Murals are one of the world’s oldest forms of art. They are done directly on the wall or ceilings. They are useful in depicting a very complex picture and can be understood and appreciated even from a distance. The cave paintings of Lascaux in southern France and others around the world are testimony not only to the fact that human once used the caves, but also of man’s urge to give expression to his artistic fulfillment.
The styles, techniques, and media used have changed. The best-known form of murals is fresco. In frescos paints that dissolve in water and lime wash is mixed and painted on a large surface. The frescos of Ajanta Caves depict the Buddhist Jataka Tales and one of the many found in India. Murals belonging to the 9th century Ad exist in the temples of the south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, and Jose Orozco were the three artists responsible for the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Rivera (11886-1957) painted murals in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. He painted the murals in the Palace of Cortez in Cuernavaca. Despite his communist leanings, he was invited in the U.S. He painted a mural for the Stock Exchange and another of his murals in San franscico Art Institute. His twenty seven-panel fresco called Detroit Industry and another work called Man, Controller of Universe are his better known of his works.
Paul Cezanne inspired his murals but also showed post Impressionist features its simple forms and vivid colors. Siqueros (1896 -1974) was an active communist. His famous Burial of a Worker shows and indigenous women crying over a coffin decorated with a hammer and sickle. His Portrait of the Bourgeoisie shows the capitalism and fascism against workers. Orozco was realist like Siqueros .Orozco painted murals in Hanover, Claremont, Orizaba, MIchioacan and Jiquilpan
Many murals were commissioned during the Renaissance period in Europe. Michelangelo’s famous Creation and Last Judgments that have been painted in Sistine Chapel is perhaps the most familiar of indoor murals. The four Stanze di Raffaello (“Raphael’s rooms”) in the Vatican Palace are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop.The Stanze were rooms intended for Pope Julius 11.
In the modern times, Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is perhaps the best mural. This masterpiece brings out the horror suffered by the people of a tiny Basque village when Germans bombed the village in 1937 in support of Gen Franco army during the Spanish civil war. Claude Monet’s eight panel Water Lilies of 1926 is another stunning work. In Northern Ireland many political murals were painted. They are admired for the skill, but condemned as symbols of hate and violence. The most famous of the Northern Ireland murals is the Free Derry Corner.
The list of famous murals and muralist is endless. Murals are not only effective tools of political expression, but are commentaries of social issues and help to mould public opinion on issues like environment. They bring beauty and meaning with them.
