The renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was also a prodigious storyteller and a witness to some of the most formative social and artistic movements of the twentieth century. A central figure in the emergence of the avant-garde in post-revolutionary Mexico, Rivera was also a keen art critic--if occasionally caustic towards those he disagreed with, he was also a generous promoter of emerging talent. These two volumes--the first comprehensive collection of Rivera"s writings in English--reveal the vision, irony and insight of his rarely examined written work. Included in these two illustrated volumes are selections from Rivera"s inventive, partially fabricated autobiography, written in collaboration with Lolo de la Torriente and Gladys March, as well as letters and other previously unpublished essays. This first volume covers his childhood, his years of apprenticeship and his life among the European avant-garde.