How are they and where are the enigmatic portraits that Diego Rivera made of Irma Serrano, “La Tigresa”?

On March 1, it was announced that Irma Serrano, The tigress, he died at the age of 89. This shocked the entertainment world, since the actress was an icon of archival cinema and rubbed shoulders with some of the most important figures, such as the case of the muralist Diego Riverawho famously portrayed a few times for the the beginning of his career.

This is a subject that has been extremely controversial over the years, as little is known about these portraits and, even, evidence of these events has been buried over the years.

However, what is certain is that indeed Irma Serrano was a model for the controversial couple of Frida Khalo, because in an old interview that the actress gave to Process revealed never-before-seen details about the encounters he had with the painter.

“Diego Rivera did two paintings for me. I don’t remember when the photo was taken of me. I’m very distracted, like things don’t interest me much. The truth is that I don’t remember. Maestro Diego also had this habit of taking pictures,” she commented for the magazine.

The image you are talking about corresponds to one of the rare photographs that exist of the meeting between the two artists. The apparently was shown at The tigress It was reportedly taken in Altavista’s studio and Diego Rivera is seen standing behind Irma Serrano while fixing her hair. For her part, the young woman turns subtly to see the painter out of the corner of her eye, while she is completely naked.

In the photo, the characteristic mole of the famous on the forehead is not observed, before that she clarified that at that time she did not paint it on her face.

According to what was investigated by said medium, the image is part of the file that Antonio López Mancera gave to journalist Alberto Dallal, who in turn donated his collection a few years ago to the Dance Media Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

According to what Irma Serrano said at the time, Rivera was a friend of the lawyer Fernando Casas Alemán, a relative of the Tigress, and that is why they would have met.

“He painted me in his studio in Altavista, I can’t remember the exact year. (I had) sixteen or seventeensaid who was also an MP.

Also, when asked about Diego’s age at that time, she mentioned that she did not remember it, however, she confessed that the rumors about the painter’s personality were true, since she listed him like “cusco”.

“No, never (he fell in love with me), but he talked to me about things. I laid about six months, I wasn’t very consistent to go with him“, he said and assured that the painter never paid him: “I was not a model and also I always had money. I did it only for fun and because it was convenient and because one of the paintings gave it to me”.

During this interview with ProcessIrma said that Rivera gave her one of the paintings he did for them, however, when they asked her where she was she replied emphatically:

“I’m not interested in knowing what happened to them. He always said he loved them. Both were naked and large format, about two meters and peak. (It was not difficult for me to undress) because the teacher was very respectful. In addition, one of the paintings has been commissioned,” he said.

At the insistence of the reporter to find out where these historical pieces were, at the time, The tigress He reacted more defensively and wouldn’t confess if the Casas Alemán family were the ones who owned any of the paintings.

“I don’t think, I don’t want to tell him that story. You ask me to invest personal intimate things, very personal, I keep them for me. It’s very difficult for them to take something so important out of me. Just as I have a big mouth for things that don’t matter to me, these paintings matter, so I won’t tell you about anything, it was a very important experience. I’m not interested in getting them back The paintings are in safe hands“, he said.

Despite this, in a second interview that the Tigress had with ProcessHe said that one of the paintings was kept in a bank and finally he revealed that the other was where it had previously been speculated.

“The other stayed with the family of Fernando Casas Alemán, not because it’s about me, but because it’s a very precious painting,” he said.

Irma went so far as to mention that the two nude paintings were different, since in one she was almost in profile and in the other full face. Apparently one was called “Woman on Fire”.

Also, regarding the photo with Diego, Manuel Ávila Camacho -a friend of The tigress- He told said magazine that he was “in a series of five takes when Irma posed for Rivera.”

Camacho reportedly confirmed that Serrano owned one of the portraits and assured that the famous woman didn’t like him because of his appearance: “The picture I saw of her, the one Rivera painted for her, shows her naked, enveloped in a kind of fire that rises from her feet. The painting is in Irma’s cellarI saw him three months ago. She doesn’t like it because her legs look too thin,” it read.