(1896-1974): He was one of Los Tres Grandes (along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco), Mexico's world-renowned mural masters. A life-long political activist who fought in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and against Franco in Spain, Siqueiros came to Los Angeles in 1932-during an unfavorable political climate in Mexico-on a six-month visa and did three murals. The first was painted at Chouinard Institute of Art as part of a class Siqueiros taught. Titled "Workers' Meeting," it portrayed a gathering of white and black people, and its interracial theme was an immediate source of controversy. A wall was quickly erected to hide it, then later the mural itself was destroyed. His second project was "América Tropical" at Olvera Street. He also did a smaller fresco titled "Portrait of Present-Day Mexico" at the Santa Monica home of movie director Dudley Murphey. Still in place, its theme is the "Surrender to Imperialism of the Mexican Bourgeoisie Arisen from the Revolution." While working on his projects in southern California, Siqueiros made several important technical innovations to the mural painting process. These included doing frescoes on concrete instead of plaster walls, transferring designs to walls with camera-projection, painting with an airbrush for fast application, and using stencils to get sharp edges. His Los Angeles murals are the only ones Siqueiros ever did in the United States.
