25 - Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957) Cabeza de Niño, 1935 mixed media on paper signed Diego Rivera and dated (lower left) 11 5/8 x 9 1/4 in. (29.5 x 23.5 cm) This lot is located in Philadelphia. Framed: The drawing is in overall good condition. The paper is very thin and is toned and has some light and time staining. There is some minor soiling at the top left and bottom left corners. Additional images available upon request. We wish to thank Professor Luis–Martín Lozano for his kind assistance in the research and cataloguing of the present work. Provenance: Private Collection, New Jersey. Lot Note: Diego Rivera strongly believed that the potential for political and social change in Mexico resided with children. For him, children were the future of Mexico, and as such played a notable role in his work beginning in the 1920s. Large-scale murals such as those at the Secretaría de Educación Pública and at the Alameda include peasant children participating in many of the scenes of everyday post-revolution life, but Rivera also featured children in smaller scale, tender portraits, such as the present work. When Cabeza de Niño was created in 1935, the artist was home in Mexico after his time in the United States working on the ill-fated Rockefeller mural, a very prolific period for him when he created numerous works with a mind toward generating income. This period coincided with a desire amongst American collectors for works by Mexican artists, so Rivera took advantage of this to support himself financially. Smiling out at the viewer, the children Rivera represented during this time symbolized for him the great potential of the next generation to create a future Mexican society, in a time of political transformation and social upheaval.