Artistry
What were some of the techniques used?
Mexican muralism
Mexican populist art production from the 1920s to the 1950s is often grouped under the name of “Escuela Mexicana de Pintura (y Escultura) (Mexican School of Painting and Sculpture), coined in the 1930s by art historians and critics. The term is not well-defined as it does not distinguish among some important stylistic and thematic difference, there is no firm agreement which artists belong to it nor if muralism should be considered part of it or separate. It is not a school in the classic sense of the word as it includes work by more than one generation and with different styles that sometimes clash. However, it does involve a number of important characteristics. Mexican School mural painting was a combination of public ideals and artistic aesthics “positioned as a constituent of the official public sphere.” Three formal components of official Mexican muralism are defined as:1) Direct participation in official publicity and discourse2) Reciprocal integration of the visual discourse of the mural to an array of communicative practices participant in defining official publicity (including a variety of scriptural genres, but also public speech, debate and provocative public “event”)3) The development and public thematizing of a social-realist aesthetic (albeit multiform in character) as the visual register for the public sense of the mural work and as the doxic, or unquestioned, limits for public dispute over the representational space of the mural imageMost painters in this school worked in Mexico City or other cities in Mexico, working almost uninterrupted on projects and/or as teachers, generally with support of the government. Most were concerned with the history and identity of Mexico and politically active. Most art from this school was not created for direct sale but rather for diffusion in both Mexico and abroad. Most were formally trained, often studying in Europe and/or in the Academy of San Carlos. A large quantity of murals were produced in most of the country from the 1920s to 1970, generally with themes related to politics and nationalism focused often on the Mexican Revolution, mestizo identity and Mesoamerican cultural history. These served as a form of cohesion among members of the movement. The political and nationalistic aspects had little directly to do with the Mexican Revolution, especially in the later decades. The goal was more to glorify it and its results as a means to legitimatize the post Revolution government. The other political orientation was that of Marxism, especially class struggle. This was strongest in the early movement with Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros all avowed communists. The political messages became less radical but they remained firmly to the left. Much of the mural production glorified the indigenous aspect of Mexican culture, considering it an important factor in the creation of modern Mexico. This was added with the idea of reexamining the country’s history from a different perspective. One other aspect that most of the muralists shared was a rejection of the idea that art was only for the elite, but rather as a benefit for the masses. The murals took on monumental status because of where they were situated, mostly on the walls of colonial era government buildings and the themes that were painted. The mural painters of Mexico freely shared ideas and techniques as they were a closely knit group. However, the work of each was distinctive as the government did not set style and artists can generally be deduced without looking at signatures. Techniques included the revival of old techniques such as the fresco, painting on freshly plastered walls and encaustic or hot wax painting . Others used mosaics and high fire ceramics, as well as metal parts, and layers of cement. The most innovative of the artists was Siqueiros who worked with pyroxlene, a commercial enamel and Duco (used to paint cars), resins, asbestos, old machinery and was one of the first to use airbrush for artistic purposes. He pored, sprayed, dripped and splattered paint for the effects they created haphazardly.