Siqueiros was always aware of history and current events. Unlike some artists who view themselves as observers or merely recorders of history, Siqueiros always became a participant. Whether he was collaborating directly with workers or trade and labor unions or enlisting as a soldier in a number of civil wars, Siqueiros was always at the center of the action.
Below you will find a list of events that took place before and during Siqueiros’ lifetime. See if you can identify the way these events may have inspired his work.
1858 Felix Tournachon, aka “Nadar,” takes the first aerial
photographs from a hot air balloon in France.
1876 The Porfiriato dictatorship begins in Mexico.
1896 David Alfaro Siqueiros is born.
1910 The Mexican Revolution begins.
1913 At seventeen Siqueiros becomes a soldier in the
Mexican Revolution.
1919 At twenty-three, Siqueiros travels to Europe and studies
fresco painting.
1922 The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is
established after the 1917 revolution.
Siqueiros paints his first mural at the age of 26, Spirit of the
Occident also known as The Elements, using encaustic.
1935 The first color photograph is taken from the
stratosphere, showing the curve of the earth’s surface.
Siqueiros teaches artists, including Jackson Pollock, at the
Siqueiros Experimental Workshop in New York City.
1936 Siqueiros travels to Spain during the civil war to fight as
an anti-Fascist.
1939 World War II begins and lasts until 1945.
1946 The U.S. photographs the earth from space via a missile
launched in New Mexico.
1957 The USSR sends Sputnik, the first satellite, into space.
1969 Neil Armstrong, an astronaut from the U.S. becomes the
first person to walk on the moon.
1974 Siqueiros dies at the age of 78.
SIQUEIROS AND THE WORLD AROUND HIM
SIQUEIROS AND INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS
SIQUEIROS AND COSMIC LANDSCAPE
SIQUEIROS AND HIS USE OF ALLEGORY
THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE MAZE BOOK