David Rockefeller, Jr.: MoMA’s conservation studies of this work revealed that Rivera used two different fresco techniques to make this mural. Conservator, Anny Aviram.
Conservator, Anny Aviram: Buon fresco painting is Italian for “true fresco.” Rivera, in the ‘20s, goes to Italy, to learn the technique. It’s finely ground pigments, mixed with the still water, and applied by brush to the wet plaster.
Fresco-secco, or a secco, is from the Italian “dry,” which is a technique in which ground pigment in water is mixed with a binder, such as egg tempera or oil. And it’s applied to the dry plaster wall. In the case of Rivera, we found that, in some sections of The Indian Warrior, some pigments were soluble in water, which told us that these areas were done a secco.