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David Alfaro Siqueiros
Penitenciaria (Penitentiary), 1930

After painting his first murals in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Siqueiros spent most of the late 1920s organizing mine workers in the state of Jalisco. In 1930 he was arrested during a government crackdown on Communists and spent May to November locked up in Mexico City’s Lecumberri Penitentiary. Unable to continue his political work from prison, Siqueiros turned to art.

Working under difficult conditions (using cheap supplies smuggled in by his companion, the Uruguayan poet Blanca Luz Brum), he managed to produce approximately twenty small paintings as well as scenery for prison theatricals. Here, three barefoot women wrapped in heavy rebozos huddle together within the grim walls of the penitentiary, accompanied by a small child carrying a staff. The faceless figures stand in for the poor, shivering family members who often had to wait overnight to visit their incarcerated loved ones.

Artwork Info

Artwork title
Penitenciaria (Penitentiary)
Artist name
David Alfaro Siqueiros
Date created
1930
Classification
painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
32 1/8 in. × 20 1/2 in. (81.6 cm × 52.07 cm)
Date acquired
1950
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Gift of Brayton Wilbur
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/50.6070
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

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