Máscara (Mask), from the Mountain Series

Active for nearly 20 years longer than either Rivera or Orozco, Siqueiros carried the concerns of the Mexican School into the 1970s, remaining a strong presence for subsequent generations of artists in Mexico. In works like Mask, Siqueiros continues to address themes related to the legacy of the Mexican Revolution, such as peasant life, family, and Mexico’s Pre-Columbian heritage.

In contrast to the persistent realism of such subjects, Siqueiros also made a profound impact on the development of abstraction in the United States and Mexico. In his Experimental Workshop in New York in 1936, for example, Siqueiros instructed participants, including future Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock, in such innovative art-making techniques as the use of the airbrush and industrial paints.