Diego Rivera: Social Realist or El Discutido?

Diego Rivera had a very interesting life, or at least that is what he led the world to believe. Rivera aimed to make a social impact through his art. He was able to achieve this through his love of controversy and his miles of murals. In fact, Rivera was so controversial that his nickname was el discutido. This leads into Rivera being a womanizer. This is ironic because Rivera was an unattractive man. Women might have been attracted to him because of his success. Rivera thoroughly enjoyed his public scandals with numerous women. With questionable political standing and a secure grasp of history, Rivera would distort his images in order to support his views. Biographers had a difficult time keeping record of Rivera’s life because he was a good story teller along with a compulsive liar. Rivera was thoroughly involved in international politics as well as Mexico’s. He maintained a friendship with Leon Trotsky and was an anti Stalinist. Rivera, like many artists, was deeply involved with his art. It was the most important part of his life. No woman or political stance would ever be able to fulfill him the way that painting could. Frida Kahlo, one of Rivera’s wives, knew this better than anyone. She knew that art was top priority in his life and always would be. Because Rivera was so devoted to painting he enthralled himself in various styles such as cubism, impressionism, and pointillism. Did Rivera’s questionable standing with women and political parties transfer into his paintings? In order to evaluate his impact as an artist his murals, their locations, symbolism and what was happening historically must be analyzed. By looking at a variety of Rivera’s portraits and murals alike the type of character he portrays and how it relates to his own can be examined.

1) Based on my presentation on Diego Rivera, how do you understand his personality and character?

2) What strengths and weaknesses did you find in my presentation?

3) After hearing my presentation what questions or comments do you have about Diego Rivera?

4) Looking at either the Portrait of Martin Luis Guzman, or Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park, or both, write a short story that portrays the life, or character, of a subject in the portrait.

Olympia's Look

Suzanne Manet has a very unique personality and a strangely high level of character. She seems like she was very upset about all of her husband’s infidelities, but she hid it to the outside world. I don’t fully understand how Suzanne Manet maintained her sanity. Secretly she worried about whom else her husband cared for and how much each of his models meant to him. What kind of a life must she have lived? It is quite possible that she lived quite a naïve one until the later years. Maybe she saw what was going on between her husband and other women, but did not want to admit it. The way that she dealt with the select group of women following her husband’s death demonstrates her high level of character. While she could have been the bitter widow she still spoke with these women in a civil manner. I think that she secretly thought it was funny that the models held themselves in high esteem with Manet. It also appears that she tried to justify her position as his wife. She did this by saying that she was with Manet in his most intimate and scared moments which means she was closest to him. This led me to believe that she was slightly insecure about where he held her in his heart. However, the fact that she even went so far as to consider Victorine’s request for money means that she still cared deeply for her husband and hoped to honor his wishes.

One of my favorite parts of the story was when Victorine requested a share of money from the sale of the painting she modeled for. Suzanne Manet actually considered the request and visited Victorine. However, as she considered this she also felt that if Victorine considered herself in high esteem with Manet that she should have to suffer through the details of his death. This shows two things about Suzanne’s character. First, that she was an upstanding woman. She was civil with Victorine in a way that I wouldn’t expect her to be. Second, that she felt somewhat jealous of Victorine which seems entirely natural considering the circumstances. Another passage that interested me was when Suzanne got the letter to Isabelle that Helene was supposed to send. This part of the story really shows that Suzanne was deeply hurt, but was not about to make it known to the world. Instead she revels in the fact that she is his wife, not Isabelle and therefore she has the upper hand.

The way that Vreeland portrays Suzanne Manet leads me to think that she was just reacting to events in her life. However, she does react in a very calm way which demonstrates that she was a thinker as opposed to someone who instantly took action. Based on how Vreeland presents Suzanne, I think she was a person who aimed to please others, but after Manet’s death and all of his infidelities she would change in a way where she would first aim to please herself.

I think the writing of Olympia’s Look was much better and more interesting than that of The Yellow Jacket. However, this story seemed to jump around with the thought process which made it slightly difficult to follow. At the same time I found the writing to be intriguing and thought provoking. I am curious as to how Suzanne really treated the women when she encountered them because in specific parts of the story she was very straight forward and ruthless which seems like it would have been frowned on during her time.

Annotated Bibliography

"Alice Neel". UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. FindArticles.com. 01 Feb 2009.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19152543
Like most artists, Alice Neel had several unique life experiences under her belt. She had a daughter that died of diphtheria, a husband that left her, a roommate that ruined her works, and parents that did not want their daughter to become an artist. Just like viewers bring their life experiences into their interpretations, artists put theirs into their paintings. One could say that Alice Neel definitely brought a lot to the canvas. It is said that she painted what she saw. This makes so much sense when you look at “The Last Sickness”. It looks like the subject is sick and frustrated which must be what Neel saw. Of course, Neel was influenced by the world around her as well. The political situation of WWII led her to paint “Nazis Murder Jews”. And her daughter’s death also inspired some portraits. I was surprised to find that for most of Neel’s career she was not popular. When she died Neel actually still owned most of her work. A strong explanation for this is that she mostly painted the common person most of whom could not afford to buy her paintings. However, this did not bother Neel because she seemed to use painting as an outlet and at one point she called it an obsession even though it was her profession.

Nadel, Alyssa. “Alice Neel”. 01 Feb 2009
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Neel__Alice.html
Born to Alice Concross Hartley and George Washington Neel, Alice Neel had her work cut out for her. Her parents were of the conservative mindset. Her mother was under the impression that Neel was just a woman, so her life was predetermined for her. Alice Neel thoroughly proved her mother wrong. Neel seemed to be consistently conforming to her own image. As she created her artwork, it did not fit in with the art of the times. In her paintings Neel had a habit of portraying intense and honest emotion. Several of her works are of nude “sitters”; she even did her self portrait nude at the age of eighty. Because of her honest portrayal the viewer can easily take the emotions detected in the paintings literally. It seems as if Neel is one of the many artists that gain popularity after their death. While she did exhibit her work during her career, today her work is shown all across the U.S. and throughout the globe.

“The Art of Alice Neel”. 06 Sept 2008. 01 Feb 2009.
http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
Yet again, it is known that Alice Neel had an adventurous life. When her husband left he took her daughter and she was never to see Isabetta again. Because of these events it is no wonder that Neel attempted suicide after experiencing a nervous breakdown. This leads me to conclude that because of Alice Neel’s numerous experiences throughout life she became very empathetic. With such a great sense of empathy Neel is readily able to convey the subject’s emotions straight from the canvas to the eyes of the viewer. Her mother appears to not have been the most supportive of Neel’s career. With that being said it seems that Alice Neel was really able to put herself in her mother’s position as she painted “The Last Sickness”. In this painting Neel is able to capture the “fear and discomfort” that her mother feels towards the end of her life.

The Last Sickness

http://www.tfaoi.com/am/14am/14am323.jpg

Children of the Screen

I think that the majority of people in today’s society are children of the screen even if they would not openly admit so. It would seem as if we have unintentionally slipped into a less than ideal state of “relaxation” with technology at large, televisions in particular. Honestly, every once in a while I have caught myself spending a substantial amount of time looking at screens. Whether it is the screen of a television, computer, cell phone, or an mp3 player I am definitely inclined to spend my days and nights gazing at a screen.

While I thoroughly use technology I do spend the majority of my time outdoors and reading for fun. As a child we had television readily available in my home, but my mom and I did so many other activities that the television was far from the center of my childhood. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy watching movies and some television shows. However, I am able to get so much more satisfaction from my daily activities. This is why I spend more time with my family and animals than lounging in front of the television.

I definitely agree with Baylon that we will lose our true natures if we adjust our lifestyles to fit the “reality” created by television. While watching television you are not actively doing anything unless the show is somewhat educational. Even then, you are not really accomplishing much by sitting in front of the television. If I had to find an upside to the dominance of screens in our lives it would be that people are informed on daily occurrences in the world. Of course, this information is not just the truth, often times it is embellished and biased. Because of the huge amount of information available on the internet people are no longer left “out of the loop” when they do not have a television.

A large portion of America’s children have also joined the group of people obsessed with our screen technology. Because of parents’ often hectic schedules it seems that television is a good way to relax which demonstrates to children that watching television often is all right. Video games, movies, and television shows start to severely influence these kids. All of this time spent with the television is also a large contributor to childhood obesity. Eating and watching television just seem to go hand in hand because while you feel “occupied” you are not occupied to the point of being distracted from the bag of chips calling your name.

All in all, I think becoming a child of the screen is a conscious choice for all people with the exception of young children. While certain things are genetic, wanting to watch television incessantly is probably not. You can control your circumstances and each person chooses whether or not they will sit in front of a television for the majority of their life, or if they will get out and live their lives with a bigger purpose.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

While watching The Picture of Dorian Gray, several scenes appealed to me. The scene I chose occurs towards the beginning of the movie. I was really pulled into the conversation between Gladys, Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray. Basil Hallward had just finished painting the picture of Dorian. Gladys signed her initial on the canvas. Lord Henry proceeds to ask Gladys if she prefers Dorian’s portrait, or Dorian. Lord Henry then tells Gladys that Dorian, as a person, will get old, but his picture will be young forever. Next, Gladys talks to Dorian and says, “He’ll stay the same ‘til I’m grown, right Dorian?” Dorian says he will, of course. At this point, Gladys leaves the room and Dorian mentions that he would give everything to be young forever and how convenient it would be if his portrait could take on his age while he remained the same. Lord Henry is then astonished that Dorian would dare say such a thing in the presence of one of the seventy-five gods of Egypt (the cat statue).

What really interested me about this particular scene in the movie was the conversation about growing old. At first, Dorian seemed to be comfortable in his own skin, but soon after Lord Henry suggested Dorian aging, Dorian’s confidence quickly disappeared. In the very beginning of this scene I saw the high expectations that Dorian and Gladys had of youth that were crushed by Lord Henry’s ranting. Throughout the movie Lord Henry was repeatedly bitter towards people. Lord Henry discourages youthful pondering between Gladys and Dorian. This reminds me of how the young are assumed to have an heir of innocence that the aged have lost. I was caught off guard to hear that Dorian would give everything to stay young. Everybody has to age eventually, even if they don’t do it gracefully. To give up everything in order to avoid the rite of passage (aging) seemed astounding to me. However, consequences are sure to follow every action whether they are good, or bad. The segment I have chosen is the beginning of Dorian’s horrific life. His “wish” gets granted and his picture takes the shape of his aging soul. The scene I chose got the ball rolling on the series of events. It would seem that my scene is the one that people look back to at the end of the movie in order to understand the overall message. Most people remember their youth as some of the best years of their life; you have to live all those years to accumulate valuable life experiences. I have to think that if Dorian had been able to see how his soul was changing on his person, instead of his portrait; he would have quickly changed his ways because in the beginning of the movie he appears to be good at heart. Overall, it seems that the moral of the story is to age yourself, not in a portrait, therefore allowing you to experience life to its fullest and learn from your mistakes.

Who is that Person?

In picture four Gertrude is struggling to remember her life. She suffers from Alzheimer’s. Gertrude moved into an assisted living apartment immediately after being diagnosed with the disease at 73 years old. Only three years earlier she mourned the loss of Walter, her husband of fifty years. Their four children still visit Gertrude on a regular basis, but disappointment is all they find. Even with the best doctors, Gertrude’s treatment has produced little to no results.
Born in 1921, Gertrude lived on her parent’s southern cotton plantation. Relatively speaking, their family was incredibly wealthy which explains why she did not need to work as a teenager. Her parents arranged for Gertrude to marry a man from an equally wealthy family, Walter. Originally, she did not want to marry her childhood friend, but in the best interest of her family’s social status she went along for the ride. After one year of marriage, at the age of 21, Gertrude realized she was going to spend her life with her soul mate.
After being married for five years, Gertrude had four children to keep up with. Walter was a business man; this allowed Gertrude to stay at home and raise her children. The family picked up and moved to Oregon so that Walter could pursue a better job. When all four kids were enrolled in school full time, Gertrude started to work. She had a real passion to help others which is why she chose to work in an institution for the mentally retarded. There, she had an opportunity to work with people of all ages. The work was extremely rewarding for Gertrude because she got along with people so well. The patients really enjoyed her presence because of her humor and wit. Gertrude always found it so sad that the staff at the institution was family to the patients because their own kin could not take care of them. Parents would visit every so often, but would find it to difficult to hold a conversation with their child. Older patients often had no visitors, so during visiting hours Gertrude would spend extra time with them to make sure their every day was special. As her own children started to get married and have children of their own, she decided to stop working at the institution so she could spend time with her grandchildren.
Currently, at the age of 88, Gertrude spends a lot of her time frustrated. She is a great grandmother, grandmother, and mother, but cannot remember it. She knows that she really enjoyed life before she lived in her apartment, but now she cannot seem to find the point. Comfort is her ultimate goal, so she wears her robe almost constantly. Her slim glasses allow Gertrude to see the pictures from her life before Alzheimer’s. Viewing photos and reading about her achievements are integral parts of her treatment. On her face she wears a permanent frown and wrinkles in her forehead demonstrating that she is in constant distress searching her mind for a life she wishes she knew.