The Liberated Earth with the Powers of Nature Controlled by Man

Diego Rivera frequently addressed the relationship between man and nature, and does so again in this painting, titled The Liberated Earth with the Powers of Nature Controlled by Man.

This famous Mexican is classed, artistically, as a Mexican muralist but there were also several other influences within his work, most notably symbolism and surrealism. His colour palette was bright, entirely in line with Mexican art as a whole. You will find precisely the same in the work of Frida Kahlo, although their art was produced on very different scales.

Artist Rivera was known to have studied the Renaissance art movement and many elements of this painting at first glance hark back to that period. The content is then styled in a more modern manner, though. The woman that takes centre stage, for example, looks directly at the viewer, which is unlikely to have been done during the Renaissance. The usual elements of symbolism are present and correct, as with much of his career, and then the rest of the composition allows the artist to display his skills of figurative portraiture with touches of lansdcape painting.