Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera (eBook)

Their Lives and Ideas, 24 Activities

Carol Sabbeth (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2005 | 1. Auflage
160 Seiten
Chicago Review Press (Verlag)
978-1-61374-181-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Children will find artistic inspiration as they learn about iconic artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in these imaginative and colorful activities. The art and ideas of Kahlo and Rivera are explored through projects that include painting a self-portrait Kahlo-style, creating a mural with a social message like Rivera, making a Day of the Dead ofrenda, and crafting an Olmec head carving. Vibrant illustrations throughout the book include Rivera's murals and paintings, Kahlo's dreamscapes and self-portraits, pre-Columbian art and Mexican folk art, as well as many photographs of the two artists. Children will learn that art is more than just pretty pictures, it can be a way to express the artist's innermost feelings, a source of everyday joy and fun, an outlet for political ideas, and an expression of hope for a better world. Sidebars will introduce children to other Mexican artists and other notable female artists. A time line, listings of art museums and places where Kahlo and Rivera's art can be viewed, and a list of relevant websites complete this cross-cultural art experience.

Textauszug

Wherever Diego Rivera went, he created a stir. His firstvisit to San Francisco in 1930 was no exception. Hisfame as a muralist had spread throughout Mexico.Now a group of art patrons from the United States commissionedhim to decorate their walls, too.
Squeezed into the back of a tiny sports car, he waved his armswith excitement at what he saw. Anyone watching the green convertiblezip up and down the impossibly steep streets had to smile.Rivera wore a Stetson hat that made his 300-pound, six-foot frameseem even larger. It was like sightseeing on a roller coaster-itseemed as if he might fly out of the car at any moment.
The sights he saw were thrilling! Construction workers,perched high atop steel beams, were building skyscrapers. Smallairplanes crisscrossed above the bay. On the ground, men in overallsoperated machines, while engineers studied blueprints. Theywere building San Francisco, and Diego Rivera, the great Mexicanmuralist, was there to paint them.
At the bottom of Chestnut Street, one of the steepest streets inthe city, was his mural. It was a large interior wall of an art school.Rivera covered the wall with a type of mural called a fresco. Afresco is made by applying paint to damp plaster. As the plasterdries, the colors bond to it.
Rivera titled his creation The Making of a Fresco Showing theBuilding of a City. He included himself in the painting, and hisassistants busy with their tasks. One man spreads fresh plasterwhile others measure the wall. In the center sits the master himself,Rivera. His back is to us, and his plump bottom hangs over thescaffold. He's doing what he loves best-painting a mural.
An Artist Is Born
On December 8, 1886, twin boys were born in the Mexicanvillage of Guanajuato (gwan-e-HWAT-tow), located in the SierraMadre Mountains.
The arrival of two babies caused tremendous excitement inthe household of Seor Diego and Seora Mara Rivera. In thefour years of their marriage, Mara had been pregnant four times.The first three births ended tragically when she delivered stillborn(lifeless) babies. Now, the neighbors heard the cries of a newborncoming from the Rivera home. The doctor came out of the bedroomand held up two fingers.
Two? There were two babies? Seor Rivera was overjoyed!But the doctor had more news. It was not good. This timethere had been a different tragedy during delivery. In 1886 it was common for women to give birth at home.But giving birth was a risk for the mother. Havingtwins was an even greater risk.
Diego was the first. His mother bled badlyduring his birth. By the time his brother arrived afew minutes later, Mara had lost so much bloodthat she went into a coma. When the doctor failedto find her pulse, he pronounced her dead.
But a short while after the doctor left, Mara'sfriend leaned over to kiss her cold forehead and saygood-bye. When she thought she heard Marabreathing, she cried out. They called the doctorback for a second opinion.
This time they gave Mara the blister test,the standard procedure for such a dilemma inthose days. The doctor lit a match and placed itjust beneath her left heel. To his great surprise,a blister formed. This wouldn't have happenedif his original diagnosis had been correct. Thebabies' mother was alive! Eventually she made afull recovery.
The City of Silver
Rivera's parents were well-educated schoolteacherswho met in Guanajuato. His mother was a smallwoman of Spanish...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.8.2005
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch ► Jugendbücher ab 12 Jahre
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch ► Sachbücher ► Kunst / Musik
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch ► Spielen / Lernen ► Quiz / Rätsel
• ISBN-10: 1-61374-181-2 / 1613741812
• ISBN-13: 978-1-61374-181-8 / 9781613741818