Background for the Teacher
Siqueiros was one of the three great Mexican muralists, and probably one of the greatest muralists in the history of art. Unlike his compatriots, he was also actively involved with the political revolutions of his country, having fought in the Mexican revolutionary war, and later having quit painting in order to become a union organizer. He then became the president of the National League Against Fascism and War. In 1936 Siqueiros went to Spain to fight in the civil war against Franco. During these years he continued to paint sporadically, first in the United States and then in Mexico, upon his return in 1939. Thereafter, he continued to paint monumental murals while remaining a political revolutionary. During World War II, he was an active anti-fascist, working in several Latin American countries, and as late as 1960, was imprisoned for four years because of his efforts to help union and political prisoners in his native country.
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For Siqueiros, art and politics were inextricable. He used art to depict the revolution and to spur it onward. Mural painting was his chosen medium because its monumentality enabled it to be seen by all the people.
In order to make his art vibrant, he embraced any technology that could in any way heighten the impact of his message: he was the first artist to employ the spray gun on cement walls, the slide projector to transfer his preparatory drawings onto the walls, and the first to use silicate paints. Again, the subjects of his art reflected the reality that he experienced, as his murals depicted the horrors of chemical warfare, in the
Portrait of the Bourgeoisie
(illustrated below), and the amazing and terrifying mechanical eye of medicine (a visionary catscan) in his
Apologia of the Future Victory of Medicine over Cancer
(also illustrated below).
Objective
The discussion itself will take at least one period. The objective of this first lesson is to make the students aware of the political possibilities of art and of the fact that it is a powerful expressive medium. After the discussion, each student is to make one or more preparatory sketches for a painting, and to transfer the drawing onto a canvas or canvas board in order to execute the painting.
Materials
Materials for the lecture: The illustrations of Siqueiros’ paintings in de Micheli’s text are in color and are large enough to show a class of up to twenty children. This text is available from Fairfield University. The writer of this paper has slides of the reproductions.
(figure available in print form)
Left side of the
Portrait of the Bourgeoisie
(figure available in print form)
Portrait of othe Bourgeoisie
by David Alfaro Siqueiros Mural, 1939. Permission to reprint requested from the Electrical Workers’ Union Building, Mexico City
Right side of the mural
(figure available in print form)
Detail from
Portrait of the Bourgeoisie
(figure available in print form)
Detail from
Apologia of the future Victory of Medicine over Cancer
by David Alfaro Siqueiros Mural, 1958. Permision to reprint requested from the National Medical Center, Mexico City.
Materials for the studio class: Sketch paper and pencil or charcoal; painting materials such as opaque paint and paper, or acrylic paint and canvas; brushes; visual resources such as magazines, photographs of Latin American art, etc.
Introduction
Without introducing Siqueiros, as a person or an artist, show the students a photograph of Siqueiros’ 1939 mural,
Portrait of the Bourgeoisie
, and ask them to tell you how to describe the painting with the following possible suggestive questions: “Does this painting have a central axis and is it basically symmetrical?” (yes). “What is on the central axis?” (The mechanical eagle overpowering a non-mechanical one, and a money-making machine). “Who are the men wearing suits and gas masks?” (Politicians who have become part of the war machine). “Who are the men wearing gas masks and uniforms?” (the fascists).
Be sure to point out the patriot-headed orator on the left side. “Is this a human figure?” “Why does it have a screw instead of legs?” “Does it remind you of any political figure?” (Hitler, Mussolini?)
The figure on the right (deliberate symbolic placement?) seems to embody a totally different spirit from most of the other figures in the mural. “How many human faces do we see in this monumental work?” (three). “What do they have in common?” (Only the patriot and the vision of the two concentration camp victims (to the left of the mechanical eagle) are truly human; these alone have faces and street clothes. Only these three are of the proletariat, the people).
If the students know what one point perspective is: “Do all parts of the painting share a single perspective; are they in a single space?” (No, the soldiers march in additive planes and the eagle floats above the whole. The upper part of the composition is a totally different perspective).
The upper part of the painting seems to be a future view of a world that can use technology for the betterment of humanity rather than to annihilate it.
This painting will evoke powerful responses from the students. Even if they have never seen another painting they will be able to understand that it is loaded with symbolism, mixed perspectives, political statements, and critical judgments of politicians.
The mural is painted on three walls and on the ceiling. This is the reason that the dictator and the patriot are distorted in the photograph of the whole. See how many children can figure this out.
By way of summation, and by way of actual introduction to what the students will be doing in the next art class, ask the students questions about their own experiences with government, bureaucracy, principals, and the police. Open the discussion up to other nightmare-like images that they may have experienced. Explain that exactitude in anatomical drawing has little to do with the success or failure of a painting. Discuss the artist’s use of color (fire red, steely blue) to convey emotion.
Ask the students to think about something that has upset them, because in the next class they will get the opportunity to draw it.
Methodology
Middle school children have just about enough patience to make a single sketch and to then transfer it to the canvas board (with a bit of teacher’s help). Only the most confident and creative children will provide the teacher with both political drawings and personal depictions. But for the students who do so, the teacher might have to help the student decide about which drawing is the best for further development. Unless the student is strongly moved by some political event, he or she will not be able to sustain the effort that is required to execute a painting. That is why the personal horror might capture the students’ interests more strongly.
Once the sketch is approved by the teacher and student, the student should copy it onto the painting surface. The colors that are to be used should be either labeled on the various forms to be painted, or preferably, be sketched onto the painting surface with colored chalk, watercolor, or a sketchy application of the paint that is to be used for the complete painting. Only in an actual art class will the teacher have time to teach color theory, but for the teacher who wants to give his or her students some brief suggestions, the following might be of some use:
Suggestions for Color Application
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1. Colors of the same or close value (lightness or darkness) should not regularly be placed next to each other because they will appear to blend together.
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2. Hot colors (red, yellow, orange, pinks, etc.) tend to project, that is move outward. For this reason, hot colors should only be used as local (realistic) details, or for shapes that are meant to receive a lot of attention because of their importance.
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3. Colors do not have to be the same as those in the real world.
Although many children have a natural sense of design, some need help in this area. Again, a list follows with what might be useful suggestions for the students who need them:
Suggestions for Form Placement
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1. Larger shapes tend to attract the most attention.
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2. Forms at the point at which perspective lines converge (come together) also attract attention.
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3. Generally, shapes on the upper half of the painting plane are seen first and appear to be the largest.
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4. When many small forms are place together, they are either seen as connected or as part of a pattern.
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5. To make sure that your composition remains balanced, turn the painting on its side and upside down once in a while. When you lookout your work from different viewpoints, you will be able to see what shapes look like as pure visual forms that have no meaning. The best way to look at a work in progress is to hold it up to a mirror. This will remove you from it, so that you can see it more objectively.
Elementary school children usually do not need any of these art principles to be able to boldly approach a painting surface. But middle school children welcome “rules” even if they intend to break them.
The most important thing to be emphasized to the students is that when an artist paints, he or she is ultimately the boss. No one knows better what is best in his or her creation.
Ideas for Some Crafts Based on Latin American Designs
Outside the context of the regular art classroom, it is often difficult to teach art. But because so many curriculum units are enhanced by visual-manual activities, creating things is an invaluable teaching method. For this reason simple crafts can be taught in all classrooms with impressive results. A short list of Latin American types of crafts ideas is included below. The motifs that are so typically Latin American can be used for any of these, and the students can either find other motifs, or design their own.
Crafts Based on Latin American Motifs
Yarn Designs
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Draw a design on a piece of cardboard.
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Outline each form with a piece of yarn.
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Fill in each shape with that color winding it inward toward the center of each shape.
Wooden Pendants
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Draw a design on the surface of a small piece of wood.
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Use acrylic paint to color it. Spray with acrylic fixative.
Pi–atas
These papier-m‰ché crafts are often time consuming and messy, but are worthwhile because of the creative possibilities, and because they are excellent as a small group project. Children’s craft books provide simple directions for traditional and modified pi–atas. Please see the bibliography.
Sheet Metal Crafts
Sheet metal, or metal foil can be cut, folded incised and hammered to make traditional Mexican-like masks, or jewelry and plaques.
The metal can be worked from both the back and the front for a variety of textures.
Fabric Collages
Draw a design onto a light color cloth. Cut pieces of fabric or paper and glue these onto the various parts of the design in either a mosaic fashion, or in large single shapes.
(figure available in print form)
Latin American Motifs to be Used in Craft Projects. Illustrations by the author.