroads, painted in 1932 at Rockefeller Center (and later destroyed by order of the magnate), as well as those destined for the mural found in the Palacio de Cortés of Cuernavaca, History of the State of Morelos. Conquest and Revolution from 1933, and The Portrait of America at the New Workers School.

Likewise, we find the sketch of a nude completed for the mural at the Chapingo Chapel, as well as a note entitled Diego drawing as a child, that conveys his passion for figuration and does not pertain to any mural.

Below, you will find more detailed information regarding some of the sketches housed in the Anahuacalli collection:

Sketches for the murals at the Palacio de Cortés in Cuernavaca:

  • Sketch for the mural History of the State of Morelos. Conquest and Revolution.
  • Two life-sized cartoons, one featuring the portrait of Morelos and another with images of the Fatherland and Zapata that form part of the friezes 1810 Independence and 1910 Revolution.
  • Sketch for the mural Encounter between Hernán Cortés and the Tlaxcaltecans.

For the mural Portrait of America, completed in 1930 for the New Workers School:

  • The Conquerers, the first panel of a preliminary study for the work Class Struggle in the United States

For the mural Man at the Crossroads in Rockefeller Center:

  • The Death of Tyranny
  • The Death of Idolatry
  • Technological Man
  • Man at the Crossroads (A and B)

For miscellaneous murals:

  • Meeting A and Meeting B (sketches for the complementary panels of the mural Nightmare of War and Dream of Peace)
  • Sketch for the mural Water created for the Cárcamo of Chapultepec Park
  • Nude sketch for the mural Germination found in the Chapingo Chapel
  • Diego drawing as a child

On display in the great cultural arena situated on the first floor of the Anahuacalli are sixteen sketches for murals completed by Rivera in the early 1930s. Through these, we are able to admire the dominion over classic composition acquired by the muralist in his youth.

Diego Rivera’s murals convey his totalizing conceptualization of history as a class struggle in which his heroes are featured, as well as the different trends that inspired them. These sketches allow us to appreciate the artist’s technical and aesthetic experimentation, vital to the fruitful communication of his ideas in all their complexity.

Outstanding among the sketches exhibited are those completed for the mural Man at the Crossroads, painted in 1932 at Rockefeller Center (and later destroyed by order of the magnate), as well as those destined for the mural found in the Palacio de Cortés of Cuernavaca, History of the State of Morelos. Conquest and Revolution from 1933, and The Portrait of America at the New Workers School.

Likewise, we find the sketch of a nude completed for the mural at the Chapingo Chapel, as well as a note entitled Diego drawing as a child, that conveys his passion for figuration and does not pertain to any mural.

Below, you will find more detailed information regarding some of the sketches housed in the Anahuacalli collection:

Sketches for the murals at the Palacio de Cortés in Cuernavaca:

  • Sketch for the mural History of the State of Morelos. Conquest and Revolution.
  • Two life-sized cartoons, one featuring the portrait of Morelos and another with images of the Fatherland and Zapata that form part of the friezes 1810 Independence and 1910 Revolution.
  • Sketch for the mural Encounter between Hernán Cortés and the Tlaxcaltecans.

For the mural Portrait of America, completed in 1930 for the New Workers School:

  • The Conquerers, the first panel of a preliminary study for the work Class Struggle in the United States

For the mural Man at the Crossroads in Rockefeller Center:

  • The Death of Tyranny
  • The Death of Idolatry
  • Technological Man
  • Man at the Crossroads (A and B)

For miscellaneous murals:

  • Meeting A and Meeting B (sketches for the complementary panels of the mural Nightmare of War and Dream of Peace)
  • Sketch for the mural Water created for the Cárcamo of Chapultepec Park
  • Nude sketch for the mural Germination found in the Chapingo Chapel
  • Diego drawing as a child