NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s announced that it will offer Diego Rivera’s iconic painting, Retrato de la Actriz Matilde Palou, in its Latin American Modern Art Evening Sale on 25 May in New York. Regarded as one of the artist’s finest portraits to have ever appeared at auction, this late work transcends the legendary beauty of this Mexican Golden Age film star, transforming her into an icon of Mexican identity. Having last appeared at auction at Sotheby’s in 1988, the painting returns to the market during a time of renewed interest in Mexican Modernism, as evidenced by recent exhibitions at both the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art. The portrait will travel this week to Los Angeles, and will be on public exhibition for the first time in nearly 30 years from 22 through 25 March from 10AM-5PM in the new Sotheby’s Galleries (2029 Century Park E #2950, Los Angeles). Rivera’s larger-than-life painting is estimated to fetch $2/3 million.

Axel Stein, Head of Sotheby’s Latin American Art Department in New York remarked: Flush with elements of Mexican symbolism, Diego Rivera’s portrait of Matilde Palou is both an elegant portrayal of the Golden Age starlet and an emblematic representation of the artist’s pride in his homeland. I have known this painting for nearly 30 years, and remain transfixed by her poignant beauty.

Rivera’s striking portrait captures the young starlet at the height of her fame, painted in the same year as the release of her most celebrated film, Luis Buñuel’s Susana. Her relaxed pose and undulating form exemplify Rivera’s use of a manneristic style in his late portraits to lend a languid, glamorous air to the sitter. The artist imagines Palou in an elaborate Mexican costume; the tiers of her dress are emblazoned with the nation’s flag and coat of arms, while Aztec-inspired jewelry adorns her ears, wrists and left hand—all aesthetic affirmations of proud ‘mexicanidad’. Standing at 80 x 48 1/8 inches, the work is an arresting and confrontational example of Rivera’s masterful skill, and a beguiling celebration of Mexican identity.