Diego Rivera, “Avila Morning (The Ambles Valley)”, 1908, Oil on Canvas, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City
In Spain from 1907 to 1909, Diego Rivera took an enthusiastic interest in the works of portrait and historical painter Joaquín Sorolla and Ignacio Zuloaga, a Basque figurative painter. In search of new subjects, Rivera and painter Eduardo Chicharro set out on a journey around Spain, visiting various regions including the Amblés Valley.
In Rivera’s “Avila Morning”, the broad view of the Amblés valley, very near the city of Avila, clearly reflects the innovatory techniques learned by Rivera on his travels around Spain. In the background are the Ávila mountains which blend in with a masterfully executed sky. At the foot of the mountains, the rolling plains are superimposed on each other in the manner of José María Velasco, Rivera’s teacher at the National Fine Arts School.
The River Adaja flows diagonally across the scene, dividing the painting into two sections. On the right, typical of this hybrid region, we see a high tree with sparse foliage. The vaporous surface, which the artist achieves by means of gentle variations in tone, invites the viewer to enter the composition, while at the same time giving an effect of desolation.
“Avia Morning (The Ambles Valley0” entered the Museo National de Arte, as part of the latter’s founding endowment, in 1982.