In the history of art, David Alfaro Siqueiros is one of the names that keeps being returned to.
The record lists David Alfaro Siqueiros as Mexican painter and muralist (1908–1974).
David Alfaro Siqueiros was born at Chihuahua City in 1896. His recorded nationality is Mexico. He trained at Open air school and Academy of San Carlos.
Around the turn of the twentieth century the movements arrived in quick succession, each defining itself against the last.
He worked as painter, university teacher and military personnel.
Among his best-known works are The Sleep, Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros and Nuestra Imagen Actual. Looking is a skill, and the artists who last are those who taught their audience how to do it.
Recognition followed: National Prize for Arts and Sciences (1966) and Lenin Peace Prize (1966).
That the work was made in Mexico shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
David Alfaro Siqueiros died in 1974, aged 78. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- National Prize for Arts and Sciences — 1966
- Lenin Peace Prize — 1966
- Notable work: The Sleep
- Notable work: Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros
- Notable work: Nuestra Imagen Actual
