Glory Years: Diego & Marevna
They found each other in Paris. He was from Mexico and she was from Russia. But after a fiery relationship of passion and the love of art, they separated. Their daughter Marika was the issue of that relationship but their story is worth telling. It has all the markings of a great movie and had it been done, the daughter Marika Rivera, who became an actress, might have played a key role. But that’s not the way it turned out.There were many characters woven into the story of this pair. From Modigliani to Picasso, to Maxim Gorki, Lipchitz and every Russian painter who lived in Paris at that time, the relationship was one that all who knew them lived through with pain and wonder. Poor as they were, they made a deep imprint into the art world of The Glory Years. She fled from France to anonymity in England. He returned to Mexico and triumphed. Their child is over 85 today. This is the story of her parent’s short years together.
Marevna and Diego both lived in poverty although Diego did have an agent who sold the occasional work and Marevna worked at the Louvre making a copy of a Courbet. She also earned extra money by painting portraits from photographs of great Jewish poets for a Russian émigré who had a printing press. But she describes the poverty as a time when they ran out of gas and wood for the stove at her rue Asseline studio. The water froze and they spent their nights shivering under thin blankets. She would go to La Rotonde to use the washrooms and warm herself over hot croissants and coffee. The talk was of the war, the too few art buyers and later, the Revolution. Still, they and her gang of friends huddled together, helped each and survived. It was hardly an easy life.
When Marevna and Diego fell in love with each other he was living in Arcueil, (common law) with Angelina Beloff, a Russian painter, six years older than Rivera. They were together for years and now, Angelina was pregnant. Diego was torn between his duty to Angelina and his love for Marevna who was about four years younger than he was, hot blooded and gifted. The paintings and drawings that survive show great promise and great talent.
As far as his cubist period is concerned, some said that Rivera was the only real cubist. He went farther with his understanding of Cubism—he claimed that he understood the secret of the fourth dimension.
But the couple argued and Diego did have a violent temper. He once came close to strangling her.
Some of those drawings have been sold and a painting is being auctioned in England as I write this in June 2005.
What remains are cubist works by Rivera including one he did of Marevna.
Her paintings are harder to find but many of her sketches and studies are reproduced in her book, Life with the painters of La Ruche.During their relationship and beyond, they were associated with some of the most famous artists, especially those from Eastern Europe. Both in the art schools and at the Rotonde, the crowd of artists in their circle included Leger, Braque, Picasso, Soutine, Kremengue, Kikoine, Gris, Picabia, Matisse, Modigliani, Jacob, Kisling, Zadkine and others. Marevna remembers both Lenin and Trotsky coming into La Rotonde. But the biggest ovation was, according to her, when Charlie Chaplin came in, wearing a bowler hat.
Rivera was taciturn and argumentative. He hated Picasso’s habit of snooping around his studio. Some say he was jealous of Picasso. “You come here to steal from me,” he told the Spaniard. Rivera worried that Marevna had slept with Picasso. She hadn’t but they argued and Rivera cut her in the back of the neck, in anger. A scar remained.
Picasso laughed. “Yes, I come like a thief in the night. I steal from everybody. My greatest fear is that one day I will steal from myself.”
The two were cool towards each other after that.
When Angelina and Diego’s son died at fourteen months, Marevna felt great remorse but drew even closer to Diego. They lived together, painted together, fought and talked about art. Eventually, Morevna found that she too was pregnant and Diego, while he professed his love, seemed to stay away for longer periods.
Finally, he decided to return to Mexico. There would be letters about their daughter, born before he left, and some small sums she would receive in emergency, but basically, Diego went his own way and turned his back on Marevna and Marika.
In one letter he wrote that he had married Guadalupe Marin. (They had two daughters). Later in 1929 he married Freda Kahlo. By now he was an avowed Communist with radical political beliefs. He even attacked the church and clergy.
But it was his murals that brought him fame. He did some for the University of Mexico and one for the Rockefeller Center in New York but it removed because it contained an image of Lenin.
Marevna befriended other Russian painters like Ossip Zadkine and Chaim Soutine with whom she was very close. He suffered from nervous spells and bouts of hysteria. A wonderful portrait of him that she did of him remains. Many of his works are in the Barnes collection today. It was their love of nature and their ability to see fantastic shapes in things that brought them together. After his tragic death, Marevna claimed she often saw Soutine’s ghost.
She finally moved to England with Marika. Diego died in 1957. Marevna died in 1982.
Note:
Marika Rivera had roles in Hotel De Paradis, 1986, Voyage of the Damned, 1976 and Fiddler on the Roof, 1971. Today she is in a “care home” in South West England.
Other reading:
Vorobiev, Marevna, Life with the painters of La Ruche. Constable, London.
Riviera, Diego, My Art, my Life, The Citadel Press, New York, 1960.
Marnham, Patrick, Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera, U of California Press, Berkeley.
Double Deception is work of fiction recently published in serialization on the web. It is a story through the memories of Dr Robert Bartlett Haas, a close friend of Gertrude's,about the portr They found each other in Paris. He was from Mexico and she was from Russia. But after a fiery relationship of passion and the love of art, they separated. Their daughter Marika was the issue of that relationship but their story is worth telling. It has all the markings of a great movie and had it been done, the daughter Marika Rivera, who became an actress, might have played a key role. But that’s not the way it turned out.
There were many characters woven into the story of this pair. From Modigliani to Picasso, to Maxim Gorki, Lipchitz and every Russian painter who lived in Paris at that time, the relationship was one that all who knew them lived through with pain and wonder. Poor as they were, they made a deep imprint into the art world of The Glory Years. She fled from France to anonymity in England. He returned to Mexico and triumphed. Their child is over 85 today. This is the story of her parent’s short years together.
Marevna and Diego both lived in poverty although Diego did have an agent who sold the occasional work and Marevna worked at the Louvre making a copy of a Courbet. She also earned extra money by painting portraits from photographs of great Jewish poets for a Russian émigré who had a printing press. But she describes the poverty as a time when they ran out of gas and wood for the stove at her rue Asseline studio. The water froze and they spent their nights shivering under thin blankets. She would go to La Rotonde to use the washrooms and warm herself over hot croissants and coffee. The talk was of the war, the too few art buyers and later, the Revolution. Still, they and her gang of friends huddled together, helped each and survived. It was hardly an easy life.
When Marevna and Diego fell in love with each other he was living in Arcueil, (common law) with Angelina Beloff, a Russian painter, six years older than Rivera. They were together for years and now, Angelina was pregnant. Diego was torn between his duty to Angelina and his love for Marevna who was about four years younger than he was, hot blooded and gifted. The paintings and drawings that survive show great promise and great talent.
As far as his cubist period is concerned, some said that Rivera was the only real cubist. He went farther with his understanding of Cubism—he claimed that he understood the secret of the fourth dimension.
But the couple argued and Diego did have a violent temper. He once came close to strangling her.
Some of those drawings have been sold and a painting is being auctioned in England as I write this in June 2005.
What remains are cubist works by Rivera including one he did of Marevna.Her paintings are harder to find but many of her sketches and studies are reproduced in her book, Life with the painters of La Ruche.
During their relationship and beyond, they were associated with some of the most famous artists, especially those from Eastern Europe. Both in the art schools and at the Rotonde, the crowd of artists in their circle included Leger, Braque, Picasso, Soutine, Kremengue, Kikoine, Gris, Picabia, Matisse, Modigliani, Jacob, Kisling, Zadkine and others. Marevna remembers both Lenin and Trotsky coming into La Rotonde. But the biggest ovation was, according to her, when Charlie Chaplin came in, wearing a bowler hat.
Rivera was taciturn and argumentative. He hated Picasso’s habit of snooping around his studio. Some say he was jealous of Picasso. “You come here to steal from me,” he told the Spaniard. Rivera worried that Marevna had slept with Picasso. She hadn’t but they argued and Rivera cut her in the back of the neck, in anger. A scar remained.
Picasso laughed. “Yes, I come like a thief in the night. I steal from everybody. My greatest fear is that one day I will steal from myself.”
The two were cool towards each other after that.
When Angelina and Diego’s son died at fourteen months, Marevna felt great remorse but drew even closer to Diego. They lived together, painted together, fought and talked about art. Eventually, Morevna found that she too was pregnant and Diego, while he professed his love, seemed to stay away for longer periods.
Finally, he decided to return to Mexico. There would be letters about their daughter, born before he left, and some small sums she would receive in emergency, but basically, Diego went his own way and turned his back on Marevna and Marika.
In one letter he wrote that he had married Guadalupe Marin. (They had two daughters). Later in 1929 he married Freda Kahlo. By now he was an avowed Communist with radical political beliefs. He even attacked the church and clergy.
But it was his murals that brought him fame. He did some for the University of Mexico and one for the Rockefeller Center in New York but it removed because it contained an image of Lenin.
Marevna befriended other Russian painters like Ossip Zadkine and Chaim Soutine with whom she was very close. He suffered from nervous spells and bouts of hysteria. A wonderful portrait of him that she did of him remains. Many of his works are in the Barnes collection today. It was their love of nature and their ability to see fantastic shapes in things that brought them together. After his tragic death, Marevna claimed she often saw Soutine’s ghost.
She finally moved to England with Marika. Diego died in 1957. Marevna died in 1982.
Note:
Marika Rivera had roles in Hotel De Paradis, 1986, Voyage of the Damned, 1976 and Fiddler on the Roof, 1971. Today she is in a “care home” in South West England.
Other reading:
Vorobiev, Marevna, Life with the painters of La Ruche. Constable, London.
Riviera, Diego, My Art, my Life, The Citadel Press, New York, 1960.
Marnham, Patrick, Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera, U of California Press, Berkeley.
There were many characters woven into the story of this pair. From Modigliani to Picasso, to Maxim Gorki, Lipchitz and every Russian painter who lived in Paris at that time, the relationship was one that all who knew them lived through with pain and wonder. Poor as they were, they made a deep imprint into the art world of The Glory Years. She fled from France to anonymity in England. He returned to Mexico and triumphed. Their child is over 85 today. This is the story of her parent’s short years together.
Marevna and Diego both lived in poverty although Diego did have an agent who sold the occasional work and Marevna worked at the Louvre making a copy of a Courbet. She also earned extra money by painting portraits from photographs of great Jewish poets for a Russian émigré who had a printing press. But she describes the poverty as a time when they ran out of gas and wood for the stove at her rue Asseline studio. The water froze and they spent their nights shivering under thin blankets. She would go to La Rotonde to use the washrooms and warm herself over hot croissants and coffee. The talk was of the war, the too few art buyers and later, the Revolution. Still, they and her gang of friends huddled together, helped each and survived. It was hardly an easy life.
When Marevna and Diego fell in love with each other he was living in Arcueil, (common law) with Angelina Beloff, a Russian painter, six years older than Rivera. They were together for years and now, Angelina was pregnant. Diego was torn between his duty to Angelina and his love for Marevna who was about four years younger than he was, hot blooded and gifted. The paintings and drawings that survive show great promise and great talent.
As far as his cubist period is concerned, some said that Rivera was the only real cubist. He went farther with his understanding of Cubism—he claimed that he understood the secret of the fourth dimension.
But the couple argued and Diego did have a violent temper. He once came close to strangling her.
Some of those drawings have been sold and a painting is being auctioned in England as I write this in June 2005.
What remains are cubist works by Rivera including one he did of Marevna.
Her paintings are harder to find but many of her sketches and studies are reproduced in her book, Life with the painters of La Ruche.During their relationship and beyond, they were associated with some of the most famous artists, especially those from Eastern Europe. Both in the art schools and at the Rotonde, the crowd of artists in their circle included Leger, Braque, Picasso, Soutine, Kremengue, Kikoine, Gris, Picabia, Matisse, Modigliani, Jacob, Kisling, Zadkine and others. Marevna remembers both Lenin and Trotsky coming into La Rotonde. But the biggest ovation was, according to her, when Charlie Chaplin came in, wearing a bowler hat.
Rivera was taciturn and argumentative. He hated Picasso’s habit of snooping around his studio. Some say he was jealous of Picasso. “You come here to steal from me,” he told the Spaniard. Rivera worried that Marevna had slept with Picasso. She hadn’t but they argued and Rivera cut her in the back of the neck, in anger. A scar remained.
Picasso laughed. “Yes, I come like a thief in the night. I steal from everybody. My greatest fear is that one day I will steal from myself.”
The two were cool towards each other after that.
When Angelina and Diego’s son died at fourteen months, Marevna felt great remorse but drew even closer to Diego. They lived together, painted together, fought and talked about art. Eventually, Morevna found that she too was pregnant and Diego, while he professed his love, seemed to stay away for longer periods.
Finally, he decided to return to Mexico. There would be letters about their daughter, born before he left, and some small sums she would receive in emergency, but basically, Diego went his own way and turned his back on Marevna and Marika.
In one letter he wrote that he had married Guadalupe Marin. (They had two daughters). Later in 1929 he married Freda Kahlo. By now he was an avowed Communist with radical political beliefs. He even attacked the church and clergy.
But it was his murals that brought him fame. He did some for the University of Mexico and one for the Rockefeller Center in New York but it removed because it contained an image of Lenin.
Marevna befriended other Russian painters like Ossip Zadkine and Chaim Soutine with whom she was very close. He suffered from nervous spells and bouts of hysteria. A wonderful portrait of him that she did of him remains. Many of his works are in the Barnes collection today. It was their love of nature and their ability to see fantastic shapes in things that brought them together. After his tragic death, Marevna claimed she often saw Soutine’s ghost.
She finally moved to England with Marika. Diego died in 1957. Marevna died in 1982.
Note:
Marika Rivera had roles in Hotel De Paradis, 1986, Voyage of the Damned, 1976 and Fiddler on the Roof, 1971. Today she is in a “care home” in South West England.
Other reading:
Vorobiev, Marevna, Life with the painters of La Ruche. Constable, London.
Riviera, Diego, My Art, my Life, The Citadel Press, New York, 1960.
Marnham, Patrick, Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera, U of California Press, Berkeley.
Double Deception is work of fiction recently published in serialization on the web. It is a story through the memories of Dr Robert Bartlett Haas, a close friend of Gertrude's,about the portrait of Gertrude Stein that had been done by Picasso before WWI. This portrait is now on view in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The story unfolds when Gertrude decides that she would like a copy of the painting done so she can keep a similar image in her summer home in Bilignin, near Belley not far from Aix Les Bains. She engages the copyist Morevna Vorobiev to do the job and when it is delivered even Picasso cannot tell the paintings apart since he sees them in a gas lit room.
After Gertrude dies, the painting is sent to New York where it is deemed a copy. Has the wrong painting been delivered? Through the work of two master art detectives it is determined that Miss Vorobiev, the lover of Diego Rivera, has copied the painting twice and has kept the original. The remainder of the story deals with the uncovering of the original, the solution of the mystery and the final hanging of the right painting at the Met.
It is, as Gertrude might have said, "a mystery with an ending".
ait of Gertrude Stein that had been done by Picasso before WWI. This portrait is now on view in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The story unfolds when Gertrude decides that she would like a copy of the painting done so she can keep a similar image in her summer home in Bilignin, near Belley not far from Aix Les Bains. She engages the copyist Morevna Vorobiev to do the job and when it is delivered even Picasso cannot tell the paintings apart since he sees them in a gas lit room.After Gertrude dies, the painting is sent to New York where it is deemed a copy. Has the wrong painting been delivered? Through the work of two master art detectives it is determined that Miss Vorobiev, the lover of Diego Rivera, has copied the painting twice and has kept the original. The remainder of the story deals with the uncovering of the original, the solution of the mystery and the final hanging of the right painting at the Met.
It is, as Gertrude might have said, "a mystery with an ending".
