"Night of the Rich" by Diego Rivera, 1928

The Night of the Rich, by Diego Rivera, was completed during the Mexican Revolution in 1928 as a fresco. Rivera and many others saw change as progress; therefore Rivera bases his art upon Marxist theories (“Diego Rivera”). Rivera expresses his hatred towards the rich and capitalists in his paintings. Night of the Rich accompanies another painting named Night of the Poor to show how the proletariat cannot rise without a revolution.

The painting was completed on a Fresco, which was Rivera’s choice as a fresco is the easiest way to spread messages into the everyday lives of the citizens after learning Italian Renaissance art (“Diego Rivera”). Rivera’s painting displays fast, simple messages that immediately sends the audience what he tries to convey on the fresco, which is why he is known for “his ability to condense a complex historical subject down to its most essential parts” (qtd. “Diego Rivera). Rivera also uses a mix of Indian, Mexican, and Eskimo style to the painting which he believes is the true type of American Art ("Diego Rivera." The Diego Rivera Mural Project.).

Pride and Greed is placed upon the rich by Rivera. The rich are in a sense “lost” in pride and greed and capitalism is the cause of that.  The rich do not know that the proletariat is rising to take over as they are lost in their overindulgence.  The faces of the proletariat in the back are darkened but show a sign of anger and discontent.  On the banner on the painting, it reads “todos los pesos duros” which means “all of the hard money”. This message is what Rivera writes to tell the working class that all the hard, working money they work for goes to this.  This painting, out of all three, is the only one in which pride and greed is directly inscribed as a cause of evil on the art itself.