Capitoline Museums, Palazzo Caffarelli
This exhibition is the largest showcase of Mexican art in Europe in recent decades and the first ever held in Italy dedicated to Diego Rivera. A journey through the colors of Mexico set against the magnificent backdrop of the Capitoline Museums—Villa Caffarelli—this intense retrospective is dedicated to the renowned Mexican painter and muralist. His work serves as a bridge between tradition and the future, creating a distinctive, autonomous visual language for modern Mexican art.
Alongside works by Diego Rivera, the exhibition presents masterpieces by extraordinary artists such as Frida Kahlo, José María Velasco, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, María Izquierdo, Tamayo, Lozano, Montenegro, Ruiz, Dr. Atl, Saturnino Herrán, and many others. The exhibition is further enriched by evocative videos and photographs, including images of Rivera captured by Tina Modotti.
This group of artists successfully wove together tradition, the avant-garde, and a plurality of aesthetic languages. The exhibition traces the genealogy of Mexican modernity, positioning Rivera at the heart of a visual and conceptual tapestry where academic training engages in dialogue with experimentation and a profound focus on the social realities of the time.
Through an extraordinary selection of over 140 works—thirty of which are by Diego Rivera—the exhibition reveals the complexity of a process rooted in the birth of independent Mexico in 1821. That era saw the emergence of a need for a cultural identity capable of representing a new, diverse, and constantly evolving nation. In this context, art becomes a privileged tool for visually shaping the face of Mexico, as well as a vehicle for cultural transformation projects that blend tradition and modernity, projecting a diverse and constantly evolving image onto the international stage.
During the first half of the 20th century, Mexican art redefined itself by creating a distinctly national language and iconography. Artistic practice turned its focus toward a fusion of pre-Columbian heritage, folk cultures, and the social imperatives that emerged in the post-revolutionary period. Within this framework, the visual arts played a decisive role in rebuilding the country’s social fabric, with the Muralist movement standing out as one of the most influential projects both nationally and internationally. Championed in 1921 by José Vasconcelos and solidified by artists José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera, Muralism helped democratize art and construct an epic narrative of Mexican history—one in which the people, workers, and peasants took center stage. The result was a new national iconography that spoke to communities and public spaces while redefining the artist's social role.
The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections:
Academy and Tradition – Rivera’s Training: explores the engagement with 19th-century legacies and the lineage of the craft—spanning academies and fine arts schools—to understand the technical and cultural roots of Mexican modernity.
The Contribution of Diego Rivera and Mexico to European Avant-Gardes – The European Years: focuses on dialogues with Cubism and the avant-garde, as well as the original contribution Mexican artists made to the international scene through a new visual syntax.
The Mexican Cultural Renaissance: analyzes the post-Revolutionary era, when visual arts, literature, architecture, and music converged to define a modern national identity, blending pre-Columbian heritage, folk traditions, and social imperatives. Beyond Social Realism:examines the dissemination of models and ideas beyond the canons of Muralism, moving toward explorations that expand the lexicon of modern Mexican art and attest to its enduring vitality.
Each section brings together emblematic works from the 19th and 20th centuries, accompanied by critical essays from distinguished art historians featured in the exhibition catalogue, published by Gangemi Editore.
IMAGES
Diego Rivera (1886-1957) Adoración de la Virgen Adorazione della Vergine 1912-1913 olio su tela, 151 x 122 cm Città del Messico, Colección Manuel Reyero © Banco de México
Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) Still Life with Parrot and Flag, 1951, oil on Masonite, 28 x 40 cm, Mexico City, private collection, courtesy AC Associates © Banco de México
