David Alfaro Siqueiros

Lot Description David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican 1896-1974) Dos cabezas signed and dated 'Siqueiros 3-57' (lower left) pyroxylin on masonite 32 x 23¼ in. (81.3 x 59.1 cm.) Painted in 1957. Provenance Acquired from the artist. Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 19 November 1991, lot 36 (illustrated). Acquired from the above by the present owner. Pre-Lot Text Property from a Distinguished Collection View Lot Notes > We are grateful to Irene Herner for her assistance in cataloguing this work. While Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros is most known for his politically and socially themed murals, he produced numerous easel works throughout his career. By 1957 Siqueiros was lauded internationally once again; having received second place after Henri Matisse at the 1950 Venice Biennale for his easel paintings. Siqueiros approached his paintings, which he regularly called portable murals or plastic exercises, with the same revolutionary zeal as his murals. From the early 1930s, Siqueiros sought to modernize art by experimenting with industrial materials and tools. Much of Siqueiros's easel work was made with non-traditional materials such as pyroxylin or Duco paint, a lacquer developed by the DuPont Company often used in car manufacturing. Pyroxylin, used here, is bright, durable, fast-drying, and easily applied with an airbrush or traditional brush. Siqueiros combined these materials with a masonite support, which attracted him "because of its low cost, ease of preparation, durability, and receptiveness to pyroxylin."[1] Pyroxylin allowed for a build-up of layers lending a sculptural appearance to his painting. Coupled with tight composition and monumental scale, the two heads or Dos cabezas seem to emerge from the frame. The composition of the painting is immense in scale. The heads of the two campesino-like figures occupy the majority of the space and are intimately positioned. The main figure with short wavy black hair smiles broadly as does the second figure that rests his head on the other's shoulder. Each figure with their mouths half open in an almost laugh-like expression look upward and outside the masonite canvas. Short dynamic strokes produce the modeling of the facial features and spur the viewer's eye to move and circle around the faces, as do the looser broad strokes of the background and clothing. The layer upon layer of color enhances the play of light and shadow and adds to the depth of the textured surface. The light tone and levity of the scene is rare in Siqueiros's work and seemingly apolitical. However the depiction of the two heads of working men is in keeping with his artistic ideology to generate art that speaks to the average person, to represent the heroic voice of the common man as a "dialectical, aggressive, menacing, and tremendously optimistic voice."[2] Rebecca Zamora, independent researcher 1 Christopher Fulton, Siqueiros: Landscape Painter (Mexico: Editorial RM, 2010): 73, fn 6. 2 As quoted in Irene Herner de Larrea's Siqueiros from Paradise to Utopia (Mexico City: Maporrua, 2010): 138. This painting is part of the National Heritage of Mexico and cannot be removed from that country. Accordingly, it is offered for sale in New York from the catalogue and will not be available in New York. Delivery of the painting will be made in Mexico in compliance with local requirements. Prospective buyers may contact Christie's representatives in Mexico for an appointment to view the work.

LOT 88 DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS (1896-1974) TROGLODÍA signed lower right; also signed, titled Para Troglodía obra teatral en la carcel, dated Mex DF 3-28-1963, and inscribed Y aún se Destrozan! Carcel Preventiva on the reverse pyroxyline on wood panel 18 5/8 by 12 5/8 in. 47.3 by 32 cm

DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS (1896-1974) Boceto para mural , 1973 signed 'Siqueiros' (lower left) acrylic on panel 29 5/8 x 30 7/8in. (75.3 x 78.3cm) PROVENANCE: Polyforum Cultural Siquerios, Mexico City. Anon. sale, Sotheby's New York, 20 November 1989, lot 182. Collection of Anthony Quinn, Rhode Island. By descent from the above to the present owner.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican, 1896-1974) Volcán, from Mountain Suite , 1969 Lithograph in colors on Arches paper, signed in pencil and numbered 110/250, published/printed by Touchstone, New York/Mourlot, Paris, with full margins, not framed. 20 3/4 x 16in sheet 25 1/2 x 19 1/2in

David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican 1896-1974) Don Filo signed and inscribed 'Siqueiros, "DON FILO", EL JUEZ IMPLACABLE DE MI TEATRO, "TROGLODIA" (lower right) dated and inscribed 'CARCEL PREVENTIVA, 1-64' (lower left) Pyroxyline on paper laid on masonite 25½ x 19 3/8 in. (64.8 x 49.2 cm.) Executed in 1964. Galería Central de Arte Moderno Misrachi, Mexico City. Twentieth Century Works of Art, Beverly Hills (acquired in September 1978). Private collection, Tucson. We are grateful to Irene Herner for her assistance in cataloguing this work.