An opportunity to partner with the Meadows Museum for a two-part teacher workshop on Diego Rivera resulted in an exciting collaboration over the past two weekends. The Meadows Museum’s current exhibition, Diego Rivera The Cubist Portraits, 1913-1917, explores Rivera’s artistic production during the formative years he spent in literary and art circles in Paris during World War I, and provides a new perspective on this lesser known and crucial period of the Mexican artist’s career.
During the first part of the workshop, which was held at the Meadows Museum, we explored Rivera’s work and discussed various influences on his paintings. Personally, I enjoyed examining Rivera’s works through his connections with other artists like Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris.
The second half of the workshop was held at the DMA. We explored important Cubist works of art by Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Georges Braque. We also spent time with our own Diego Rivera painting, Portrait of Dr. Otto Ruhle as well as works by fellow Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. Teacher participants had in-depth conversations related to these works of art and made connections with the artworks through journaling, sketching, and artist quotes.
This workshop was a great kick-off for our 2009-2010 school year. Information on our upcoming teacher workshops can be found at: www.DallasMuseumofArt.org/Education/Teachers/index.htm.
Amy Wolf
Teaching Programs Coordinator
