Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA)
February 7, 2025 May 18, 2025
This first-of-its-kind exhibition, curated and organized by AMFA, offers a unique glimpse into a short period of Diego Rivera’s early years as an artist living in Europe far before finding fame as one of the most influential Mexican painters in the 20th century. The exhibition is on view through and admission is always free.
The centerpiece of Rivera’s Paris is
Diego Rivera, ‘Dos Mujeres,’ (Two Women,) 1914, oil on canvas, 77 3/4 x 63 1/2 in., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Gift of Abby Rockefeller Mauzé. 1955.010.
Dos Mujeres (Two Women) – one of Rivera’s largest and most important Cubist works – which was painted and first exhibited in Paris in 1914. The painting arrived at AMFA as a gift from Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, daughter of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in 1955.
“AMFA is so fortunate to have such a rare work by an incredible international artist like Diego Rivera here at the Museum,” remarks AMFA’s Executive Director, Dr. Victoria Ramirez. “We could not think of a more compelling painting that would make for a blockbuster exhibition at AMFA than Dos Mujeres.”
Totaling 45 works, the exhibition charts Rivera’s early years in Spain starting in 1907, his artistic path to Paris in 1909, his exploration of Cubism, and his ultimate return to Naturalism before moving back to Mexico in 1921. Along with many drawings and paintings by Rivera, works by his influences and contemporaries like Amedeo Modigliani, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall,
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, and Robert Delaunay fill in a portrait of the artist’s life at the time.
“Anyone who is anyone, especially in artistic circles, was in Paris during the period this exhibition examines,” explains AMFA’s Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft, Brian J. Lang. “Artists were experimenting with new techniques in their studios and exchanging ideas in cafes, and many embraced the controversial and revolutionary style of Cubism.”