Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957) Untitled (Revolution) Illustration for "Fermin"

Signed bottom left, ink on paper.
Executed circa 1926-27

(12 3/16 x 9 1/2 in. (31 x 24.1cm))

Provenance

Private Collection, Florida.

Footnote:

Literature

Andrade, Manuel Velázquez, Diego Rivera and Agustin Velazquez. Fermín: Libro de Lectura Mexicano (Textos Modernos). México, 1928 (illustrated).

Tibol, Raquel and Alberto Beltrán. Diego Rivera Ilustrador. México: Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1986, p. 139 (illustrated).

Diego Rivera-Catálogo General de Obra de Caballete, Dirección General de Publicaciones, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1989, p. 105 no. 777 (illustrated).

Note

After his formal artistic training and years painting in Spain and France, renowned Mexican muralist and painter Diego Rivera returned to his homeland in the early 1920s shortly after the Mexican Revolution. The artist believed deeply in the idea of a new Mexico, and quickly found work painting vast, state-sponsored murals at national landmarks, including the National Palace and the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico City. Colorful imagery celebrating Mexican agriculture, industry, and culture interwoven with the country’s present day revolutionary themes and its heroic, ancient past were common in the artist’s large-scale public renderings.

The present works, by contrast - two intimate black ink on paper drawings - were created as illustrations for the book, “Fermín.” First published in 1927, the book was commissioned by the Mexican Department of Rural Education. The book was distributed free of charge, and tells the story of a young boy whose father left his family to join the Revolution. The author of the text, Manuel Velázquez Andrade stated that the book would highlight the benefits peasants and workers had won for themselves and future generations as a result of the Revolution. [1]

[1] Tibol, Raquel and Alberto Beltrán. Diego Rivera Ilustrador. México: Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1986, p. 131.

Frame: 19 1/2 x 17 x 1 in.