Guadalupe Rivera MarinReseñas

I was really looking forward to this but I am disappointed. Far from understanding the painter, the art, or his home or culture better for having read it, I just have lots more questions. The author wasn't even able to make the art more appealing to me, which almost always happens for me when I look at a piece more closely and learn something about it.

For example, The Rural Teacher" - http://www.granger.com//pix/FIA/MEX/0046663_T.JPG. What's up with the armed man? What is going on in the background? Why does the author not acknowledge those elements that every child who looks at that picture is sure to wonder about?

I am moved by "Girl with Doll" - http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/d41846/d4184635r.jpg. It's brighter & richer in the book.

I also know that at least some of the images were cropped - it sure would be nice if the thumbnails in the back of the book were intact.

Sorry - I'm not going to rate it higher in a silly attempt to seem other than a Philistine. I've seen much better art books for children, and this is my informed & honest opinion."

A really unique biography written by Diego Rivera's daughter. She tells the stories behind many of his paintings, including ones for which she and her friends were the models.

This is a gorgeous book. It is full of rich details, beautiful photographs, many recreating events described in the book, and an intimate look into the lives not just of the famous artist and her family and Friends but also a time and way of life that is mostly gone now. Each chapter focuses on a specific month and the special celebrations they held with the recipes for each dish included, a very nice touch.½

The author of this charming bilingual memoir is the daughter of one of Mexico’s most famous artists, Diego Rivera. All the illustrations are reproductions of his work. His daughter, quite accomplished in her own right, explains some of the pictures painted by her father (who died in 1957), many of which featured her and her family.

For example, here is her description of a picture of her childhood friend Ignacio Sanchez:

"Do you see Ignacio’s short hair and his overalls? When I was little, my father liked to keep my hair and my sister’s hair very short, and he dressed us in pants. In fact, we looked a lot like Ignacio Sanchez in this painting.”

She explains about the culture of Mexico and family life, again using pictures by her father to illustrate. She speaks of her father's commitment to justice and equality, integrating history lessons into her own family memories:

"One of my father’s first jobs was to create murals for the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico. He painted this mural in the main building of that institution. The teacher holds a book in her hand. She is teaching a group of people, young and old, out in the countryside. When I was a girl, the majority of people in Mexico lived out in the country, and they often didn’t have even the basic things they needed to live. These conditions eventually led to the Mexican Revolution, when the people fought to change their government. My father believed in the Revolution, and he taught me to always stand up for my beliefs."

At the back of the book, there are artwork credits, reproductions of real photos of the author and her family, and short biographies of Dr. Marin and her father.

Evaluation: This warm and informative book is a great way to introduce young children to the many ways in which art serves as a form of communication.½

Part family memoir, part artistic retrospective, this picture-book from Guadalupe Rivera Marin does give some background information about the life of her famous father, the celebrated Mexican painter Diego Rivera, but it focuses more on his artwork, and on giving the stories behind some of his well-known paintings. From Picos con Naranja, in which the author herself is depicted (with orange) as a young girl, to La familia, in which an impoverished family, taken in and aided by Diego Rivera, is shown, the paintings are each accompanied by a short description, in both English and Spanish, of the people and events depicted. The result is a book that, while it doesn't give the best sense of the trajectory of Rivera's life, will build greater understanding of, and appreciation for his work.

As the artwork here is all by Diego Rivera himself, it's probably pretty redundant to say that it is excellent. I've always enjoyed Rivera's paintings, so it was a foregone conclusion that I enjoyed My Papa Diego and Me/Mi papa Diego y yo. I was a little disappointed that I didn't learn more about Rivera's life, but then, I think I went in with the wrong expectations. As an exploration of his work, and of how it felt to grow up as his daughter, this is an excellent title, one that I highly recommend to all young readers with an interest in art, or in Diego Rivera specifically.

This is a wonderful book for readers of all ages. I love the way I get to know the family through the art work. It makes it that much more meaningful for me. The bilingual writing also makes me feel close to their culture.