Portrait of Linda Christian 1947

Diego Rivera painted this portrait of Linda Christian in oil, and what strikes me is the smoothness of the finish. It's like he's building up these incredibly thin layers of paint, almost like glazing, to create this luminous, almost unreal quality. There’s something about the way Rivera renders the flesh tones, so smooth and subtly modulated, that feels both classical and distinctly modern. He's not just painting a portrait; he's constructing an ideal, a vision of beauty. And then there's the almost surreal juxtaposition of the figure with the lush, tropical background, the orchids, the hummingbirds. They’re rendered with the same smooth, almost airbrushed effect, blurring the line between reality and fantasy. Rivera, in his celebration of the female form and embracing of vibrant colour, reminds me of Matisse. But unlike Matisse, Rivera roots his aesthetic language in his culture. Art, like conversation, borrows and invents, is always a negotiation.