17

DIEGO RIVERA

Mexican, 1886-1957

"Desnudo de Nieves", 1939

oil on Japanese rice paper
signed and dated lower left "Diego Rivera 39"
15.3 x 10.8 inches (38.9 x 27.4 cm.) (sheet), Frame: 23 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 18 3/4 in. (59.7 x 3.8 x 47.6 cm.)

  • Provenance: The artist; Alberto Misrachi Battino (his marchand); to Battino's gallery Central de Publicaciones (as Mujer Hincada (Nieves)); Max and Leola Epelstein [sic], Chicago, Illinois; Burrell Galleries, New York, New York, 1965; Private Collection, Connecticut
  • Literature: Laura Gutierrez, "Diego Rivera. Catálogo general de Obra de Caballete", (Mexico City: Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1989), p. 194, cat. no. 1482.
  • Notes: The following notes are adapted from comments by Professor Luis-Martín Lozano. "This work is one of several nude studies Rivera made of his model Nieves Orozco between 1939 and 1940, and that later served to develop oil paintings between 1940 and 1941. A lapse of time interrupted because he went back to the United States (1939/40) to paint the mural, PanAmerican Unity, at the "Work in Action Art Program" that took place during the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco.

    The technique used by Rivera in this, and other nude studies of Nieves was oil applied with gasoline on paper, which gave him the transparency of a watercolor, yet the rich layers of an oil pigment, being able to capture the flesh of Nieves bronze and dark skin tones, from her indigenous and African ancestors.

    Later married to American designer Jim Tillet, Nieves Orozco Soberanes had become Rivera's model since 1933, when she was only 14 years old. She had been introduced to Rivera while she was still a ballet student at the School of Fine Arts in Mexico City.

    Born in Tezontepec, in the State of Hidalgo, Nieves had a genetic mixture of Mexican, African and Asian features which made her incredibly attractive as a model for painters and photographers, such as Miguel Covarrubias and Manuel Álvarez Bravo. She began nude modeling at the "Esmeralda" School of Arts and later a student of the dancers Nellie and Gloria Campobello.

    In 1939 she was modeling for Rivera at his studio in San Ángel, where he begun working on different oil sketches of her nude body. She was also portrayed by Rivera in the portrait he made of actress Paulette Goddard, who also posed for Rivera at the San Angel studio in 1939.

    This painting on paper has been published by the National Institute of Fine Art of Mexico, listed and reproduced in the catalogue raisonne. This publication cataloged the piece as property of "Max Epelstein (sic) and Wife"; he and Leola were passionate collectors, a wealthy industrialist who had emigrated from Germany and became the founder of the General American Tank Car Company. Both were patrons of The Art Institute of Chicago and made a fabulous collection with works by Boticelli, Velazquez and Watteau. Max and Leola Epstein also acquired from Rivera an important oil on canvas (Niña en Azul-Retrato de Juanita Rosas a los diez años de edad) auctioned in New York in 2012."

    We are grateful to Professor Luis-Martín Lozano for his assistance cataloging this work by Diego Rivera.

    Tags: Latin American Art, works on paper, nude, figurative, Modern, 20th century, Mexican art
  • Condition: in overall very good condition, paper has some creases and wrinkles on the edges, additional photos available upon request

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