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Monday, October 13, 2008

These next photos are from the Siqueiros' mural, "Portrait of Mexico Today", which can be found at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. During the 1930's, David Alfaro Siqueiros painted this mural at the Pacific Palisades home of filmmaker, Dudley Murphy. The mural was painted in the backyard area of Murphy's home. This is the only Siqueiros' surviving, intact mural in the United States. In 2001, the mural was donated to the museum. Then, the mural had an extensive restoration. As you head to the front of the museum, the mural is to the right side, hidden from the street. It is so well hidden that when you first come upon it, it completely catches you by surprise. There is a new surprise discovered each time I view this mural! It is fitting that this bleeding heart liberal would find herself kneeling with the Mexican revolutionary!

I took pictures of the various panels of the mural. Notice the rich colors of the mural, as well as the subjects depicted in the mural.

This particular panel is my favorite. Here, you have a Communist soldier, kneeling with his gun ready to fight. Siqueiros was a member of the Communist party in Mexico. Consequently, his works had very high charged political overtones to them and in some cases, his works were so controversial, they were whitewashed such as what happened to "La America Tropical".

Of all of the 3 BIG Mexican muralists, Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, Siqueiros is by far, my favorite. I LOVE the passion that can be seen in his work! His work just seems to come alive! To view more information and see the entire mural, go to: http://www.sbmuseart.org/siqueiros/mural_imagery.html.

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