The grand work of art looms before me and I am taken aback by its unusual form, yet struck by its very expressive nature. "Symbolic Landscape" by Diego Rivera, makes its powerful presence just as the artist made a mark as a man who pushed the political and social limits through his artwork. Although the painting described in this paper is powerful and makes a bold statement, it stands quite separated from the others in the ideas that it represents. We can get a good background of this piece by looking at the circumstances of Rivera's life that were concerning him at the time of its creation. After an eleven-year marriage to Frida Kahlo, a renowned painter and Mexican icon, they divorced and Rivera was quite saddened. Many call Kahlo the love of his life, and "Symbolic Landscape" presents a very poetic view of those circumstances through symbols in the natural landscape.
             The piece itself measures 47 7/8" by 60 1/8" and is wider than it is tall. Emerging from the lower right corner is a fallen tree that almost comes alive as it bends and twists its way into the center of the painting. It takes on the sensuous shape of a woman's torso with her back arched in intense emotion. The bark of the tree is extremely smooth and flows untouched until the very bottom where the rough underside is visible. Surrounding the tree and encompassing her on all sides is rough and jagged stone. The stone takes on many shapes including a man's face and tightly gripped fists, with one on either side of the trapped tree. The furrowed brow and clenched teeth of the stone face possess two very symbolic objects. A bloody knife with a wedding band slipped over its hideous blade, and a leather glove seems reminiscent of a dirty deed and altogether out of place in the otherwise all-natural landscape. Far off in the distance, a full moon watches over the scene, which appears forever captive in its position and at eternal dusk.
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