Diego Rivera 1933 Lithograph - Fall of the Empire

Diego Rivera 1933 Lithograph - Fall of the Empire

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Price: $249.00
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Description

This particular fresco is from the National Palace, Mexico City entitled The Fall of the Empire.

This color plate is by Ganymed, Berlin. It measures approximately 10 inches by 12 5/8 inches and comes in a fold-over titled and numbered matte which measures approximately 13 3/8 by 18 3/8 inches.

This print was part of Diego Rivera’s first set of lithographs. It was from Rivera's second show at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) . It was designated "Exhibit 24a " and was one of the first (if not the first) circulating exhibits of MOMA . Rivera was there on February 13, 1933 to sign the folios which sold for $15.00. (Note: this one is not signed).

Ganymead was totally destroyed in World War II and restarted back up in England after the war, but everything was destroyed. I am not sure of the total number of these books/folios that were printed, but I believe that it wasn't more 200 as Ganymed made only very limited runs. It was also featured with the opening of MOMA's architectural exhibit room. The prints and a few of the frescoes done for his solo show in 1931-2 (MOMA 14) traveled around for a year or so. Interestingly, and perhaps because of the scarcity of these works, there is little information out there. Most of what I have included was obtained from the MOMA archives, a very knowledgeable eBay-er and the folio itself.

The palette of a fresco painter is limited. It consists of earth colors, oxides orf iron and manganese. The color, ground on a marble slab witha small amount of water, forms a paste and is applied much as are watercolors with a brush moistened with water.

Diego Rivera used Vine Black (calcined seeds of grapes), ultramarine, cobalt blue, emerald green, burnt siena, almagre morado (a Mexican earth - red oxide of iron), pozzuoli (an Italian red earth), dark ochre, raw siena and yellow ochre. As evidenced in these brilliant prints, he was a master of using these colors to create an incredibly rich and deep image. Moreover, Rivera's fresco depict important events in Mexican history as well as relevant 'slices of life.'

This is not only a beautiful piece of art, but also a rare and wise investment.

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