Dreaming with His Eyes Open

In his splendid study of this important 20th-century painter, Patrick Marnham has doggedly hacked his way through the many myths and abundant misinformation about Diego Rivera. (Much of it, admittedly, put about by Rivera himself.) Set mostly in the nightmarish world of post-Russian Revolution communism, Rivera's tortuous artistic, political and personal lives are stylishly laid bare. The deadly machinations of Stalinists, Trotskyists and dozens of other variations are patiently explained. Complex cultural strands, particularly in his native Mexico, are subtly drawn out and the personalities vividly brought to life. Trotsky plays his part as does DH Lawrence alongside a constantly changing cast of wives and lovers. Marnham solidly charts the development of the artist as a revolutionary painter and identifies, controversially, his first wife, Lupe, as his chief muse (as opposed to Frida Kahlo whom he married twice). The book also contains some delicious colour plates of his stunning frescoes that display better than any words can just what a visionary and powerful painter he was. The facts of Rivera's life have been for too long obscured by the events of the extraordinary times in which he operated and the remarkable circles in which he moved. Dreaming With his Eyes Open tells it how it was. It will surely become the definitive life. --Nick Wroe

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