Generación de la Ruptura

Generación de la Ruptura (Breakaway Generation) was a reaction of the post World War II generation of Mexican artists against the established Mexican School of Painting, more commonly called Mexican muralism. It began with the criticisms of José Luis Cuevas in the early 1950s, followed by others who thought the established art had become dogmatic, formulaic and nationalistic and the artists too deferential to the government. This new generation of artists was not bound by a particular artistic style but was more interested in personal rather than social issues and influenced by a number of international trends in art such as Abstract expressionism. Early reaction to them was strong and negative but by the end of the 1950s, they had succeeded in having their art shown in the major venues of Mexico. The Generación de la Ruptura had influence on other arts in Mexico, such as literature but it did not end the production of murals in Mexico with social and nationalist purposes.

From the 1920s to the beginning of the 1950s, the dominant painting style was what it is academically known as the Escuela Mexicana de la Pintura (Mexican School of Painting) also popularly known as "Mexican muralism." Mexican muralism came up to be from the convergence of the ideals of then-Mexico’s painters and the need of a post Mexican Revolution government to promote their ideas. The social ideals pursued the glorification of Mexico's mestizo identity. The main representatives of this movement were David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera.

Despite the opposition from established artistic and official circles, the young generation of the post-WWII era continued to challenge the status quo. They named themselves the "Joven Escuela de Pintura Mexicana" (Young School of Mexican Painting) but in the end the name “Generación de la Ruptura” (The Breakaway Generation) stuck. Early exhibitions of their art were mostly ignored by cultural authorities making it difficult for these artists to pursue their art. The Ruptura artists were a diverse group, not united by a single artistic movement but only by the belief that "muralism" had run its course. The "Ruptura" criticized ols Mexican muralism as being chauvinistic, dogmatic, Manichean, stuck with old formulas, simplistic and being too deferential towards government. For the "Ruptura" artists, muralism had evolved into a nationalistic cult.

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