A coworker and a good friend of mine put me up to a task.
He gave me an assignment to write about Diego Rivera, known for his murals, in New York City. Needlesstosay, I took on his assignment.
Before I focus on the artist and his artistic influence while in the money capitol of the world, I should provide a quick history without naming his most famous spouse
. While in Mexico City, he participated in a government sponsored mural project that allowed local governments to hire artists to paint murals on government buildings. The commissioned murals caught the attention of other governments--for example, the neighbor to the north.
Not long after, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller convinced her husband, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to commission Diego Rivera to paint a mural on the ground floor of Rockefeller Center--the national landmark in the heart of Manhattan.
Diego Rivera's mural represented a man who is caught in the middle of the crossroads being capitalism and socialism.
To provide a perspective of the time, America was experiencing the effects of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarse, especially in the major metropolitan areas. People worked odd jobs for little pay and in unfair labor conditions.
Diego Rivera wanted to portray the unfair labor treatment in capitalism, something that he felt was corrected and avoided in socialistic governments.
After Rivera's presentation of the mural, the Rockefellers received many complaints on how Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was portraited with wonderment. Soon after, the mural was covered and then removed.
Diego Rivera never worked in the United States again.
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