Night Scene in Avila 1907

Diego Rivera’s “Night Scene in Avila” captures a cityscape through the use of blacks, blues, and yellows. Look at those brushstrokes! You can imagine Rivera working quickly, trying to capture the essence of the scene. It's like he's trying to catch the light before it disappears, with these bold, confident strokes. I wonder what Rivera was thinking as he painted this? Was he trying to capture the beauty of the city at night, or was he more interested in the play of light and shadow? Maybe it was both. The paint application is thick, particularly in the tower, giving a sense of monumentality. You can almost feel the weight of the building. The way he's painted the stars reminds me of Van Gogh. Artists are constantly in conversation, building upon each other's ideas and techniques. There's a sense of mystery in this painting, an ambiguity that invites us to bring our own interpretations to the work. And that's what makes painting so exciting – it's never really finished.