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Lot 185
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Diego Rivera MoMA Signed Contract, His Rags to Riches Moment, Launching His Famous Exhibition and His Status as an International Artist
Diego Rivera MoMA Signed Contract, His Rags to Riches Moment, Launching His Famous Exhibition and His Status as an International Artist
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Description:

Rivera Diego

Diego Rivera MoMA Signed Contract, Launching His Famous Exhibition and His Status as an International Artist.

 

List of Diego Rivera Drawings, Water Colors and Oils which were to be shipped to the Moma by boat and rail for the December 1931 exhibition, MoMA's second only monographic exhibition which featured a then unknown Rivera. Signed by Diego Rivera "Diego Rivera", on the Declaration page "Declaration In Connection With Paintings, Etc., and Sculptures by the American Consular Service, and dated "Mexico City, Mexico, Nov. 5, 1951". Included is the Invoice of Merchandise (not purchased), of "Painting, drawing and Litomontages shipped by Francis Flynn Paine of New York to Museum Modern Art of New York for account of Exhibition, to be shipped by R.R and Boat". Followed by 12 typed pages in Spanish, listing out the pieces which include 24 oils, 175 drawings, 19 water colors and 8 litomontages. Some of the works listed include La germination Chapingo, El Pilot, Momanas de Arizona, Sirena, kfujeres bordano, Jesus y Sn. Juan, El Toro, El amor and El Facista A.B.C., with the total value assigned to the works of $51,425. Horizontal folds, light wear, otherwise fine condition.

 

The MoMA opened in late 1929, and in July 1931 Frances Flynn Paine, an arts promoter and agent of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, arrived in Mexico to propose a retrospective of Rivera's work at the Museum of Modern Art, an institution whose 1929 founding was due in large part to the efforts of Mrs. Rockefeller. Paine also counseled Rockefeller to purchase some of Rivera's paintings soon becoming the painter's first paid agent. The MoMA introduced Diego Rivera to the United States as the subject of their second monographic exhibition (the first was Henri Matisse), which set new attendance records in its five-week run from December 22, 1931, to January 27, 1932. With Rivera being an outstanding muralist, the MoMA had to become creative to ensure they would include several of his frescoes.

 

Rivera couldn't bring his murals to New York for the show. His frescoes were painted on walls in various locations in Mexico City. By definition, frescoes are fixed in place and, therefore, can't be packed up for travel. Instead, MOMA ingeniously ensconced Rivera in a studio on the sixth floor of the Heckscher Building, 730 Fifth Ave at 57th Street, the location of the fledgling MOMA, which consisted of just six galleries on the 12th floor. As noted by curator Leah Dickerman, Rivera worked feverishly around the clock for six weeks while he entertained and conversed with prominent visitors in his open studio. Miraculously, Rivera produced five “portable” murals using a process that he invented for the exhibit. Four were remakes of murals that he had completed in Mexico. One, The Uprising, was entirely new. His creations were real murals, painted on layers of concrete and mortar covered with plaster that were embedded in metal diagonal and cross bars and steel mesh, all held together by a steel outer frame. The process is described and illustrated in two of the displays at the exhibit. But portable did not be mean light. The largest mural weighed a thousand pounds. Moving them from Rivera's sixth floor studio to the 12th floor galleries was a grueling challenge.

 

Rivera painted three more murals after the show opened, bringing the total to eight. The new works focused on an aspect of New York City life that captivated Rivera: the stark contrast between rich and poor — between the glitz of the soaring Manhattan skyline and the city's grimy underbelly of industrious workers who made the glitz possible. Even though Rivera's murals were displayed at the height of the Great Depression in 1931, New York was ironically in the midst of a frenzied construction boom fueled by the deep pockets of the 1 percent and the availability of cheap labor due to the 25 percent unemployment rate. Rivera's mural, Frozen Assets, on a poster at Zuccotti Park, you wouldn't have suspected that it was produced eight decades ago. The mural consists of three successive sections. At the top is a montage of skyline buildings, including Rockefeller Center, which was under construction at the time. Directly below are sleeping bodies lined up like sardines in a homeless shelter modeled after the Municipal Pier shelter for unemployed men on 25th Street. The bottom panel is a bank vault, where the rich count their money and examine their assets in a guarded fortress.

 

The MoMA exhibit was hugely successful and made Rivera and his wife, artist Frida Kahlo, American celebrities. Since this opening event, Diego Rivera has been in 47 exhibitions at MoMA, between 1931 and 1989. Today his original oils sell for anywhere from the high six figures to millions of dollars, and are highly coveted.

 

A remarkable artifact documenting Rivera's historic introduction to the American public. With this one being Priceless!

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000