David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican painter, muralist whose art reflected his Marxist political ideology. He was one of the founders of the modern school of Mexican mural painting along with. Diego Rivera and Jos� Clemente Orozco. Siqueiros studied at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico City. He fought in the Mexican Revolution and was active in his country�s Communist Party, teaming up with Diego Rivera to create El Machete, a weekly paper that became the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party. Communist and labor union activities led to numerous jailings and, eventually, his exile. Siqueiros�s works are characterized by their monumental scale, movement, dramatic use of shadow, and limited color palette, stemming from influences from folk art and avant-garde movements in Europe, including Cubism and Italian Futurism. Most of Siqueiros�s large murals are in government buildings in Mexico, but one of his most famous murals is �Los Mitos� (The Myths�) in the National Preparatory School. His works are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.