On Saturday, I took a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as an assignment for my Mosaics II course. We were instructed to analyze six paintings that correlate to some of the topics we have covered, mainly feminism and communism. In addition to our trip, we have the option to submit a paper on one painting for extra-credit. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make this blog a rough draft of my paper.
Between the 1910 and 1930s, a group of revolutionaries led a violent struggle against Porfirio Diaz, the President of Mexico for seven terms at the time, and the wealthy landowners of Mexico. The result of this rebellion was the abolition of a 30-year old dictatorship and the establishment of a constitutional republic. This movement is known as the Mexican Revolution. Diego Rivera, a prominent Mexican Artist, created a set of eight frescoes that depict the Mexican Revolution from his perspective. In this paper, I will be analyzing Diego Rivera’s Liberation of the Peon in contrast to Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.
In the Liberation of the Peon, Diego Rivera paints a laborer who has been badly whipped by an overseer and left to die. Four revolutionaries cut the laborer off the post he was tied to and cover him up with a red cloth. In the background, a hacienda, an agricultural land owned by the wealthy class in Mexico, is engulfed in flames. The revolutionary holding the horses has a slumped over posture and looks down at the broken laborer, in a sympathizing manner. The colors utilized in this painting are mainly muted shades of black, brown, and red.
The painting alludes the descent of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) from the cross. The manner in which the laborer is being cut down from the post is a reference to how the disciples of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) lowered him from the cross and wrapped him in a white cloth, while others looked upon the event in despair. Rivera exaggerates the eyes of the horses. They are large and dark in color, with a white reflection of the sun in the center. Their eyes seem to hold a sense of innocence, as they witness the oppression of laborer.
Rivera is able to encapsulate the entire Mexican Revolution from this one painting. We are provided with the cause and effect of the revolution. As the badly beaten laborer is the center of focus for the audience, we are provided with the reason behind an uprising. The burning of the haciendas is justified because there are hundreds of laborers like the one displayed in front of us. The audience is not spared from the witnessing of the brutality inflicted upon the Peon by the landowners because Rivera wants us to see why the revolt was necessary.
In the Communist Manifesto, Marx calls the working class, or proletarians, to take action against the wealthy business owners, or bourgeoisie. He emphasizes the exploitation of the proletarians by the bourgeoisie and assures us that a violent revolution, led by the proletariat, is inevitable. The Liberation of the Peon highlights both main points found in Marx’s manifesto by showing both the exploited working class and the violent revolt. The badly whipped laborer represents the working class; while the hacienda represents the bourgeoise of Mexico.
Marx’s manifesto is directly targeting those in a position similar to that of the laborer. He wants those who are abused and enslaved to break free from their master’s chains, both figuratively and literally. Marx foresees a series of uprisings, similar to that of the Mexican Revolution, to occur internationally until the working man is in charge. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx concludes his introduction by stating to “let the ruling classes tremble at the Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win”. This message can be compared to that found in a proclamation of war and Marx lets it be known that he will use force if and when it is necessary. Without a doubt, Marx believes that the burning of the hacienda is merely a cause and effect of the oppression sustained by the working class, and therefore justified. Rivera also makes the audience justify the destruction of the haciendas by putting the oppression directly in front of us.
In both the painting and the manifesto, a clear final solution is not explained. Marx never goes into detail about how communism should be implemented, and Rivera does not show us a functional ideal society after the revolution in his paintings of the revolution. However, both sources serve the same purpose: they intend to call attention to the suffering state of the working class and show the inevitable, justified revolution.
