The first week of spring yet snowy Moscow was coloured by the brightness of paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, symbols of the Latin American revolution in arts and 20th century pioneers of revolutionary movements. Ambassador Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka and Madame Sanja Jayatilleka admired the first large exhibition of this couple of world-famous artists, co-organized by the Fabergé Museum and the Continuity of Times Foundation in Moscow’s Manège. This prestigious Empire-style exhibition hall facing the Kremlin was built exactly 100 years before the Great October Revolution; 101 years after, it is hosting a collection of works of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera whose life, art and philosophy was closely tied with the developing Soviet State and its political leaders.
Rivera was the first mural artist who dared to paint Vladimir Lenin in the centre of his “Man at the Crossroads” fresco in the heart of New York in 1933; Frida Kahlo’s works were a true revelation of new Mexican art with its vibrant pre-Columbian inspiration admired by the turbulent pre-WWII Europe in 1939.
Among the exhibits hosted by the exhibition entitled VIVA LA VIDA (‘Long Live Life’) was the world-famous painting by Frieda Kahlo “The Broken Column”, and that of Diego Rivera, “The Glorious Victory” (1954) depicting Guatemala after the US-engineered ‘regime change’ of the elected president.
Apart from their paintings, the exhibition hosted a collection of life-sized photographs of the duo, including one of Frida Kahlo with Leo Trotsky.
