Diego Rivera: His World and Ours

by Duncan Tonatiuh

Overview

Discover the life and legacy of celebrated Mexican artist Diego Rivera in this picture book by award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh.

A Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Winner!

STARRED REVIEW *“The author makes art both aspiration and action. . . . This book will thrill budding artists.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Young artists will find inspiration for their own creations.” ―Booklist

Diego, one of the most famous painters of the 20th century, was once just a mischievous little boy who loved to draw. But this little boy would grow up to follow his passion and greatly influence the world of art. After studying in Spain and France as a young man, Diego was excited to return to his home country of Mexico.

There, he toured from the coasts to the plains to the mountains. He met the peoples of different regions and explored the cultures, architecture, and history of those who had lived before. Returning to Mexico City, he painted great murals representing all that he had seen. He provided the Mexican people with a visual history of who they were and, most importantly, who they are.

Tonatiuh, who has also been inspired by the art and culture of his native Mexico, asks, if Diego was still painting today, what history would he tell through his artwork? What stories would he bring to life?

Drawing inspiration from Rivera to create his own original work, Tonatiuh helps young readers understand the importance of Diego Rivera’s artwork and to realize that they too can tell stories through art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810997318
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	122,657
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD1040L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Duncan Tonatiuh (toh-nah-tee-YOU) is an award-winning author-illustrator. He is both Mexican and American. He grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and graduated from Parsons School of Design and Eugene Lang College in New York City. His artwork is inspired by pre-Columbian art. His aim is to create images and stories that honor the past but are relevant to today’s people, especially children. His books include A Land of Books, Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns, and Separate Is Never Equal. He currently lives in San Miguel with his family but travels in the United States often.

Editorial Reviews

Suggestive of stained glass windows, Tonatiuh's mixed-media collages combine ancient Mexican art motifs with blocky, stylized figures, to pay tribute to this versatile artist. Rivera paired classical and modern techniques with traditional Mexican aesthetics to create socially and politically relevant murals. Tonatiuh invites readers to speculate about what Rivera might paint if he were alive today—"would he paint students at their desks... just as he painted factory workers in the production line?"—while creating vignettes whose symmetries draw further connections between past and present. Tonatiuh's biography celebrates Rivera, but focuses on the inspiration driving artistic expression in his time and in our own. Ages 5–9. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Kids will want to talk about the great painter, and young artists will find inspiration for their own creations.

Booklist

K-Gr 3—Tonatiuh relates key moments in the famous muralist's life and ponders what would capture his interest if he were alive today. The stylized brown figures are shown in profile with open mouths, exaggerated features, and heads that seem hinged to the bodies. With only one page mentioning the subject's childhood (in which the young artist is wearing a hat and suit as he draws near his toys), the text concentrates instead on how Rivera internalized traditional and modern styles while studying art in Europe, absorbed the aesthetics of ancient Mexican civilizations after returning home, and then applied his training to local politics and culture. In scenes both thoughtful and humorous, Tonatiuh contrasts interpretations of Rivera's work with renderings of imagined work today. A contemporary mall scene faces the flower vendor with calla lilies. Dynamic, brightly lit luchadores (professional wrestlers) are paired with a scene of Aztec warriors and conquistadores. Back matter includes a glossary of words/concepts in sequence, an author's note, selected sites for viewing the murals, and a list of specific works that inspired the cartoonlike art. Students looking closely will note that some of Rivera's historical paintings include brown figures, in profile, mouths open. The original murals can be found along with biographical details in Mike Venezia's Diego Rivera (Children's Press, 1995) and in Guadalupe Rivera Marín's highly personal My Papa Diego and Me/Mi papá Diego y yo (Children's Book Press, 2009). An inspired approach that combines child appeal, cultural anthropology, and art history.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library

School Library Journal

A simple picture-book biography of Diego Rivera concentrates on his artistic career and encourages children to imagine themselves painting their own world.

Tonatiuh moves quickly through Rivera's childhood and early career, concentrating on the artist's murals and their inspirations. Clear language contextualizes the artist: In Spain, "he learned the classical way to paint, which means the finished paintings looked very realistic, almost like photographs," but then in France, "he met young artists who were painting in new and exciting ways." Without belaboring the point, the author honors Rivera's politics as well as his love of his homeland. (Notably and appropriately absent is any mention of Rivera's problematic personal life.) Like his subject, Tonatiuh celebrates his ethnic heritage with brown-skinned, muscular, stylized figures. His shapes have an elemental look to them; heads are virtually round, and lines are clean and straight. Digital coloring adds both texture and whimsy. Concluding, he suggests that if Rivera "were alive today," he might "paint students at their desks... / ... just as he painted factory workers in the production line." By establishing a link between modern readers and Rivera and challenging them to "make our own murals," the author makes art both aspiration and action.

Both solid introduction and exhortation, this book will thrill budding artists. (glossary, author's note, bibliography, lists of museums and paintings) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews