Diego Rivera painting to be auctioned off in New York

The painting by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, “Portrait of Marevna” (1916), will be sold as part of the Latin American art auction at Phillips, a British auction house founded in London in 1796 with head offices in London and New York.

The piece has been valued at around 800,000 and 1.2 million dollars. The painting is part of Eugene S. and Natalie R. Jones' private collection, a couple who had been holding on to the painting for 40 years.

The couple bought the Diego Rivera painting from Alice Garrett Warner, who bought it directly from the artist the same year it was painted.

“Portrairt of Marevna” represents one of the bases of synthetic cubism in Diego Rivera's body of work. It was thought for many years that the woman in the painting was Angelina Beloff, the painter's first wife.

However, at the Phillips' Latin American department, doubts arose over the identity of the woman. As a result, art historian Luis-Martín Lozano launched an investigation and confirmed that the woman in the painting was actually Marevna.

The vast majority of works by Mexican artists from the XIX and XX century are considered National Heritage Assets (Patrimonio Nacional), but “Portrait of Marevna”, has been abroad since it was painted, making it one of the few pieces by Diego Rivera that may be bought by museums and international private collectors.