Diego Rivera. May Day, Moscow. 1928. Watercolor and pencil on graph paper, 4 1/8 x 6 3/8″ (10.5 x 16.2 cm). Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
May Day plays an interesting role in The Museum of Modern Art’s history, as the occasion brought Jere Abbott and Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who would become MoMA’s first associate director and director respectively, together with Diego Rivera for the first time. Rivera was in Moscow for the 10th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, as a representative of the Mexican Communist Party, while Abbott and Barr were in Europe studying contemporary art, and made the trip to Russia specifically to meet him. Rivera’s sketchbook from that trip, which captures the mass celebration of the May Day festivities in the city, was purchased by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller to help fund Rivera’s first trip to New York, for his 1931 MoMA exhibition. Take a look at Rivera’s drawings on MoMA.org, and check out this week’s upcoming programs:
• On Tuesdays (April 29 through June 24, at 11:00 a.m.) bring children ages two and up to Storytime at MoMA Art Lab: Movement. Kids can listen to a story and make art inspired by it, then learn about balancing a mobile, stop-motion animation, or how artists use gesture in their work.
• According to Henri Matisse, “Modern Art is joy spread through Color.” Come explore Matisse’s work and use of color with The Color of Our World, a Gallery Sessions tour on Wednesday, April 30.
Magic Words (Breaking a Spell). 2012. Mexico/Guatemala/Nicaragua. Directed by Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez. Courtesy the filmmaker
• On Thursday, May 1, Iberoamérican Images: The State of the Art begins a two-week run in the theaters. It’s MoMA’s fourth biannual Ibermedia program, featuring Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese films that often have little exposure in the United States. Mercedes Moncada Rodríquez’s stunning, heartbreaking Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) opens the festival, and the filmmaker will be present on opening night.
• Kids ages seven to nine can join us on Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4, for Family Art Workshops, which this month focuses on collage and Sigmar Polke, whose witty and eclectic art is now on view in a major retrospective at MoMA. Admission is free, but preregistration is required, so sign up today!
• And don’t miss Sunday Sessions at MoMA PS1 on Sunday, May 4, featuring Dancing Is Talking, Talking Is Dancing: Conversations on Contemporary Choreography. The afternoon features a lecture by Xavier Le Roy and two panel discussions with Andre Lepecki and Janine Antoni moderated by Jenny Schlenzka and Noémie Solomon.