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Diego Rivera watercolor, commissioned by Irving Berlin as cover art for sheet music for his song ‘In Acapulco’ but never used, estimated at $200,000-$400,000 at Doyle.

Diego Rivera work commissioned by Irving Berlin could exceed $400K at Doyle March 13

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NEW YORK – It’s not every day that a Diego Rivera work unseen for decades comes to auction, but that is exactly what will happen on Wednesday, March 13 at Doyle. Its 20th Century Abstraction / Latin American Art sale contains four works once owned by Irving Berlin, and the Diego Rivera among them was commissioned from the Mexican artist by the American songwriter and composer of Broadway hits. The sale catalog is now open for bidding on LiveAuctioneers.

The two legends met during a Christmas trip to Mexico that Berlin took in 1947. Berlin refused Rivera’s offer of a portrait sitting and countered with a request for cover artwork for sheet music for his song In Acapulco. Rivera agreed, and delivered a watercolor on paper of people frolicking on the beach as musicians play in the background, along with a color chart and detailed handwritten notes. After Berlin’s label rejected the image, he squirreled it away in his house, where it slumbered, seen only by himself and his family members. The Rivera work is estimated at $200,000-$400,000.

On the same trip, Berlin also visited the renowned muralist José Clemente Orozco at his studio and acquired two works directly from him. A vibrant oil-on-Masonite Day of the Dead scene now carries an estimate of $150,000-$250,000, and a gouache on paper dubbed Untitled (Three Figures) is estimated at $20,000-$40,000. A fourth work Berlin acquired on a trip to Haiti, the oil-on-Masonite Fete du Morts by the Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite, is also on offer with an estimate of $80,000-$120,000.

The foursome was consigned from the estate of Mary Ellin Barrett, Irving Berlin’s eldest daughter, who often accompanied him on his trips and discussed them in her 1994 book Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir.

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Diego Rivera watercolor, commissioned by Irving Berlin as cover art for sheet music for his song ‘In Acapulco’ but never used, estimated at $200,000-$400,000 at Doyle.
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Detail of Diego Rivera watercolor commissioned by Irving Berlin as cover art for sheet music for his song ‘In Acapulco’ but never used, estimated at $200,000-$400,000 at Doyle.
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José Clemente Orozco Day of the Dead scene, acquired directly from the artist by Irving Berlin, estimated at $150,000-$250,000 at Doyle.
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José Clemente Orozco, ‘Untitled (Three Figures)’, acquired directly from the artist by Irving Berlin, estimated at $20,000-$40,000 at Doyle.

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Hector Hyppolite, ‘Fete du Morts’, owned by Irving Berlin, estimated at $80,000-$120,000 at Doyle.

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