Most scholars of Mexico have at minimum a passing knowledge of artists as official culture makers embroiled in the politics of revolutionary state building. This book delves into that heady artistic milieu, with its epicenter in Mexico City, and in particular into the nature of individual affiliations with the Mexican Communist Party (PCM). Stephanie Smith tactfully resists indulging in gossipy rumors of romantic trysts between and among Frida, Diego, and their contemporaries and focuses instead on their less salacious yet still promiscuous flirtations with Communist elements. While some of these stories are known, the author makes innovative use of the newly available spy reports from the Dirección General de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociales to reveal details of previously unexamined government surveillance of artists' political activities as they moved about the city, associated (and disassociated) with Leon Trotsky in his Mexican exile, and navigated state sponsorship of their art.
The book...
