David Alfaro Siqueiros
Cara de niño (Concentración)

Cara de niño (Concentración)

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City

Cara de niño (Concentración)
Cara de niño (Concentración)
CultureMexican
Titles
  • Cara de niño (Concentración)
  • Head of a Boy (Concentration)
Date1939
MediumPiroxylene on Masonite
Dimensions27 1/2 × 23 15/16 × 1/4 in. (69.9 × 60.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Agnes Cullen Arnold Endowment Fund
Object number2010.9
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 203
On view

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Object Type
Description

The great Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros spent the period between 1933 and 1939 committed to the eradication of war and fascism through powerful works such as The Birth of Fascism and the iconic Echo of a Scream. By 1939, though, his work became less politically strident and more personal, perhaps even more psychologically driven, as is evident here. Concentration (Head of a Boy) belongs to a group of more than 17 paintings that were exhibited at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York City in 1940 at the urging of Siqueiros's longtime friend and dealer Inés Amor. Many of the paintings in the exhibition focused on Siqueiros's return to the use of human gestures to symbolize tragedy or loss. Tightly composed images of heads tilted downward, hands clenched, and brows furrowed all reveal a quietly radical shift by Siqueiros from the political to the emotional.


 


ProvenanceThe artist; [...]; Blaydon Enterprises, Inc.; sold to MFAH, 2010.
Exhibition History"North Looks South: Building the Latin American Art Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 7–September 27, 2009.

"Mexican Modern Art, 1900–1950 (L'art moderne mexicain, 1900–1950)," Galeria Arvil, Mexico City.

"Das Vanguardas AO Fim Do Milenio," Caixa Geral de Deposito, Culturgest, Lisbon, April 23–August 1, 1999.

Central Art Gallery, Mexico City.

"Arte latinamericano 1910–2010," Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, September 21, 2011–March 5, 2012.

"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 7, 2012–January 2, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed lower left in the image: "Siqueiros / 5 • 39"
Printed labels on verso - (also see photocopies in accession file):

"Mexican Modern Art, 1900-1950 / L'art moderne mexicain, / 1900-1950 / Cat: 251 I.D. No.: MEX-L61.6 / Galeria Arvil / Siqueiros, David Alfaro / Head (Concentracion) ..."
"CAIXA GERAL DE DEPOSITO / Culturgest / EXPOSIÇÃO: DAS VANGUARDAS AO FIM DO MILENIO / DE 23 / 4 / 99 A 1 / 8 / 99 "

"CENTRAL ART GALLERY / AVENIDA JUAREZ MEXICO, D.F. / Artista David Alfaro Siqueiros / Nombre Cara de nino / no 52 Preceo (?) 6000 (?)

"ARNO / MARCOS Y RESTAURACIONES / HOMERO 408. POLANCO / TELS. 254-1026 ..."


Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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