(Obra) (Work)

Pablo O'Higgins

This early drawing, done in 1933, is signed "Paul O'Higgins" and annotated "Mexico, 1933." Paul is O'Higgins' birth name and this may well be an early signature. The drawing was given to the American artist Barbara Olmsted who studied in Paris at Atelier 17 in the 1930's and was involved in Depression politics. She was a friend of San Francisco artist Ralph Stackpole who had recommended Mexican muralist Diego Rivera to paint a mural for the California School of Fine Arts in 1930. Stackpole assisted Rivera in the project. Somewhere during this time Olmsted met O'Higgins.

Pablo O'Higgins moved to Mexico in 1924 to assist Diego Rivera with his murals. In 1933 O'Higgins co-founded LEAR: the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists). Also in 1933 he was awarded a grant by the Moscow Academy of Arts.

This crayon drawing of a worker with a shovel is done over a pencil drawing of a similar subject. It could well be a study for one of the artist's murals.