Sleep

Diego Rivera

1932

Lithograph

Seattle Art Museum

Rivera, together with his fellow Mexican muralists José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, influenced artists working for the American Public Works of Art Project and the Works Progress Administration during the years of the Great Depression—their works engaged themes of nationalism and sociopolitical issues. This work offers an intimate glimpse at the lives of the working-class families in Mexico during times of great economic hardship. A family, huddled together in sleep, is surrounded by a sea of people also looking for respite. Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection Object number 44.619