The MoMA is filled with character and bursts with historical energy throughout each floor. The process of finding a ‘modern’ piece was difficult because of the vast variety available. While on the first floor of “Painting and Sculptures I” I found a corner dedicated to Diego Rivera. I recognized his style of work immediately and couldn’t draw my eyes away from “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” published in 1914. The bright colors grabbed my attention first followed by the layers of gray and beige that blend together to create an image of folded hands. After noticing the complexity of the man’s folded hands, my eyes reverted back to the bright colors and their placement in the portrait. “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” seems to portray a young man in his studies. The random and rare bright colors remind me of books placed on a bookshelf and the young man is dull and almost colorless because he has a lot of reading to do. The young man represents a student who has a lot of studying ahead of him, I believe he is colorless because of his lack of knowledge. I think his hands are folded out of concentration as well as an act of being taken seriously. The title highlights that his clothing is gray, to me gray is dull and I believe Rivera was pointing out that the young man’s clothing is the only dull thing about him.

In my freshman year of college I went through a phase where I read and studied everything about Frida Khalo. The vibrant colors used in portraits were intriguing, and so was Khalo’s obsession with Diego Rivera. My studies always projected Freida’s famous lover Diego Rivera as a promiscuous and inconsiderate husband towards Khalo, but a creative cubist and muralist genius to the rest of the world. Born in Guanajuato Mexico on December 8, 1886 Rivera’s earliest influences came from his hometown, but most of his early inspiration came from Europe. Spanish cubist Pablo Picasso was one of Rivera’s heaviest artistic influences. However, after returning to Mexico Rivera was inspired by the ideas forming the present Mexican Revolution which changed his artistic style drastically. Rivera went from Cubism to portraying morals of the Mexican people, their villages, and their historic lifestyles. In Mexico City on November 24 1954, Diego Rivera died of heart failure.

“Young Man in a Gray Sweater” is a prime example of modernism in the 20th century. Cubism is a great example of artists rejecting tradition and embracing novelty. “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” depicts Picasso’s influence on Cubist style, but Rivera uses brighter colors than the usual Cubist. The brighter colors and design used in the painting are heavily influenced by his Mexican pride. Using a form of nationality in his paintings highlights a modernist idea of subjective perception. Like other ‘modern’ artist, Rivera illustrates how he sees other young Mexican men and not how they actually look in reality. By using dull colors on his body but bright colors to represent the books, Rivera forces us to see his passion and pride which is considered subjective to all observers who aren’t from Mexico. I do want to know if this is a self portrait, a loved one, or a student of his. 

WORKS CITED:

“National Gallery of Art.” Diego Rivera. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016.