The Exploiters 1926

Diego Rivera made this fresco, called *The Exploiters*, on a wall in Chapingo, Mexico, and you can almost see him up there on scaffolding, brush in hand, moving back and forth. I wonder about the conversations Rivera must have had with himself while he was painting this. I see his attempt to show the exploitation of land workers. The colours are muted, earthy—browns, ochres, and grays—giving it a somber feel. But within that, there's this amazing dance of bodies, bent and contorted under the pressure of labor, and the contrast with the figures on horseback who oversee them. Look at the way he uses line to define the shapes, almost like he's carving into the wall itself! Rivera takes influence from the Italian Renaissance masters but also reworks their ideas. Ultimately, painting is like an ongoing conversation, artists responding to artists across time. It’s an invitation to interpret, question, and feel.