May Day, Moscow
Diego Rivera
Mexican, 1886–1957
1928
A lively watercolor and crayon sketch on graph paper in which Rivera attempts to seize the tumultuous energy and pageantry of a May Day rally in Moscow.
The eye is grabbed by a dense, tumbling crowd and a central figure hoisting a red flag, rendered with loose, urgent strokes and splashes of red that bounce against the onion domes, producing a raw sense of movement and political fervor.
Made during Rivera’s 1927–28 visit to the Soviet Union, the drawing links his eyewitness reportage to the larger project of politically engaged art, showing how quick studies fed the compositional drama of his public murals and the international exchange of revolutionary imagery.
Medium
Watercolor and crayon on graph paper from a disbound sketchbook
Dimensions
4 1/8 x 6 3/8" (10.5 x 16.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Accession
137.1935.20
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
