The Burdens Which Bind Them

Throughout history, many have used art to express themselves to make social and political statements. Diego Rivera was one of those artists who didn't want his art to be just art. He wanted to use his art to comment on social issues plaguing his country and the world.

The piece of art that I chose to analyze was The Flower Carrier by Diego Rivera.  It was painted in 1935 in oil and tempera on Masonite. Rivera's home country was Mexico, although he was commissioned numerous times to paint murals in Europe and the United States.

The Flower Carrier, 1935 Diego Rivera

 As we look at this painting, we see an exhausted peasant man knelt on all fours, being weighed down by an overly large basket of flowers. A woman stands behind him, most likely his wife, trying to lift the burdening load from the man's back. The man in the painting symbolizes Mexico's working class who worked tirelessly in the fields to support their families. We can see from their peasant clothing that they are not from an aristocratic family. The woman symbolizes the strength of the working community and the aid that they gave to each other. But, we can see that the woman is considerably larger than the man and seems to be coaxing him to get back up . This could symbolize the burden placed on the man by his family to provide for them. We can also see that the strap used to carry the basket looks extremely large and sturdy. It looks as though it is seizing him, rather than assisting him in carrying the load. This could symbolize how he is "tied down" to the farm on which he works and cannot escape because he is too poor. The man is looking towards the ground, while we the viewer are drawn to the beautiful flowers he carries. This shows how the man does not see the beauty of the flowers, but only their worth for him to trade and sell. I think it is important to notice that he is not carrying a cash crop such as corn, wheat, or squash. He has collected flowers which were once used to decorate the homes of the Spanish elite. I think this symbolizes that the luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy were weighing down and weakening the lower class.

Rivera created a beautiful painting with so many meanings hidden beneath each brush stroke. He knew the struggle of the poor farmers of Mexico and knew something needed to change. His voice was heard through his art and many admired his political voice. From this painting, we can see how there were similar agricultural struggles throughout the world like we have seen in our previous readings throughout the course.



Rivera, Diego. Flower Carrier. 1935, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. www.diegorivera.org/flowercarrier.jsp#prettyPhoto. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.