Source: WTL research files.
Sculpture: "Tláloc" at the water works at Cárcamo del Río Lerma, Mexico City (1951).
Biographical Data: From 1948 to 1951, Diego Rivera finished the mural in the Hotel del Prado (or Alameda Hotel), his petition for readmission to the Mexican Communist Party was denied, he executed more murals in the Palacio Nacional, he lived in the hospital where Frida Kahlo had several spinal operations, he won the Mexican national art prize (el Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas), and he painted murals at the Lerma water works, which you see here.
Comments: This is an outdoor mosaic showing the rain god Tláloc (Chaac) with snakes, fish, and human figures. These water works tap the underground water sources in the Valley of Mexico (el Valle de Anáhuac) giving the Colonia de Polanco (i.e., a D.F. neighborhood) its water supply. The government created this facility for both its water engineering purpose and as a educational site for artists and teachers. There are two parts to the art aspect: a painting on the floor of an open cistern and a large earth sculpture in the water basin. The part of the project that is no longer visible gave the appearance of water gushing from giant cupped godlike hands.
Note: For an excellent analysis of this work, see: Diego Rivera, 1986, pp. 325-327.
Humanities Questions: How does this mosaic relate to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations and humanities? (See: <= Notes on the Mayas.)