Google Honors Diego Rivera's Birthday

[Lowell]

Renowned Mexican Muralist and Painter Diego Rivera, who painted the famous Detroit Industrial murals in the DIA's Rivera Courts, got an amusing honor by Google today on the anniversary of 125th birthday. I thought the working man in the right is a shout out to the Detroit mural.



You have 5 more hours to see it at http://google.com.

[Gistok]

Wonder if they're celebrating it at Rockefeller Center in NYC?

In 1934 [[soon after it was nearly completed) Nelson Rockefeller had workers destroy the only masterpiece mural that rivaled the "Detroit Industrial Mural" series... it was called "Man at the Crossroads"... and it was replaced by this less colorful "American Progress" series by a Spanish artist...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Am...diles-Arce.jpg

I bet they regretted their decision many years later...

[lilpup]

Nah, I don't think NYC will ever have a soft spot for Lenin.

[DetroitPlanner]

I would think they regretted hiring Rivera. Not exactly friends of the Commies, the Rockefellers. Though they were great moderates in the legislature.

[Lowell]

Wonder if they're celebrating it at Rockefeller Center in NYC?

In 1934 [[soon after it was nearly completed) Nelson Rockefeller had workers destroy the only masterpiece mural that rivaled the "Detroit Industrial Mural" series... it was called "Man at the Crossroads"... and it was replaced by this less colorful "American Progress" series by a Spanish artist...

The same could have happened here too, in part at least if the local Christian mullahs would have had their way...

Even before the murals were made, there had been controversy surrounding Rivera's Marxist philosophy. Critics viewed them as Marxist propaganda. When the murals were completed, the Detroit Institute for the Arts invited various clergymen to comment. Catholic and Episcopalian clergy condemned the murals for supposed "blasphemy." The Detroit News protested that they were "vulgar" and "unamerican." As a result of the controversy, 10,000 people visited the museum on a single Sunday, and the budget for it was eventually raised.

One panel on the North wall displays a Christ-like child figure with golden hair reminiscent of a halo. Flanking it on the right is a horse [[rather than the donkey of Christian tradition); on the left is an ox. Directly below are several sheep, an animal often part of the traditional Nativity which in some cases is intended as a symbol of Christ as Agnus Dei or "Lamb of God". A doctor fills the role of Joseph and a nurse that of Mary; together they are administering the child a vaccination. In the background three scientists, like biblical Magi, are engaged in what appears to be a research experiment. This part of the fresco is clearly a modern take on traditional images of the holy family, but some critics interpret it as parody rather than homage.

At its unveiling the panel so offended some members of Detroit's religious community that they demanded it be destroyed, but due to support from commissioner Edsel Ford and the then director of the DIA it remains in place today.[2] During the reactionary McCarthy era of the 1950s, the DIA erected a sign above the entrance to the Rivera Court that read:

"Rivera's politics and his publicity seeking are detestable. But let's get the record straight on what he did here. He came from Mexico to Detroit, thought our mass production industries and our technology wonderful and very exciting, painted them as one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. This came after the debunking twenties when our artists and writers found nothing worthwhile in America and worst of all in America was the Middle West. Rivera saw and painted the significance of Detroit as a world city. If we are proud of this city's achievements, we should be proud of these paintings and not lose our heads over what Rivera is doing in Mexico today. [3]

from Wikipedia

[Huggybear]

Not to burst your bubble, but the copyright notice, the subject matter, and the Mexican flag make it look a lot more like an homage to the miles of murals in Mexico City. Lots of riveters there. Lots of farmers. Lots of everything.