LAVANDERAS CON ZOPILOTES by DIEGO RIVERA (MEXICAN 1886-1957)

On May 27 and 28, Christie’s Latin American Art sale will offer an exceptional selection of over 260 lots by some of the region’s most sought after modern and contemporary artists. The two-day sale includes property from several prestigious private and public collections as well a superb offering of paintings and sculpture by such key Latin American artists as Fernando Botero, Claudio Bravo, Joaquín Torres-García, Matta, Hélio Oiticica, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, Remedios Varo, and more. The sale is expected to achieve in excess of $22 million.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ROY AND MARY CULLEN

Christie’s is proud to offer works from the Collection of Roy and Mary Cullen, an extraordinary collection of works by key figures in the history of Latin American modern art. Highly regarded in the Houston community for their business, philanthropic, and cultural contributions to the state of Texas and to their beloved city of Houston, the Cullen family has built an indelible legacy that spans over one-hundred and fifty years of civic and cultural engagement in their community.

Diego Rivera’s Lavanderas con zopilotes is a work that pays homage to the dignity of work and especially the back-breaking labor of underclass women whose faces, as in this painting, are unseen. Rivera depicts two women with their backs bent, toiling by a stream or river. The figures are grounded, nearly rooted to the riverbank where they wash clothes. The work is in fact part of a long tradition in art that began in the nineteenth century with artists such as Jean-François Millet, Gustave Courbet and Camille Pissarro, who painted the working classes with great nobility.

Image above: DIEGO RIVERA (MEXICAN 1886-1957) LAVANDERAS CON ZOPILOTES, Estimate: $700,000 – $900,000