Rivera 1

Sherlin Rivera

Humanities - 1305. 4101

Dr. Longman

May 8, 2024

Los Tres Grandes; Comparative Analysis

In the twentieth century, a group of Mexican artists appeared and were named “Los Tres

Grandes." These men were Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

They became known for leading the Muralist movement in the United States as well as Mexico

during the post-revolution era while endorsing points of view regarding a variety of topics. Los

Tres had similar but different ways of expressing themselves through art; consequently, “Los

Tres Grandes” will be compared to each other and their artworks individually.

Initially, Los Tres Grandes worked together to accomplish several art projects, but

outside their group, each had different ways of expressing themselves artistically. For context, he

was born in 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico, and started his art life early on, around the age of 10.

He attended the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. In 1907, Rivera went around Europe mainly

to continue with his art studies. After returning to his homeland, he received government funding

to start a series of murals, and that’s how he began.

Jose Clemente Orozco, on the other hand, was born in 1883 and raised in Zapotlan el

Grande. He was poor during his early life and was sent to study agricultural engineering, which

he did not necessarily like. After his father’s death, he pursued his true passion and attended the

San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. Started working part-time jobs, and many were related to art.

After a while, he launched his first exhibition, “The House of Tears," and continued from there.
 Lastly, David Alfaro Siqueros was born in 1896 in Chihuahua City. In 1908, he studied

architecture and art at the Franco-English College, then continued to the San Carlos Academy of

Fine Arts. At the age of 18, he joined the revolution with the Mexican Army, was also a

communist, and was against the military dictator, Victoriano Huerta.

Due to their life events, the three approached art differently. Rivera’s most known art was

mostly to show the lives of Mexicans, finding a way to represent Mexico with their daily

lifestyles along with iconography that could show different aspects of Mexico. Rivera tended to

demonstrate a more idealistic approach in his art and convey a utopian view (Carter 2). Secondly,

Orozco went for more of a political touch to his art and added emphasis on showing human

suffering but creating distorted bodies or figures representing people while keeping it with an

animated-caricature style (Seviddio 3), and Siqueiros's art was more compositional and realist

abstract while still maintaining references to politics (Laveaga 16). It can be seen that they all

wanted to connect to their time’s current social issues but utilized different ways with distinctive

aspects.

Furthermore, Los Tres Grandes each had progressive or extended perceptions, thoughts,

and ideas, most of which were shown in their art through the years. To start, Rivera painted

“History of Medicine in Mexico: The People’s Demand for Better Health” in 1953 at the

Hospital de la Raza (Laveaga 14). Where a modernized lifestyle is seen. The mural is divided

into two sides by an indigenous figure, which can be depicted as an ancient god, referring back

to the Aztecs. On the right side, it includes people in the background, many of whom can be

referred to as indigenous because of their skin color and their clothes; they seem to be sick and

suffering. On the left side, we can see a more modern version. People now have doctors who are

wearing hospital uniforms and masks, and they are attending to common people wearing modern
clothing but still suffering because of sickness. This was a reference to cancer during 1954–1961.

Laveaga stated, “Despite the gloom, it was an optimistic mural for the final victory, which would

be that of science over cancer'" (12). This mural used a variety of colorful combinations, and the

price itself portrayed progressive themes and hope in a way.

In comparison, “Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita” in 1931 had opposing themes to

the Hospital de la Raza Mural. In this piece, we can see vivid colors with three modernist

indigenous people sitting in front of a big white flower bouquet, which is being held up by a

group of people from behind. They seem to be indigenous, too. These two pieces show Diego's

perspective on social issues. Initially, he saw Mexico as beautiful and harmonious, but as time

passed and things changed, he started seeing other parts of Mexico post-revolution where the

gloominess introduced itself into his work. The art style and vivid colors remained consistent,

but the overall theme or tone of the pieces changed.

In addition, Jose Clemente Orozco had a more universally impactful style due to his

participation as a soldier during the revolution, which gave pieces a deeper insight into death,

cruelty, suffrage, and violence. The art piece “Dive Bomber and Tank” was a fresco mural

painting consisting of six panels that show the starting elements of warfare mechanisms like the

wings of a bomber, tails, chains, etc. Servidio started, “Orozco insisted it had no political

significance. He stated, ‘I simply paint the life that is going on at the present—what we are and

what the world is at this moment. That is what modern art is" (5). This piece shows a blocky

perspective of war in which human faces or other parts of the body are shown without the rest,

showing the brutality of war and what great injustice these killing machines can cause, along

with dull colors and a bright red in the middle coming from the machine showing death.
 In addition, Orozco also painted a panel called “Five Riders of the Apocalypse,” which is

located in the Hospicio Cabañas Murals (Jolly #23). This is a painting that shows a big,

two-headed horse in the middle with a horseman, and around them, several human body parts

and horse body parts are distorted. Also, add the color red in different shades, along with a bit of

dull dark color around it. In both pieces, the theme of death in war is shown, like putting the red

in the middle to show the passion for death during the war, as well as showing the ‘broken’ body

parts of humans and animals. A difference may be that in “Dive Bomber and Tank,” he alludes

more to machines being used to kill with a blocky style, and in “Five Riders of the Apocalypse,”

he shows the horseman as being the killer with a more flowy brush style.

Thirdly, David Alfaro Siqueiros had a more realistic abstract style but still accurately

conveyed social trends and issues. Siqueiros painted “Apotheosis of Life and Health: A Song to

Science,” which was later changed to “For the Complete Social Security of All Mexicans” in

1954 in the Hospital of the Raza. In this piece, there is a human-looking figure located in the

middle, colored a red-orange-ish color to show his indigenous roots. To his right side, there is a

group of girls, one in the front holding a baby, and beside her, another female holding some kind

of object to attack or protect. On the left-hand side, this mural showed a dead Mexican person

being held with a belt that came out of the skyscraper around him (Laveaga 1). This work was to

“accurately reflect the government's initial intent in commissioning the art; it portrayed science

and technology not as an aid to health but rather as directly causing a laborer's death (Laveaga 1).

The mural shows circular, flowy brush strokes in different parts of the art, giving the impression

that we slowly begin getting drawn to the left side by the government, which gives us promises

with double intentions and, in addition, a more realistic abstract aspect.

 During his antifascist era, Siqueiros painted “The Allegory of Maria Ilarraz Miranda De

Terra," which was originally a cropped image from which Siqueiros took his inspiration. The

piece shows a woman in the middle wearing black and wearing a necklace with the Nazi logo.

On her right side, a person is hanging by the neck, and to her left, there is a group of people, an

army, with a fascist flag. On her left front side, there is a red hat crossed by a sharp object (Jolly

18). In this piece, Siqueiros went for a more dully-dark look. Giving a ghostly performance, and

death being all around in the painting. In comparison to “Apotheosis of Life and Health: A Song

to Science'', this piece shows a different emotion and change in its artist. He is now

demonstrating the social movement and government issues involved with this movement from a

work perspective to a war-bloody perspective. But in similarity, their brush movement does not

change much, and the strategy of maintaining a focus in the middle of the piece to draw attention

and add different aspects of the point or theme he is trying to convey to the side of the

attention-grabbing person or object is still utilized. The human figures he painted also show a

difference. In the first painting, the person in the middle was dehumanized and distorted, but in

this piece, the person in the middle is perfectly proportioned and gives a realistic look.

To sum up, the most influential muralist of the twentieth century, “Los Tres Grandes,"

worked on collective art and murals, so similarities in their art were evident, like the fact that

they are all tied to politics from several points of view (Roberts 1 and Jolly #2, 24). But despite

this fact, they still had very prominent differences that only they could achieve because they

were the result of life events, changes, or outside influences. Rivera was idealistic, and his art

was well-proportioned with a vivid combination of colors, but throughout the year some

differences were apparent. Orozco was a dull-colored man and aimed to portray suffering and the

true colors of war. His art pretty much stayed with the same theme, but his style did shift a little.
Lastly, Siqueiros was a bit more radical and realistic but still added a touch of imagination with

abstraction. His shift can also be seen in the difference in the colors he used and the proportions

used for the focus point of the paintings.

 Work Cited :

Carter, Warren. “Painting the Revolution: State, Politics and Ideology in

Mexican Muralism.” Third Text, vol. 28, no. 3, May 2014, pp. 282–91. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/09528822.2014.900922.

Jolly, Jennifer. “Animating Internationalism: David Alfaro Siqueiros and

Anti Fascist Art in the 1930s.” Art History, vol. 45, no. 4, Sept. 2022, pp.

798–831.EBSCOhost,https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1111/1467-8365.1267.

Jolly, Jennifer. “Aesthetics of Conflict: Perspective and Anamorphosis in

Siqueiros Art of the 1930s.” Art Bulletin, vol. 103, no. 1, Mar. 2021, pp. 111–39.

EBSCOhost,https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/00043079.2020.1804796.

Soto Laveaga, Gabriela. “Building the Nation of the Future, One Waiting

Room at a Time: Hospital Murals in the Making of Modern Mexico.” History &

Technology, vol. 31, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 275–94. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/07341512.2015.1130290.

Gaifman, Milette, and Lillian Lan-Ying Tseng. “Art and Time.” Art Bulletin,

vol. 103, no. 1, Mar. 2021, p. 6. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/00043079.2021.1840256.
Roberts, Jodi. “Diego Rivera: Moscow Sketchbook.” October, no. 145,

Summer 2013, pp. 84–114. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1162/OCTO_a_00149.

Gustlin , Deborah. “13.5: Mexican Murals and Social Art.” Humanities LibreTexts, Evergreen

Valley College , 3 June 2020,

human.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano_Community_College/ART_002%3A_Art_History/

13%3A_The_World_is_One_(1930__1970)/13.05%3A__Mexican_Murals_and_Social_

Art.

“Diego Rivera - Paintings, Murals & Wife.” Biography, 27 May 2021,

www.biography.com/artists/diego-rivera.

Biography.com Editors. “David Alfaro Siqueiros.” Biography, 2 Apr. 2014,

www.biography.com/artist/david-alfaro-siqueiros.

“José Clemente Orozco - Paintings, Murals & Art.” Biography, 29 Mar. 2021,

www.biography.com/artists/jose-clemente-orozco.