The Exploiters 1926

Diego Rivera painted ‘The Exploiters’ as a fresco, directly onto a wall at Chapingo Autonomous University, sometime in the 20th century. Isn't it amazing how he’s captured such a sense of weighty action, despite the static medium? The earthy colours – browns, ochres, and muted blues – give the whole scene a grounding, a sense of being rooted in the land itself. Look at the texture Rivera’s created; you can almost feel the roughness of the walls beneath the paint, the grit and grain of the soil the exploited workers are toiling on. See how the brushstrokes are visible, almost like individual marks of labour. Take a closer look at the figures; notice how the bodies are bent, their faces obscured. Rivera uses this to convey the dehumanising effect of exploitation, reducing people to mere instruments of labour. This reminds me of Kathe Kollwitz, who also dedicated her work to depicting the lives of working people. What Rivera and Kollwitz share is an understanding that art is not just about aesthetics, but about bearing witness.