Existing comment:
Factory Workers' Movement
1935
oil on canvas
Collection of Brian and Florence Mahony
Tamayo rejected the idea that politics should penetrate art, yet the rise of European fascism and violent anti-labor Mexican groups informed his turn toward revolutionary subjects in the 1930s. This painting portrays workers holding huacales (handcrafted Mexican crates) outside a vast industrial factory. In the distance, a lone figure raises his arm, urging a call to action. Tamayo's cramped scene does not depict a historic event or person, but instead brings viewers face-to-face with the harsh realities of the common laborer. The humanist undercurrent of Factory Workers' Movement hints at Tamayo's future response to the turbulent events of World War II. |