Chester Dale

1945

Diego Rivera

Artist, Mexican, 1886 - 1957

A pale-skinned man leans forward so his arms rest on the desk in front of us as he looks out with piercing blue eyes in this horizontal portrait painting. He rests his head in his left hand, to our right, with the first two fingers extended along his temple. His blond hair is carefully combed, and he has arched eyebrows, bags under his eyes, a wide nose, and a bristle mustache over his square, cleft chin. He wears a navy-blue suit jacket over a white button-down and dark tie. The jacket has a white pocket square and a red flower on one lapel. The man wears a red pinky ring on the hand by his face. The other arm is extended so that hand, which holds a cigarette, hangs beyond the edge of the tabletop. We look slightly down onto the desk where a pair of glasses rests on an open book, which shows a self portrait by Van Gogh. A pamphlet partially tucked under one corner of the book would read, in full, “FRENCH PAINTING from the CHESTER DALE COLLECTION.” The man sits in a high-backed chair with cushion mottled with amethyst purple and topaz blue. Close behind him, a shelf to our right holds a copper-green mask and a figurine. Pale green paneling and drawers fill the left two-thirds of the background. The painting is inscribed at the top left, “To my very dear friend Chester Dale Diego Rivera. August 1945.” Brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the background and chair.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 100.3 x 126.8 cm (39 1/2 x 49 15/16 in.)
    framed: 125.1 x 151.1 cm (49 1/4 x 59 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.62


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned 1945 by Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1952

  • Portraits of Personalities Past and Present, Portraits, Inc., New York, 1952, no. 38.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 61, repro.

  • Frankfurter, Alfred. "How Great is the Dale Collection?" Art News 64 (May 1965):40-43, 51-53, repro.

Inscriptions

upper left: To my very dear friend Chester Dale / DiegoRivera. August 1945; lower right on book: FRENCH PAIN[TING] / from the / CHESTER DALE / COLLECTION

Wikidata ID

Q20193626


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