Overview
This unit studies biographies as a genre of text. The students will be reading biographies and comparing different authors, developing timelines chronicling life events, creating presentations on research using biographies, and writing autobiographies.
Biographies can bring history and people to life. It is a very important aspect when teaching non-fiction. Students can relate to biographies because although the information is non-fiction and factual, it is told in the form of a story. Students can relate to the trials and tribulations that many of the people they read about go through. Using biographies to introduce non-fiction is a great transition from fiction to non-fiction. The writing aspect and research of this unit is essential to any language arts curriculum. It will help students gather information and synthesize it. The presentation aspect of this unit helps students to become comfortable with public speaking. Students need to learn how to coherently present a topic without sounding nervous or unprepared.
My work to develop this curriculum unit took place in a seminar called Art and Identity in Mexico, From Olmec Times to the Present led by Mary E. Miller, Professor of History of Art at Yale University. This seminar was a study of Mexico and the ancient art and artifacts that are known to have come from there, as well as more modern art. The seminar offered an intense study of discoveries found in Mexico that have changed the art, art history, and historical world. The seminar taught how important the Aztec, Mayan and Olmec culture was to present Mexico and the current world of art and architectural history. As mentioned earlier this unit is a written lesson that deals with the teaching of biographies. For this unit of study we will begin by introducing the biographies of two very famous Mexican artists: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. These artists were very influential in the shaping of Mexican politics and identity. Their impact reaches far and wide and doesn't restrict itself to the borders of Mexico. However, throughout their public art lives they maintained their dedication to their home country and made known their pride in their Mexican heritage. Though this study begins with the lives of Mexican artists, it expands to the study of various biographies not limited to Mexican or artists.
The objective of this unit is to provide a transition from the reading of fiction to the reading of non-fiction through the use of biography. Though biography is categorized as non-fiction, students respond to it more positively because it is written in story format, which they are familiar with because of their fiction reading background. With this unit students will be exposed to the genre of biography with the introduction of the biographies of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. In summary the unit will cover the following skills: non-fiction reading, descriptive writing, oral presentation, and creative autobiographical writing.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Why should we study the biographies of these two artists? The simplest answer is because they are the most famous married artists of our time. The story of their lives has changed everything we once knew about Mexican artists. They paved the way for many other Mexican artists behind them. They certainly did not have the perfect marriage and in fact it was riddled with controversy and chaos. However, we find that the more we read about them as a couple, and each as an individual, the more we want to know. Using their lives as an introduction to studying biography gives us a broad palette with which to work. There are numerous books written about the two of them as a couple and as individuals. The sources from which to work are abundant and so the story becomes immense. They did more than just paint and that is where we can really study them biographically. From the time Diego Rivera started as a muralist he drew media frenzy. Everyone knew who he was. At one time his wife was just a woman who happened also to be a painter. Eventually that changed. Now we find that she has eclipsed his fame with hers. She represents many things to many people. She is a strong Mexican woman, a feminist, a survivor and a political activist. He is also a strong Mexican man, a political activist and an incredibly talented painter. It is all of these things that make each of them very interesting. This is why we want to read about their lives.
The Story of Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was born July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico. At the tender age of six Kahlo was stricken with a bout of polio. For months she suffered terrible pains in her right leg. This leg was never to heal fully and would always be thin and frail. Her father was an example to her that she could accomplish anything she wanted, regardless of her disability. Her father, Guillermo, was diagnosed with epilepsy after a head trauma as a child. Despite the fact that he would sometimes have seizures, he was able to have a successful business as a photographer. Though she had a close relationship with her father, who taught her about photography and paint, her relationship with her mother, Matilde, was strained. This was mainly due to her mother's strict adherence to Catholic ways, which Frida resisted.
In 1922 Kahlo applied and was accepted into the newly co-ed National Preparatory School. It was here that she first met Diego Rivera who was hired to paint the walls of the auditorium. As was her nature, Kahlo did all she could to torment Rivera with practical jokes and pranks. It was here also that Kahlo met and fell in love with Alejandro Gómez Arias. The two were members of a group called The Cachuchas, who were well known for their disregard for rules and their constant pranks and tricks. Tragedy struck on September 17, 1925 in the form of a terrible bus accident. The bus that Kahlo and Arias were riding was violently struck by a trolley and thrust into the wall of a building. Many passengers were injured and Kahlo sustained terrible wounds from a metal rod that had pierced through her torso. She was taken to the emergency room where the full extent of her injuries was realized. Kahlo had suffered shattered bones in her right leg, a fractured spine and pelvis, two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder as well as her abdominal injury. She awakened in a plaster body cast. Although some of her Cachuchas friends visited her, Arias was not one of them. After three months in the hospital, Kahlo was finally moved back to her home for further recovery where she continued to write him in hopes that he would visit her. It was not meant to be, and although their friendship remained, they would never again be lovers. During this time Kahlo took up the art of painting and began to focus more intently on her skill. For the duration of her time being bedridden Kahlo began to paint self-portraits using a mirror. Her portraits, she said, portrayed herself more of how she felt than how she actually looked.
In 1927 Kahlo decided it was time to make a choice about her artwork. She took her paintings to Rivera and asked if he thought they were good enough for her to continue with painting. He said that they were. The friendship between the two began here. Rivera would frequently visit the Kahlo home. In 1929 Kahlo and Rivera were married. After her marriage to Diego Rivera, Kahlo soon realized that Rivera put his artwork first. She spent much of her time devoted to catering to Rivera's needs. She changed her style of clothes to the colorful Mexican Indian dresses that she knew he liked. This was quite opposite from the rebellious spirit with which Rivera fell in love. He did not like to be clung to. He liked the independent Frida that he first met.
Early in her marriage Kahlo became pregnant. Doctors were concerned about her carrying the baby to term because they did not think her frail body could handle it. Rivera also did not want to have any more children. He had four children by three different women. Under pressure, Kahlo went through with an abortion. She wept for weeks. Soon afterwards Kahlo began to hear the rumors of her husband's infidelity. This caused one more layer of pain for Kahlo. It is from this mountain of pain that Kahlo drew her inspiration for many of her paintings.
In 1930 Rivera and Kahlo left for the United States. Work was scarce in Mexico for Rivera and many wealthy American businessmen were offering him money to paint murals in the U.S. Kahlo was overjoyed at the prospect of the visit. She had wanted to see the United States when she was younger but was never able to. Now she would be traveling with her husband in style. Kahlo soon realized that her idealistic dream of America was quite different from reality.
The couple had arrived in America in the deep days of the Great Depression. Around her Kahlo saw unemployed men and women lining the streets to wait for bread and offerings from soup kitchens. She would see run down houses and people living in the streets all the while she and Rivera were whisked around town by wealthy prospective employers. Throughout her time in San Francisco, New York and Detroit, Kahlo could not embrace what she considered the lack of compassion among American people. She longed to return home to her country of Mexico.
Kahlo loved all types of animals. As an adult, living with Rivera, Kahlo filled her house with exotic animals to help take her mind off her pain that was continuing to grow. The accident had left such damage to Kahlo's body that she was in constant pain which only grew worse with age. Kahlo had a monkey, chipmunk, turkey, parrot and even an eagle living in her house as pets.
Though her pain was intense, her spirit was strong. In 1943 she began teaching art at a nearby art school. At one point Kahlo's body was in so much pain she told the students to come paint at her house. She never gave up on anything she did. In 1953 Kahlo's friends organized an art exhibition in Mexico City. Following the doctor's order to remain bedridden, Kahlo showed up at her exhibition by way of ambulance. She was placed on a beautiful four-poster bed where she greeted all her fans who attended the exhibition.
Kahlo will always be remembered for her great spirit and her ability to show her pain through her paintings. Kahlo did not hold back when it came to her personal sorrows and joys. She was a masterful painter who defied the trends of painting happy scenes of everyday life. Even though she was not well known until her later years and then not even as famous as she is now, Kahlo was able to break down barriers for Mexican women and for women in general.
Near the end of her life Kahlo's leg was amputated. At first she was down but eventually, in true Kahlo fashion, she accepted her artificial leg and even began to paint again. Her final painting was a still life of watermelon.
The Story of Diego Rivera
It is sometimes said that Diego Rivera made his art into his life. Some believe that many of the stories Rivera told about himself never actually happened. It was simply a way for Rivera to make himself seem larger than life, much like the murals he created. Stories about his actual birth date and his given name differ among historians. The story of his life is riddled with untruths and exaggerations. So even for this brief biography that follows, I cannot guarantee that all the information is factual. Rivera was known to embellish his life and therefore some of the following information presented may be incorrect. It is part of the chance one takes when writing about a person such as Diego Rivera. Truth and untruth will surface, but all things considered the story is interesting.
December 8, 1886; Diego Rivera and his twin brother Carlos were born in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. Tragically less than two years later Carlos fell sick and died. From ages two to three Rivera lived with his nurse, Antonia, in a remote mountain village. Upon returning, Rivera began to express his love of drawing. He began to draw on anything he could find, including walls. His father decided to cover an entire room with canvas in order to dissuade Rivera from painting on any other part of the house. At ten years of age Rivera's family moved to Mexico City. His father began editing a journal titled The Democrat in which he expressed his contempt for the government for their part in the misery of existence of the miners and peasants of the town. This of course was not received well by officials and he and his family began to feel the pressure by the government. Shortly after moving to Mexico City Rivera became ill with scarlet fever and typhoid. Also around this time his mother became pregnant but lost her baby a week after being born.
At the age of ten Rivera decided to become an artist and therefore his parents enrolled him in the San Carlos Art Academy in Mexico City, Mexico. Rivera was influenced by José Posada, a print shop owner, who made a living carving blocks of wood depicting the street scenes of Mexico. Posada was for a time Rivera's mentor. Posada cautioned Rivera on accepting the European influence of art that was being taught in his school. He believed Rivera should embrace the art of the native people of his country.
1903 brought a change in Rivera's life due to his expulsion from school. He had rebelled against the new school director and participated in a student revolt. His expulsion from school led Rivera to become a wanderer through the state of Veracruz where he studied the ruins of the Aztec and their predecessors, heeding the advice of his mentor, Posada. In 1907 Rivera traveled to Europe to study art. Rivera was inspired by such painters as Paul Cézanne, El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velázquez. There he became friends with Pablo Picasso. Under the European influences of the time, some of Rivera's paintings began to take the form of Cubism, such as Woman at the Well. Rivera began to realize that only the rich had access to his artwork. He was influenced by frescos in Italy and decided to return to Mexico to make murals for all people to enjoy, and fortunately enough for him, he received a government commission to do so! In 1910 Rivera returned briefly to Mexico. There he found that the textile workers had gone on strike to protest their meager wages. President Porfirio Diaz sent in troops to stop the rebellion. The soldiers brutally shot men, women and children. The Mexican Revolution would continue for many years, but Rivera never forgot the horror he saw that day. Upon returning to Europe Rivera met Angelina Beloff, after two years of dating, Rivera and Beloff were married. This was the first of Rivera's four marriages.
In the years following World War I Rivera became fascinated by Renaissance art. He was especially fond of the frescoes. The idea that everyone would be able to enjoy his work, not just the wealthy, was an idea Rivera embraced. He was very much taken with the communist movement and joined the Communist Party in 1923. Many of his actions and paintings reflect his belief in this system. Rivera's second marriage to Lupe Marín produced two daughters. Lupe shared Rivera's communist beliefs.
One of Rivera's first murals was Creation done in 1922-1923 at the National Preparatory School in Mexico City, Mexico, where he met Frida Kahlo. Many of the murals Rivera painted were controversial to some people. A prime example is the Man, Controller of the Universe (also called Man at the Crossroads) mural at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York, commissioned by John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest capitalists in the world. When Rockefeller found out that Rivera had included the face of Vladimir Lenin, the Russian Revolutionary leader, he ordered him to cover it. Rivera refused and Rockefeller ordered the wall to be demolished.
In 1932 Rivera arrived in Detroit, Michigan to begin his mural in the Detroit Institute of Art. Rivera spent quite some time studying the people of the city before he began painting. In the following quote we can really see how much research Rivera put into his murals. He spent a great deal of time studying his subject before he even began to paint. The intensity for his work is admirable.
I spent the two and one-half months between my meeting with the Art Commission
and the beginning of my actual mural work in soaking up impressions of the
productive activities of the city. I studied industrial scenes by night as well as by
day, making literally thousands of sketches of towering blast furnaces, serpentine
conveyor belts, impressive scientific laboratories, busy assembling rooms; also of
precision instruments, some of them massive yet delicate; and of the men who
worked them all. I walked for miles through the immense workshops of the Ford,
Chrysler, Edison, Michigan Alkali, and Parke-Davis plants. I was afire with
enthusiasm. (Rivera, 111)
For the rest of his life Rivera painted murals and continued to uplift the Mexican people by painting them as strong, free people who were fairly treated. He went against the idea of the rich controlling the poor. In addition to being famous for his murals Rivera will also be known for his famous marriage to Frida Kahlo. He has said the she was the true love of his life. Although many of the stories he told of himself were embellished, he did live a remarkable life. Even if many of his stories were fabricated, no one can accuse Rivera of being a boring storyteller. Rivera died in 1957.
The Story of "Frog Face and the Walking Flower" (Krull, 84)
One day Kahlo was walking toward the Ministry of Education building and saw Rivera painting one of his murals. In classic Kahlo fashion, she shouted up to him to come down. Rivera made his way down, curious to know who this daring young girl could be. Kahlo was carrying some of her paintings and wanted Rivera's opinion of them. She had decided that it was time to make a choice and if she wasn't good enough to be a professional artist she was to pursue another career to help her parents financially. Rivera informed her that indeed her work was good. This was the beginning of their relationship. They began to spend much of their time together with Rivera visiting the Kahlo home often. Rivera began to paint Kahlo into many of his murals. Kahlo, in turn, began to paint more often. Kahlo and Rivera announced their marriage plans with the overwhelming support of Guillermo. After all, Rivera was a very wealthy man known for his generosity and Kahlo's chances of attending medical school, her former life plan, were shattered with the accident. Matilde on the other hand did not approve so heartily. She did not approve of Rivera's communistic and atheist beliefs. The wedding proceeded on August 21, 1929 with Guillermo as the only family member in attendance.
One of many similarities between Kahlo and Rivera was their childhood struggle with disease. Kahlo suffered from polio at a very early age. River suffered from scarlet fever, typhoid and diphtheria. These two famous artists once knew what it was like to be in ill health and bedridden. This is perhaps the reason they lived life to the fullest when they were able. Another similarity came from the background of each parent. Both their fathers were free thinkers of mixed Spanish and Portuguese-Jewish descent. Their mothers were of mixed Spanish and Indian descent and devout Catholics.
The most obvious difference between Kahlo and Rivera were their looks. Kahlo enjoyed dressing very feminine and often wore the dresses of the Mexican Indian women. Her hair was most always braided and her makeup was always on. She created herself into a work of art. Rivera, on the other hand, had a style that was far from Kahlo's. He wore overalls sometimes and other times he simply wore comfortable pants, long sleeved shirts, and boots. His one distinct feature was his broad hat he frequently wore. When the two were together they could not have looked more opposite. Rivera was a six foot tall, three hundred pound, average looking man. Kahlo was a petite five foot three, ninety-eight pound, decorated, unique looking woman. It is said that when people would see them together they would stop to look at this unusual sight. In addition to their differing dress style, there was also the age gap between the two. Twenty years separated Rivera from Kahlo.
It is well documented that the couple had their share of turmoil. Most famously, Rivera is known to be unfaithful in his marriage (even to the point of taking up with Kahlo's sister). Less known are Kahlo's love affairs. Kahlo and Rivera even lived in separate houses linked together by a walkway. The turmoil eventually led to divorce in 1940. The couple realized that they could not live without one another and so they remarried in December of that same year. They remained married until Kahlo's death in 1954.
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