Portrait of Cuca Bustamante 1946

Diego Rivera painted this portrait of Cuca Bustamante, using oil, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Look how the flat planes of blues, reds, and yellows really define the space – color feels like a building block here. There’s something really lovely and considered in the textures Rivera coaxes out of oil paint. The dress in particular feels like a cascade of small details, like looking at a field of flowers close up. Then there's that striking blue background. See how it’s brushed on almost raw, very thin. This is balanced by the textures on the floor. It makes me think about how someone like Alice Neel also approached portraiture, with a kind of directness and honesty. It's like both artists are trying to capture not just a likeness, but something deeper about the person. There is always more than one way to approach painting.