Diego Rivera (1886 – 1957) was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art. My only awareness of the artist was through the 2002 film Frida ( directed by Julie Taymor ), with actor Alfred Molina playing the role as husband to the equally famous artist Frida Kahlo.

But I was not at all familiar with his actual art work and paintings. No, the start of my education regarding the brilliance of Diego Rivera’s work was when I got the chance to browse through this giant hardcover book at the Tsutaya Ginza Six bookstore earlier this spring.

I was immediately struck the bold expressiveness of his subject matter; elaborate, complex murals executed with striking rich colors and detailed rendering. This giant hardcover volume by Taschen features over 600 pages of the artist’s extensive portfolio of mural paintings, all reproduced in vivid fidelity and clarity. I’ve included a few bigger portrait format images below to show more close-up details of the paintings.

Book synopsis – A veritable folk hero in Latin America and Mexico’s most important artist—along with his wife, painter Frida Kahlo—Diego Rivera (1886–1957) led a passionate life devoted to art and communism. After spending the 1910s in Europe, where he surrounded himself with other artists and embraced the Cubist movement, he returned to Mexico and began to paint the large-scale murals for which he is most famous. In his murals, he addressed social and political issues relating to the working class, earning him prophetic status among the peasants of Mexico. He was invited to create works abroad, most notably in the United States, where he stirred up controversy by depicting Lenin in his mural for the Rockefeller Center in New York City (the mural was destroyed before it was finished).

Rivera’s most remarkable work is his 1932 Detroit Industry, a group of 27 frescos at the Detroit Institute of Art in Michigan.This volume features numerous large-scale details of the murals, allowing their various components and subtleties to be closely examined. In addition to the murals is a vast selection of paintings, vintage photos, documents, and drawings from public and private collections around the world, many of which the whereabouts were previously unknown to scholars and whose inclusion here is thanks to the most intense research performed on Rivera’s work since his death. Texts include an illustrated biography and essays by prominent art historians offering interpretations of each mural. One could not ask for a more comprehensive study of Rivera’s oeuvre; finally his work is the subject of the sweeping retrospective it deserves.

About the author – Diego Rivera’s grandson Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera has worked as editor of the magazines Punto Cero en Literatura, El Faro revista de literatura y arte and M’hija, together with Carlos Jaurena. He founded Kahlo-Coronel Fotogalería, Mexico’s first private photo-gallery, in 1987. His collection of Mexican popular pottery is the world’s most extensive, including more than 15,000 pieces from the 16th century to the present day. He has curated more than 100 exhibitions for art galleries, museums, and biennials and has written 71 publications.

I’m still making my way through this giant tome of an art book ( over 600 pages ), but I’m utterly fascinated by the art of Diego Rivera now and this Taschen volume is an excellent way to discover his prolific body of stunning mural art and paintings. Very highly recommended.

“Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals (Taschen)” book details :

– Dimensions – 10.25 x 2.25 x 13.5 inches
– Hard cover, 635 pages
– Full color, In English Language

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