Artwork
The Café Terrace
The Café Terrace is an oil painting by the Mexican Muralist artist Diego Rivera. It dates from 1915 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The source material does not provide further details regarding the handling of the brushwork or the current physical condition of the work.
Created in 1915, The Café Terrace is an oil painting on canvas. The work is a still life produced during Diego Rivera's Cubist period in Europe. Its dimensions measure 60.6 centimeters in height and 49.5 centimeters in width.
The composition features depicted objects including a bottle, a spoon, and a cigar box. The source material does not provide further details regarding the handling of the brushwork or the current physical condition of the work.
History & Provenance
The Café Terrace, an oil painting by Diego Rivera dated 1915, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its documented ownership history includes Marius de Zayas and Alfred Stieglitz, situating the work among notable early twentieth-century collectors and dealers. The painting measures 60.6 by 49.5 centimeters. No specific accession number or exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Diego Rivera's 1915 oil painting, The Café Terrace, is a still life that reinterprets common objects through a fragmented lens. This work, which is part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, showcases the artist's engagement with Cubist principles. It invites viewers to observe a collection of everyday items arranged on a table, presented with a distinctive visual language.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a tabletop laden with various domestic items. Prominently featured are a green bottle, a cigar box resting on a white plate, and a spoon. A vibrant red-and-blue polka-dot cloth adds a dynamic pattern to the scene.
An unexpected element is a small bird, characterized by a red beak and green feet, perched on the table, introducing an unusual detail to the arrangement.
Artist & collection
Artist
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art.
