complete the following chart by using adjectives or phrases to express your opinion

Rivera, Orozco and Aurora and their view the Revolution

First, complete the following chart by using adjectives or
phrases to express your opinion; let the use of these
adjectives or phrases help you in the writing of your essay. You do not have to
submit this chart, just your essay.

Rivera Orozco Aurora
Reyes

Instructions to complete the assignment:
Use either the paintings or statements by Reyes to
compare/contrast her views of the Revolution with the views of Orozco and
Rivera. You can use the same Rivera and
Orozco murals you used in the previous assignments.With Reyes we are still
looking at the Revolution (at its aftermath, the 1920’s on), whereas in Rivera
and Orozco we dealt with episodes of the Revolution. Consider these questions
in the writing of your essay: What is it that Reyes discards from the
‘episodes’ of Rivera and Orozco? What is it that Rivera and Orozco got stuck
it? What is it that Reyes brings to our attention that Rivera and Orozco did
not mention? Assignment is due
November 18, at 11pm.

You need to complete the assignment according to these
readings:

These are the murals I used on the previous assignment
for Orozco If you want to use it ! Optional , you can
use diferent murals if you want .
Orozco presented Zapata as
a ghostlike figure who appears in the open door of a peasant hut. He is framed
by a patch of bright sky and the intersecting diagonals of outstretched arms
and pointed sombreros. The painting “Zapata entering a peasant’s hut” is
dominated by the frightened, oppressed peasants (for whom he fought) and the
ruthless enemy soldiers. Menacing details, including the bullets, the dagger,
and especially the knife aimed at Zapata’s eye, allude to the danger of the
revolution and Zapata’s own eventual death. The painting’s dark reds, browns,
and blacks, applied to the canvas in rough, expressionistic strokes, evoke the
Mexican land and the bloodletting of its people.
In
“Zapatistas” painting Orozco depicts a somber moment in the Mexican Revolution
as Zapatistas—Zapata’s followers—march toward their death. These peasants
are not distributing arms, land or weapons, nor are they embracing workers in a
show of solidarity. The painting is somber, with dark areas of viridian and browns.
Reds and blues are scattered across the picture plane, in the shirts and robes
of the marching men and women. Four men on horseback loom large over the
marching line. Behind them are dark hills and a stormy sky of dark gray and
pale pink. An angular tension is created throughout the composition, as the
line of figures leans left, while the hills in the background lean towards the
right. The painting is sober, dramatic. In this picture the red of the clothes
is associated for the viewer with the blood of martyrdom. The captured
Zapatistas are believers being led to their death, the world has turned against
them, and they are meeting their end.

Critisizm
Hutton
in his article talks about the image of Zapata becoming a “symbol of
freedom among a wide range of nationalist and socialist movements” because
of his leadership stand in the revolution. With the statement above he is
reaffirming to us that indeed Zapata was the peasant leader of the people who
fought for land reform to happen. The key of Orozco’s mural “Zapata entering a peasant’s hut” is that
Zapata seems to bring light to the
observation of the peasants towards him. A sense of hope and respect.
The
reading “Narrative and Life” says “we want to know not only what is in the
painting but also what happened” (pg6) and
Orozco was a painter who helped lead the revival of Mexican mural
painting in the 1920s. The key of understanding Orozco’s mural is prior
knowledge of the history . His works are complex and often tragic just
like we see on these two paintings. In his paintings we see peolpe with very
little or no hope at all. Orozco tried to deliver these emotions and feelings
through his paintings. The critics of Orozco’s murals often had undermined this
thematic subtleness and this has instigated them to criticize the artist’s
works which are actually infused with the themes and contents of the
Revolution. In this regard it must be noted that in the amalgamation
of such artistic styles is to be decoded first and only then the
revolutionary contents of Orozco’s murals can be understood. It can be seen
that, Orozco’s composition has a spiritual intonation which has linked
revolutions to the grimness of death and destructiveness of violence – and
both of these have been depicted as anti-God.