A very large vintage 1950s original oil on canvas pre-Hispanic Figures painting by Annette Nancarrow from during her many years spent in Mexico. She was a close friend of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo among many other Mexican artists and writers, and collaborated with Rivera on a number of his murals over the years, and I believe that his huge collection of pre-Hispanic figures (which later became the basis for the collection of the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City) was the inspiration for this artwork. One of the figures (at center left, shown in side profile) even looks like Diego Rivera - see my last photo which is of Diego Rivera in front of a pre-Hispanic temple taken near the end of his life! The second to last photo is of Diego Rivera with part of his collection of pre Columbian objects, and the small crouching figure in front of him holding a pole-like weapon is also the front and center figure in this painting by Nancarrow! This painting would have been completed either just before or just after his death, and I believe that it is an homage to her great friend, his obsession with pre-Hispanic artifacts, and their friendship of so many years! A wonderful and quite vividly painted artwork, and with deep personal meaning for the artist. And, in addition, one of the largest and best paintings by Nancarrow that I have seen in person or published! This painting is in the original painted wood frame probably made by the artist herself, and still bears a partial gallery tag at back from when it was first shown at the Galleria de Arte Mendelsohn in Mexico City. The artwork measures 32.5" by 40.5" at the outside of the thin wood frame which adds about 1/2" all around, and measures 1-1/2" deep. It is signed at front as shown, "Annette Nancarrow Mexico". Excellent vintage condition.

Nancarrow (1907-1991) was born in NYC on Oct. 13, 1907. She was an Art major at Hunter College and later received her Masters in Fine Arts from Columbia University. She was awarded a scholarship to the National Academy of Design. (See my second to last photograph of the artist as a young woman in NYC.) She married young to an attorney and had a daughter named Cherry. While in New York she became friendly with the "Big Three" Mexican painters: Diego Rivera, who was working at Rockefeller Center, Jose Clemente Orozco who was exhibiting at the Delphic Studios and David Alfaro Siqueiros who was lecturing on the use of industrial paints for wall murals. They encouraged her to visit Mexico, which she did after her exhibition at the Modern Age Gallery. She then moved there permanently a year later. As a painter there she continued her art studies at the Academia de San Carlos and befriended all the important artists of the dav. She became Orozco's assistant in one of his fresco ceiling murals, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" in the Templo de Jesus, the oldest Catholic Chapel on the continent. He then painted her portrait. (See my last photo of the artist in front of of her portrait by Orozco.) Jesus Guerrero Galvan, Federico Cantu and Pedro Friedeberg also painted portraits of her. Diego Rivera painted a portrait of her second husband, Louis Stephens, with whom she had two boys, Charles and Luis. Frida Kahlo dedicated a lithograph to her with the words: "Anita - Life has brought us together and I love you. Frida." Annette had her first one woman show at the prominent Galeria de Arte Mexicano directed by Inez Amor. Orozco wrote the introduction to her invitation for this show. In a competition entitled "A Wall to Paint On," she won second prize for a mural, "Boy's Dream to Become a Bull Fighter."

An original oil on canvas by Annette Nancarrow - a posthumous tribute to her old friend, Diego Rivera, and his passion for pre-Columbian artifacts!

Available...

www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...

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