Canto General - Image A 1968

Year1968

Hand SignedLower Right 

Condition Mint 

Not Framed 

Purchased fromPrivate Collector 

Story / Additional InfoLike the stark monochromatic imagery of Francisco Goya’s prints and drawings, which profoundly influenced the work of David Alfar Siqueiros, Canto General depicts scenes that are lively and dreamlike despite their strong, and unsettling characteristics. Here, various features are discernible amidst the violent, gestural strokes demarcating the landscape and sky. These works belongs to the Canto General series, in which Siqueiros illustrates the famous book of poems by the same name, penned by his friend, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Mexican Social Realist painter David Alfaro Siqueiros was a key figure in the establishment of Mexican Muralism, which he championed alongside Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. A political organizer too, Siqueiros was active as a member of the Communist party, and his large-scale frescos depict events and changes in the social, political, and industrial arenas from a decidedly leftist angle. Siqueiros’s activism dates back to his collegiate experience during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 when he participated in and led student strikes. During the ensuing decades of the ’20s and ’30s, he was jailed often for his political participation and often painted the suffering of prison life. For Siqueiros, art and politics were innately intertwined, and he continued to paint politically charged murals throughout this time, including his most well known, Los Mitos (The Myths), at the National Preparatory School. Following this era of upheaval in Mexico, Siqueiros spent time in both New York and Spain, where he not only fought against Fascism (anti-Fascist themes are present throughout Siqueiros’s oeuvre), but where he also encountered the disturbing imagery of Spanish master Francisco Goya, who had a profound influence on Siqueiros’s artistic vision. In 1940, motivated by Communist sympathies and a deep devotion to Stalin, Siqueiros headed up an attack on the Mexican home of Leon Trotsky, who had been granted asylum in the country. Later, during the Vietnam War, Siqueiros was vocal about his opposition to American involvement in the situation, and he was also vehement in his support for Fidel Castro’s Cuban government. Siqueiros died in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca in 1974. 

Certificate of AuthenticityArt Brokerage 

LID134426

David Alfaro Siqueiros - Mexico

Art Brokerage: David Alfaro Siqueiros Mexican Artist: b. 1896-1974. David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was among the most famous of all Mexican painters and muralists, ranking alongside the great Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. Siqueiros was born in Chihuahua and trained at the Escuela Nacional de Belles Artes in Mexico City. He participated in the revival of fresco painting initiated by government sponsorship of murals in public buildings, later creating frescoes in the United States. In 1962, the Mexican government sentenced Siqueiros to eight years in prison for organizing left-wing student riots in 1960 (when Siqueiros was 64 years of age); two years later, in 1964, Siqueiros was pardoned. After his release from prison, one of his most monumental works, "March of Humanity," was created on a hotel in the Parque de Lama, Mexico City. Please do not submit any original works without full authentication.