1953.2 David Alfaro Siquerios, Head on Black Paper, c. 1939

In 1936, Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros relocated to New York City to found the Siqueiros Experimental Workshop, a collective enterprise aimed at raising the caliber of the avant-garde through modern techniques. While in New York, Siqueiros began painting with Duco, a brand of nitrocellulose paint then used almost exclusively in the commercial automotive industry. His use of the quick-drying paint fulfilled the Experimental Workshop’s deep political commitment, which sought to both revolutionize and modernize painting techniques for the eventual mechanical reproduction of public murals. Siqueiros achieves a strong sense of verticality, layering flat panels of paint to create the folded fabric on his veiled figure. The paint was applied with an airbrush, further removing the hand of the artist from the work, resulting in a unified, textured surface.

Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.

Siqueiros_David Alfaro: ULAN: 500008908

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Cuernavaca (inhabited place / Morelos / Mexico): AAT: 7007109

Ciudad Camargo (inhabited place / Chihuahua / Mexico): AAT: 1136276

nitrocellulose (cellulosic / thermoplastic): AAT: 300014444

Duco (brand / nitrocellulose paint): DMA

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

paper (fiber product): AAT: 300014109

airbrushing (painting techniques): AAT: 300053405

works on paper: AAT: 300189621

painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618

abstract: AAT: 300108127

abstraction: AAT: 300056508

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

heads (representations): AAT: 300262520

Mexican Muralist (movement): AAT: 300107850

muralist (painter): AAT: 300025153

murals: AAT: 300182732

New York (New York/United States): TGN: 7007567

workshops (organizations): AAT: 300026026

avant-garde: AAT: 300055775

Modern (style or period): AAT: 300264736

modernist (European style): AAT: 300021474

painting (image-making): AAT: 300054216

automobiles: AAT: 300178739

political art: AAT: 300256621

politics: AAT: 300055537

revolution: AAT: 300055312

reproductions: AAT: 300015643

public art: AAT: 300056501

verticality: AAT: 300056325

layers (components): AAT: 300226788

flat (form attributes): AAT: 300010345

panels (surface components): AAT: 300069079

textile materials: AAT: 300231565

veils (headcloths): AAT: 300046128

coverings: AAT: 300205009

robes: AAT: 300209852

airbrushes (painting equipment): AAT: 300022706

texture (artistic concept): AAT: 300400862

texture (physical attribute): AAT: 300056362

surface texture: AAT: 300219406

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509

geometric shape: AAT: 300263819

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

n.d.: Sidney Berkowitz, New York [1]

From 1953: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Art Association Purchase [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing provenance information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The Dallas Art Association is the predecessor to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name was abandoned in 1970. Works from this collection were transferred to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.