A haunting portrait by Diego Rivera depicting Mexico's first female doctor will soon leave its current home in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood, where it has been carefully preserved by its 90-year-old owner. The 1929 masterpiece, titled "Tehuantepec Costume," shows 18-year-old Áurea Procel gazing with ethereal eyes from a pastel canvas, her face framed by traditional lace huipil that identifies her as a Tehuana woman.
The painting's current guardian, who serves as trustee and wishes to remain anonymous, has dubbed the work the "Mexican Mona Lisa" after conducting extensive research on both the subject and the artwork's fascinating history. The portrait hangs above her bed in a light-filled, two-story home, but its fate remains uncertain as the elderly owner's health declines. If she passes away before December, the painting's planned journey could be accelerated.
Áurea Procel accomplished remarkable feats during her short but impactful 45-year life, breaking barriers as Mexico's first female physician and advocating strongly for women's rights. Rivera painted her portrait when she was turning 19, possibly as a birthday gift, as suggested by his elegant cursive inscription on the canvas that reads "Para Aurea Procel" (For Aurea Procel). The traditional Tehuana costume she wears, with its intricate lace framing, symbolizes femininity and regional identity.
According to Will Maynez, a longtime guardian and expert on Rivera's mural "Pan-American Unity" currently stored at City College of San Francisco, the artist was in a transitional period when he created this portrait. "He's sort of in la-la-land when he paints this," Maynez explained. "He just married Frida, and he just got kicked out of the Mexican Communist Party." This emotional state may have contributed to the painting's dreamlike quality and refined sensibility.
Rivera actually created two portraits of Procel in 1929. The second, much larger work titled "Tehuana (Aurea Procel)" features a more traditional and rustic appearance. When Alfred Honigbaum, a wealthy dried fruit packer, visited Mexico that year, he may have originally intended to purchase the larger painting but instead paid $500 for the smaller, more polished version. The trustee believes Honigbaum made the right choice, explaining that "if Alfred had taken the big, rustic one, the more refined sensibility of the tastes here at the time would not have been as receptive. This is just polished enough that it creates a sensation."
Indeed, the portrait created quite a stir when it arrived in San Francisco. A 1930 San Francisco Examiner article praised it as "the most striking of all the art" in Honigbaum's extensive collection displayed at the Galerie Beaux Arts, highlighting its "simple and masterful composition and jeweled light." The newspaper lovingly described Procel's face as "a perfect oval, almost like an olive, set in absolute vertical balance... The eyes, the brows, the lips are adjusted in horizontal or vertical rhythms."
Honigbaum built his fortune during an era when the world had an insatiable appetite for dried fruits, and like many early 20th-century magnates, he used his wealth to collect art. His role managing foreign sales for his company allowed him to travel extensively, with Mexico being one of his favorite destinations. His collection grew to include not only Rivera's works but also photographs inscribed by Frida Kahlo, images by Tina Modotti and Dorothea Lange, and artworks by Roberto Montenegro. A 1936 black-and-white line drawing signed by Rivera bears the inscription "To my very good friend," demonstrating the personal relationship between artist and collector.
The portrait of Áurea Procel, arriving in 1929 even before Honigbaum returned from his Mexican trip, marked Rivera's entry into American creative consciousness. Since Honigbaum remained a childless bachelor throughout his life, his death created a complex inheritance situation that eventually led to the painting's current location in Cow Hollow through indirect family connections.
The artwork is scheduled to embark on an international tour, beginning with the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston for the exhibition "Frida: The Making of an Icon," opening in January 2026, followed by a showing at London's Tate Modern. However, the trustee hopes the painting will eventually find a permanent home in the San Francisco Bay Area, given Rivera's special connection to the city.
San Francisco holds unique significance in Rivera's American experience, as it was the only U.S. city he visited twice and bookends his time working in the country. "Diego Rivera has always had a special connection to San Francisco," Maynez noted. "He has a lot of good friends in the city. He invigorates the local scene, to the benefit of everybody." While New York City infamously destroyed his Rockefeller Center mural, San Francisco celebrates three large-scale pieces of Rivera's public art: "Pan-American Unity" at City College of San Francisco, "The Allegory of California" at the City Club, and "The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City" at the former San Francisco Art Institute.
The stark contrast between New York's destruction of Rivera's work and San Francisco's preservation of his art speaks to the city's appreciation for the Mexican master. When the Rockefeller Center mural was destroyed, muralists working on San Francisco's Coit Tower stopped their work in protest, demonstrating the solidarity Rivera inspired among local artists. "He was revered here," Maynez concluded. "He got the place going." As the "Mexican Mona Lisa" prepares for its journey, the hope remains that this captivating portrait of a pioneering woman will eventually return to the city that has long celebrated Rivera's artistic legacy.
