Muralism and the Cosmic Affect

03/17/13 Muralism and The Cosmic Race In the Cosmic Race written by Jose Vasconcelo, Vasconcelo writes about the definition of Latin American people and their divine mission in America, while also briefly comparing them to other races such as the Europeans. Vasconcelo states that there are 4 racial trunks, the Blacks, the Indians, the Mongols, and the Whites, while expanding detail with the Whites who he described as organizing themselves in Europe, and becoming invaders of the rest of the world.
Vasconcelo gives an example as the Spaniards conquered Latin American, however he believes that their role was just to reintegrate the red world, which he describes as a bridge which has brought the world to a state at which all human types and cultures can fuse together. According to Vasconcelo the faithful Latin-people are those called upon to this divine mission after they have gained freedom. It is safe to say Vasconcelo easily inspired and influenced several aspects of Diego Rivera’s artwork.
While Mexico was under similar circumstances after the Mexican Revolution as Latin America, Deigo Rivera used some of Jose Vasconcelo’s ideas to impart social and political messages. In Diego Rivera’s “El Hombre en Cruco de Caminos” located in Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, one can see a man who appears to be in control of the Universe with a variety of people in the backgrounds. At one point Vasconcelo states that every ascending race needs to constitute its own philosophy to get to its own success, rather than just learn and copy from the others.

This idea is expressed in Rivera’s Mural by the man in the middle who is controlling what seems to be the entire universe. It seems that both of these men understood the ideathat it was time to control themselves. Although Diego was focused on the “spiritual” liberation of Mexico from its Colonial obsession, the idea of creating and controlling your own ideology and destiny is shared by Rivera’s painting and Vasconcelo’s, The Cosmic Race.