Mexican muralism refers to the art project initially funded by the Mexican government in the immediate wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) to depict visions of Mexico's past, present, and future, transforming the walls of many public buildings into didactic scenes designed to reshape Mexicans' understanding of the nation's history. The murals, large artworks painted onto the walls themselves had social, political, and historical messages. Beginning in the 1920s, the muralist project was headed by a group of artists known as "The Big Three" or "The Three Greats".
Art and education after revolution
Mexico has had a tradition of painting murals, starting with the Olmec civilization in the pre Hispanic period and into the colonial period, with murals mostly painted to evangelize and reinforce Christian doctrine. The modern mural tradition has its roots in the 19th century, with this use of political and social themes. The first Mexican mural painter to use philosophical themes in his work was Juan Cordero in the mid-19th century. Although he did mostly work with religious themes such as the cupola of the Santa Teresa Church and other churches, he painted a secular mural at the request of Gabino Barreda at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (since disappeared). The latter 19th century was dominated politically by the Porfirio Díaz regime.
In 1921, after the end of the military phase of the Revolution, General Alvaro Obregón rose to power. In the aftermath of the Revolution, Mexico had entered a transition from an "oligarchic" state to a "modernizing" state, one that favored urbanization and the bourgeoisie citizens of society. As the country underwent this reformation, General Obregón realized that the reconstruction of a post-revolution Mexico would require a comprehensive alteration of symbols associated with Mexican identity on both cultural and political grounds. Shortly after the wars end, Obregón appointed José Vasconcelos to act as the Secretaría de Educación Pública, or Minister of Public Education.
The muralists and their ideas
Mexican populist art production from the 1920s to the 1950s is often grouped under the name of Escuela Mexicana de Pintura y Escultura, 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 if these artworks should be left separate from the more well-known murals of the movement. By far, the three most influential muralists from the 20th century are Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros, called "los tres grandes" (the three great ones). All believed that art was the highest form of human expression and a key force in social revolution. Their work was the driving force that defined the movement originally set into motion by Vasconcelos.
The movement also helped build a public mythology around the Revolution. Marxist ideas entered many muralists’ work alongside images of workers, peasants, land, and national renewal. At the chapel of the Chapingo Autonomous University, Rivera painted The Liberated Earth in 1926–1927. Its female figure, modeled on Guadalupe Marín, represents the fertility of the land. Such images connected natural abundance with social struggle and show why public murals provoked political debate as well as admiration.
Public art and political debate
The Big Three struggled to express their leftist leanings after the initial years painting murals under government supervision. These struggles with the post-revolution government led the muralists to create a union of artists and produce a radical manifesto. José Vasconcelos, the Secretary of Public Education under President Álvaro Obregón (1920–24) contracted Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco to pursue painting with the moral and financial support of the new post-revolutionary government. Vasconcelos, while seeking to promote nationalism and "la raza cósmica," seemed to contradict this sentiment as he guided the muralists to create works in a classic, European style. The movement’s influence extended beyond its initial government commissions.
Murals can be found in government buildings, former churches and schools in nearly every part of the country. One later example was a cross-cultural project in 2009 to paint a mural in the municipal market of Teotitlán del Valle, a small town in the state of Oaxaca. High school and college students from Georgia, United States, collaborated with town authorities to design and paint a mural to promote nutrition, environmental protection, education and the preservation of Zapotec language and customs. While the Big Three group and other male artists have received the most attention from admirers and scholars of the Mexican Muralism movement, women painters were also key participants.