No. 9, Nature Morte Espagnole

1915

Diego Rivera

Painter, Mexican, 1886 - 1957

An abstracted jug, bottles, shapes reminiscent of balled up paper or fabric, and a needle-like letter opener are gathered on a wood square in this horizontal still life painting. Rectangles in shades of corn yellow, violet purple, burgundy red-and-black checks, white, black, and spruce green splay out behind the objects like untidily stacked placemats. The brown jug is at the center, and an echo of its form in teal blue presumably represents a shadow. Portions of the jug, wooden board, and crumpled material shift color and pattern as they intersect or overlap with other areas. The artist’s initials, “DMR,” are stenciled in yellow in the lower left corner.
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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-B

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Katharine Graham

  • Dimensions

    overall: 90.5 x 110.5 cm (35 5/8 x 43 1/2 in.)
    framed: 94.3 x 114.8 x 1.9 cm (37 1/8 x 45 3/16 x 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    2002.19.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; (Modern Gallery, New York), in 1915; Agnes Ernst Meyer [1887-1970], Mount Kisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.; her daughter, Katharine Meyer Graham [Mrs. Philip Graham, 1917-2001], Washington, D.C.; her estate; bequest 2002 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1916

  • Exhibition of Paintings by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Picabia, Braque, Desseignes, Rivera, Modern Gallery, New York, February-March 1916, no. 17, as A Spanish Still Life.

  • Exhibition of Paintings by Diego Rivera, Modern Gallery, New York, October 1916, no. 8, as Spanish Still-life.

1994

  • Loan to display with permanent collection, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1994.

2004

  • The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera: Memory, Politics, Place (Diego Rivera y el cubismo. Memoria y vanguardia), Natl. Gal. of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museo de Arte Mexico, Mexico City, 2004, fig. 8 (Washington brochure), unnumbered cat. (Mexico City)

2009

  • Marius de Zayas. Un destierro moderno., Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, 2009, no. 60, repro.

2011

  • Diego Rivera, Cubista de la Academia a la Vanguardia 1907 - 1921, Museo del Patrimonio Municipal, Málaga; Casa de la Provincia, Seville, 2011, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2012

  • Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2012-2013, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left in yellow paint with a stencil: DMR; upper left reverse, sideways: No 9 Nature / Morte / Espagnole / Rivera . 15

Wikidata ID

Q20191928

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