Allegory of Labor 

Author: María Izquierdo

Name: Allegory of Labor (Alegoría del trabajo)

Date: 1936

Material: Watercolor and tempera on paper

Dimensions: 8.27 × 10.83 inches.

Location: Andrés Blaisten Collection, Mexico

Although María Izquierdo’s early 1930s watercolors and gouaches already evoked mysterious and symbolic landscapes, it was in works like Allegory of Labor (Alegoría del trabajo, 1936) that she fully developed a pictorial language shaped by esoteric thought and metaphysical themes. Izquierdo engaged with Theosophy and the ideas of P .D. Ouspensky, particularly his theories on the fourth dimension—a hidden reality beyond ordinary perception where unseen forces shape human destiny. These ideas resonated with Izquierdo’s vision of the universe as governed by forces that both constrain and illuminate human existence, particularly in relation to women.

In Allegory of Labor, a naked, distressed woman crouches with her face buried in her hands, seemingly overwhelmed by an oppressive force. She is positioned within a vast, barren landscape of red and golden hills, evoking a space that is neither entirely real nor entirely imagined. Above her, a pair of foreboding, masculine legs descends from a turbulent sky, connected to a golden sphere adorned with lunar and stellar symbols. This celestial entity, radiating fiery beams, dominates the composition, suggesting both an overwhelming authority and an enigmatic source of power. This theme of women caught in metaphysical landscapes appears throughout Izquierdo’s work in this period, including Slaves in a Mythical Landscape (Esclavas en paisaje mítico, 1936) and Allegory of Liberty (Alegoría de la libertad, 1937). In each, female figures exist within enclosed or barren spaces, overshadowed by celestial and planetary elements, reflecting a cosmic determinism that mirrors the social and personal constraints imposed on them.