The Lady in White 1939

Diego Rivera made "The Lady in White" in oil paint and it's full of haunting details. She sits there, draped in lace, cradling a skull – talk about a mood! I imagine Rivera, stepping back, squinting, trying to get that balance of dread and beauty just right. You can almost feel him layering the paint, adding a touch of light to the skull's eye socket, a shadow beneath the veil. There’s this weird tenderness in the way she holds it, like it's a baby. The palette is all muted and dark, which just adds to the whole spooky vibe. It's very him, mixing politics and personal stuff, death and life. Rivera's work always feels like he’s wrestling with big questions, using every brushstroke as a way to make sense of it all. Painters like Rivera, like all of us, are just trying to figure it out as we go.