Diego Rivera Loan at Huntington
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| Diego Rivera, Portrait of Señor Hermenegildo Alsina, 1912. Private collection |
An unidentified private collector has put an early, full-length portrait by Diego Rivera on loan to the Huntington for the next two years. Sometimes known as Portrait of a Spaniard or The Man with the Umbrella, the painting was exhibited at the 1912 Salon d'Automne, Paris, in the company of works by Picasso, Picabia, and Duchamp. The dapper Señor is now identified as Hermenegildo Alsina, a Spanish bookbinder, publisher, and photographer.
The figure's slender proportions and moody sky reflect Rivera's study of El Greco, an artist who also influenced Picasso. Within a few years Rivera had converted to cubism. The best-known phase of his career, the socially conscious murals, dates from his 1921 return to Mexico.
Señor Hermenegildo Alsina is now on view in the Huntington Art Gallery (second floor), where it can be seen in the context of portraits ranging from Hogarth to Goya to Kehinde Wiley.
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Nowadays, sleek or professional online layouts are way easier to do. But thanks to Michael Govan (and his constantly rotating exhibits in the Geffen?), the Huntington at least has the support of the Ahmanson Foundation.