Muralist Diego Rivera’s daughter, Guadalupe Rivera Marín, dies at 98

• Guadalupe Rivera Marín dies.
• Her father, Diego Rivera, affectionately nicknamed her ‘Picos’.
• Personalities from art and politics in Mexico mourn her passing.

On Sunday night, the world of art and politics in Mexico mourned. One of its most significant personalities has tragically died. Guadalupe Rivera Marín, daughter of the painter Diego Rivera has died at the age of 98.

The Associated Press reported that the lawyer, politician, writer and diplomat, Guadalupe Rivera Marín, daughter of the legendary Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, died on Sunday at the age of 98. The Museo Diego Rivera made the announcement on Twitter.

Guadalupe Rivera Marín dies

“We deeply regret the passing of the Lady: Guadalupe Rivera Marín. She is the daughter of the painter Diego Rivera and a member of the Technical Committee of the Trust. We express our deepest condolences to her family and friends. Mexico City, January 15, 2023,» the tweet reads.

At the time of writing this article, her cause of death is unknown. However, more details or information are expected regarding what caused her death at the age of 98, in the coming days.

Personalities in Mexican art and politics honor Guadalupe Rivera Marín

Leticia Vallín, who is in charge of the institutional links of the Diego Rivera Foundation, also shared an emotional tweet saying goodbye: «Guadalupe Rivera Marín, today you left almost at 100 years of age, a long road, a lot of life, singular and unique like your mother Lupe Marín and your father Diego Rivera, people loved you or didn’t love you. You were radical, I love you, I respect you and I admire you, thank you for being a backbone.”

Political figures, such as the former governor of Morelos, Graco Ramirez, also tweeted: “Today at dawn ‘Pico’ Guadalupe Rivera Marín passed. Our dear friend, creative and talented. With whom we shared a happy neighborhood in Morelos and taken in her last years by her son Juan Pablo. Our hug to him and Diego (López Rivera) as well and the friends who love her.”

She was a deputy, senator and ambassador for the Institutional Revolutionary Party

The Associated Press highlights that Rivera Marín always said that one of her main aspirations was to have her own personality separate from her father, who was an artist linked to the Communist Party and one of the founders of Mexican muralism, a movement that a century ago revolutionized the way we understand art.

As she admitted, she always liked politics because since she was little her father took her to party meetings. Her mother, the painter’s second wife, was a Mexican model. However, Rivera Marín wanted to move away from her father’s ideology and not only fell in love with the son of the founder of the conservative National Action Party, but for decades she belonged to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the organization that governed Mexico for more than 70 years in the 20th century. She was a deputy, senator and ambassador with the PRI.

Rivera Marín wrote books about her father and about Frida Kahlo

Rivera Marín wrote books about her father and about Frida Kahlo, who was Diego Rivera’s partner and with whom Rivera Marín lived for a while. Her work also includes a novel on a controversial subject that she was passionate about, extraterrestrial life, which she linked to the Olmec culture.

This made some members of the PRI call her crazy, as she confessed in the aforementioned interview. In her last years she was resigned to living in the shadow of her father, who died in her arms, though she said she was satisfied.