Diego Rivera

DIEGO RIVERA (Mexico, 1886-1957)
"Sketch for the Stock Exchange mural in San Francisco".
Pencil and charcoal on paper.
Attached report issued by Diego Alvarado Rivera, great-grandson of the artist.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 43 x 32.5 cm; 60 x 50 cm (frame).
Following the words of Diego Alvarado Rivera, who authenticates this work "the sketch object of this study with difference to the mural captured in "The City Club of San Francisco" the characters placed in the foreground have the genders inverted, being a first idea or at least an idea previous to the final one, The master Rivera in order of creation of any of his works of art could suffer changes giving more importance to one or another factor making the piece object of this document a neural part of a process of creation which not for having been discarded makes it less important, but on the contrary. It gives us an idea that only people who see this sketch will know of its mere existence. According to the legend of California, Queen Calafia, a character described by the Spanish writer Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo as the most beautiful woman of those moors as well as a very strong being who could rule a land of dreams, full of riches and abundance in all kinds of delicacies and luxuries, being this legend the one that gives name to the region that until today we know as California.
Something that is noteworthy and in my opinion the reason for the change of the sketch referring to this document and the final mural is the model, Helen Wills Moody, who by profession was not a model but one of the most prolific tennis players in the history of mankind, winner of 2 gold medals in 1924 and 8 championships at Wimbledon, it is logical that someone with such high transcendence did not choose to go out in a frontal nude and this became the mural we have today".

Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was and is one of the most influential figures of modern art, not only in Mexico, but worldwide. Born in Guanajuato, Rivera demonstrated an early artistic talent that led him to study at the San Carlos Academy in Mexico City. In 1907, he began a tour of Europe, studying in Spain, absorbing the influence of the great classical and modernist masters, and actively participating in the artistic circles of Paris during the effervescence of Cubism. However, it was upon his return to Mexico in 1921 that he found his true artistic voice, becoming one of the leading exponents of Mexican muralism.
Rivera's murals, charged with social and political messages, celebrate the struggle of the Mexican people and the pride of their indigenous roots. His work transcends genres and formats, being the author of colossal murals in iconic buildings such as the National Palace and the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, as well as monumental works in the United States, such as "Detroit Industry Murals" at the Detroit Institute of Arts and "Man at the Crossroads" at Rockefeller Center (although the latter was destroyed due to its political content).
Rivera's work is part of the permanent collections of some of the most important museums in the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the National Museum of Art in Mexico. In addition, his legacy has been celebrated in retrospective exhibitions at renowned institutions such as the Louvre Museum in Paris.