Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Siqueiros (David Alfaro) Papers
960094
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: David Alfaro Siqueiros papers
Date (inclusive): 1920-1991 (bulk 1930-1936)
Number: 960094
Creator/Collector:
Siqueiros, David
Alfaro
Physical Description:
2.11 Linear Feet
(6 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: A leading member of the Mexican
muralist movement and a technical innovator of fresco and wall painting. The collection
consists almost entirely of manuscripts, some in many drafts, others fragmentary, the bulk
of which date from the mid-1930s, when Siqueiros traveled to Los Angeles, New York, Buenos
Aires, and Montevideo, returning intermittently to Mexico City. A significant portion of the
papers concerns Siqueiros's public disputes with Diego Rivera; there are manifestos against
Rivera, eye-witness accounts of their public debate, and newspaper coverage of the
controversy. There is also material regarding the murals América Tropical,
Mexico Actual and Ejercicio Plastico, including one drawing
and a few photographs. The Experimental Workshop in New York City is also
documented.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this
collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in Spanish; Castilian and English
David Alfaro Siqueiros was a leading member of the Mexican muralist movement and a
technical innovator of fresco and wall painting. His ideological differences with Diego
Rivera attracted much attention in the 1930s.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
David Alfaro Siqueiros papers,1921-1991, bulk 1930-1936, The Getty Research Institute, Los
Angeles, Accession no. 960094.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa960094
Acquired in 1996.
Processed and described by Annette Leddy; revised in 2012.
Scope and Content of Collection
The David Alfaro Siqueiros Papers contain one rare serial from 1921 Spain, and otherwise
consist almost entirely of manuscripts, some in many drafts, others fragmentary, the bulk of
which date from the mid-1930s, when Siqueiros traveled to Los Angeles, New York, Buenos
Aires and Montevideo, returning intermittently to Mexico City. Often he gathered teams of
artists to work with him on creating murals and developing new techniques and implements for
mural painting. Marxist theory as interpreted by the Communist Party guided Siqueiros in
these artistic endeavors, and the collection contains a number of manifestos demonstrating
how he integrated art and ideology in the organization of his workshops, in his theory of
Mexican muralism, and in his painting. A significant portion of the papers concern
Siqueiros's public disputes with Rivera; there are manifestos against Rivera, eye-witness
accounts of their public debate, and newspaper coverage of the controversy. There is also
material regarding the murals
America Tropical,
Mexico Actual,
and
Ejercicio Plastico, including one drawing and a few photographs. The
Experimental Workshop in New York City is also documented.
These papers were entrusted to, and partly created by, Bolivian artist Roberto Berdecio,
Siqueiros's assistant and friend, who kept them for about 40 years. Unless otherwise noted,
materials in the archive are by Siqueiros. Where the date of an undated manuscript is
reasonably certain, it has been included in the first four series; where the date is not
known, the manuscripts have been included in Series V. Miscellaneous. Due to the challenges
of dating this material, where a date is written on the item, it is included on the
inventory even if it repeats the date of the grouping under which it is cataloged.
The papers are organized in 5 series:
Series I. Spain/Mexico, 1210-1991;
Series II. Los Angeles, 1932,
undated;
Series III. South
America, 1933;
Series IV. New
York, 1934-1977, undated;
Series V. Miscellanous and fragmentary manuscripts, undated.
Siqueiros, David Alfaro
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
Berdecio,
Roberto
John Reed Club (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Communism and art -- Mexico
Mural painting and decoration -- California -- Los Angeles
Mural painting and decoration, Mexican
Painting -- Technique
Photographic prints
Photographs, Original
Siqueiros, David
Alfaro
Berdecio,
Roberto