On the Centennial of David Alfaro Siqueiros: The Mural of the Mexico School of Chillan

Summary

In 1940, Siqueiros, accused of attempting to assassinate Trotsky, was captured and sent to prison. Thanks to Pablo Neruda's efforts, in 1941 Siqueiros was able to make his way to Chile where he was judicially confined to Chillan, a city destroyed in 1939 by a violent earthquake. Siqueiros was entrusted to paint a mural in the school that was donated by the Mexican Government. On the South wall he painted a mural sythesizing the most heroic stages of Chilean history, and on the North wall, the secular history of Mexico is represented, from the ancestral cultures to the struggles of the contemporary scene. The sides are joined by a furrowed ceiling of geometrical lines and bands of vibrant and waving forms which descend onto both walls.