La Era (The Threshing Floor) 1904 (oil on canvas) 1904

Diego Rivera’s “La Era (The Threshing Floor)” (1904) is a realist oil on canvas painting that depicts a rural scene in Mexico. The artwork features a man with a cart pulled by two mules in the foreground, while a large mountain dominates the background, lending a sense of scale and depth. The muted tones and realistic depiction of the scene, typical of Rivera’s early style, capture a moment of quietude and simple labor in the Mexican countryside. This artwork is a testament to Rivera’s interest in depicting the lives and struggles of the Mexican working class, a theme that would become central to his later mural work.