Arturo Rivera

(Mexico City, 1945 – 2020)

La premonición de Judith (Judith’s Premonition)

1998

mixed media on canvas

140 x 100 cm

Inv. no. CFB038

BBVA Collection Mexico



The label of hyperrealist, which invariably comes to mind at first glance, the thorough quasi-photographic finish he is known for, his quest for rational precision achieved thanks to his knowledge of human anatomy, are all aspects that have to be qualified by an inspiration that drove the artist to explore irrational, disquieting elements that eschew all control. His personal version of hyperrealism could be branded as delirious and ominous, juxtaposing contrasting elements in a poetics always subtended by hints of anomaly and perversity.

When looking at many of his paintings one cannot help but think of The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp or of Flayed Ox by Rembrandt (1606-1669), but also of writers like Bataille, Blake or Sade and, above all else, of images from the Old and New Testament. Judith’s Premonition can be construed as a twofold tribute: to the tradition of the Jewish people as represented in the Bible, and to the versions painted by Caravaggio (1571-1610) and other old masters of Judith’s beheading of Holofernes.

That being said, this painting is notable for its highly unusual sobriety within Rivera’s iconography. Whereas art history has familiarised us with the more dramatic scene in which Judith severs her enemy’s neck with a sword, here Arturo Rivera opted for a clever resource that turns the atrocious scene on its head. In a premonition of the beheading of Holofernes, the painting shows us Judith inside her room with a serene yet resolute countenance, and perhaps even an innocent expression. However, at this moment the maid already had a vision, a premonition: the conviction that she must leave the city to seek out her enemy in his camp, and that in order to fulfil the divine mission entrusted to her, she shall pretend to go along with the play of seduction. There is something one should not overlook: Judith’s hands are still spotless. On one side of the painting, as if a floating image, we see the head of Holofernes and a trace of blood. But nothing has actually happened yet. Rivera has limited himself to suggesting what will be a fatal occurrence whose outcome shall be the death of the enemy.