PORTRAIT OF DIEGO RIVERA

Understanding modern art

Modern painting has many faces, and you can find plenty of artists with their own vision of art. Nowadays, it’s the concept that rules. Creating a proper legend and filling your artwork with a thought-provoking message is a key to success. Contemporary artists often choose abstract art since it allows them to transfer their emotions via colors and shapes without being limited by formal representation. To get the meaning of such paintings, try analyzing it according to the following criteria:

·         The character of lines in a pattern expresses a certain mood: smooth lines create a calm, relaxed feeling while rough strokes may stand for strong, intense emotions.

·         The usage of colors and their combinations is also very important. They way they interact has a certain effect on our brain.

·         Think about the overall idea, not the image you see. A portrait of love, for instance, isn’t obliged to depict two people, because abstract art broadens our mind and makes us think more creatively.

You should keep in mind that practically every abstract artist knows how to paint realistic canvases, but they prefer to use raw colors and context-free shapes to convey the necessary idea. Such art makes our mind work, and there is always something more than it is depicted.

Mexican revolutionary

This painting is definitely abstract in a way - it portrays a man, Diego Rivera, but he looks rather strange. The first thing you pay attention to is the grey, earthy palette of his face. Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter, but he was also associated with politics, and this topic prevailed in his artworks. His gloomy outlook on the future of his home country may have something to do with the skin tones chosen by the author. Nevertheless, his eyes are sparkling with kindness and love, and you feel this energy coming from canvas. He is dressed in a terracotta sweater the same color as the background covered with grey and black splashes that look like spilt ink. Made in shades of light brown, grey and black, the portrait gives us a contradictory feeling, because a palette like that can hardly be considered romantic, but Diego Rivera’s face is pretty cloudless, so here everything depends on the way you see the painting and the emotions expressed in it. Some may perceive it as a projection of the Mexican artist’s passionate yet melancholic personality while others will recollect his long-term relationship with Frida Kahlo and see it as a portrait of love. You are free to interpret this canvas in your own way.