DIEGO RIVERA (Mexican 1886-1957) A GROUP OF TWO PRINTS, FROM "Frescoes of Diego Rivera," MOMA,

DIEGO RIVERA (Mexican 1886-1957) A GROUP OF TWO PRINTS, FROM "Frescoes of Diego Rivera," MOMA, SIGNED, NEW YORK, 1933, comprising two color calotype prints on heavy paper, each plate signed and dated on plate, respectively in blue and black ink, "Diego Rivera, 1942," "Detail from Day of the Dead (Street Fair)," plate III, signed and dated in blue ink L/R, 10 7/8" x 8 5/8"; "Detail from A Division of the Lands," plate IV, signed and dated in black ink L/L, 11" x 8 3/4"; both in situ at, "The Ministry of Education, Mexico City," color plates printed in Germany by Ganymed, Berlin, for The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Color Reproductions of Mexican Frescoes by Diego Rivera," exhibition running February 20 - March 12, 1933. Note: The "Detail of Day of the Dead," presented here curiously captures the head of a man with a yellow hat, which unwaveringly favors the artist. The consideration that this is indeed a self-portrait of the artist hidden among the festivities cannot be missed.Original Exhibition press release (facsimile): "Saturday afternoon or Sunday, February 18, 19th, 1933. The Mexican murals of Diego Rivera, in a setting of modern interior architecture will be offered to the public at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53d Street, New York, on Monday, February 20th, when the Museum opens its permanent Architecture Room with a showing of the first color reproductions of the famous murals executed by Diego Rivera in Mexico City, Chapingo, and Cuernavaca. The exhibition marks the publication by the Museum of Modern Art of the Rivera Portfolio which contains 19 color plates printed by the Ganymed Press in Berlin, Germany, selected from the frescoes on the walls of the Ministry of Education and the National Palace in Mexico City, the Agricultural School in Chapingo, and the Palace of Cortez in Cuernavaca. In addition 14 monotone plates, printed by the Plandome Press in New York, show on a smaller scale the entire fresco of which each color reproduction is a part. The portfolio also contains a note on the technique of Rivera's frescoes by Jere Abbott, Director of the Smith College Art Museum. The book has been in preparation for over a year and its publication has been made possible by the generosity of a member of the Advisory Committee of the Museum of Modern Art. The Architecture Room, in which the prints will be shown, will be a permanent feature of the Museum. It has been installed and decorated as an example of modern interior architecture, under the supervision- of Philip Johnson, Director of the Department of Architecture. The furniture is designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeaneret, and Charlotte Perriand. The colors of the room are gray, brown, and blue. Two walls of gray homespun have aluminum base moldings. One wall is covered by navy blue raw silk curtains and the fourth wall is white. Two windows in this wall are of ribbed translucent glass. Curtains of white fishnet cover this entire wall. The floor is dark brown linoleum." The recipient attributed as Beatrice Joyce Kean (1923-1972), of the Joyce Family and Joyce Foundation, which dedicates considerable charitable donations through grants to the Great Lakes region, focusing on "advancing racial equity and economic mobility," since 1948. Printer reference: Malet, Marian, and Sara MacDougall, ed. et al, "Applied Arts in British Exile from 1933: Changing Visual and Material Culture: Yearbook of the Research Center for German and Austrian Exile Studies, Brill, Leiden, 2019, page 154.Copyright by Ray Slater Murphy, noted collector and MoMA Patron. Condition: Very minor surface wear and toning, some small bends at corners of matting, but overall in good to very good condition, wear commensurate with age. Simpson Galleries strongly encourages in-person inspection of items by the bidder. Statements by Simpson Galleries regarding the condition of objects are for guidance only and should not be relied upon as statements of fact and do not constitute a representation, warranty, or assumption of liability by Simpson Galleries. All lots offered are sold "AS IS." NO REFUNDS will be issued based on condition.