Two Figures

Diego Rivera's "Two Figures" (1940) is a watercolor with brush and black ink on white Japanese paper, depicting two figures rendered in Rivera's distinctive monumental style. The Japanese paper provides a smooth, absorbent surface that responds differently to watercolor than Western papers, allowing for distinctive effects of wash and line. The combination of watercolor and brush and black ink allows Rivera to combine broad areas of translucent color with precise linear definition. The two figures are likely peasants or workers, their simplified, monumental forms reflecting Rivera's muralist aesthetic even in the intimate scale of a watercolor on paper. 1940 was a significant year for Rivera: he was completing his monumental mural at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and was at the height of his international fame. This watercolor shows the master of the monumental working on a smaller, more intimate scale, bringing the same formal power to a work on paper that he brought to his vast murals.

Rivera's watercolors demonstrate his mastery across media, showing that the monumental scale of his murals was matched by an intimate sensitivity in works on paper.

This watercolor of two figures captures the monumental quality of Rivera's vision in a smaller format, the simplified forms and warm palette conveying the dignity and strength of his subjects.