The Real Reason Why Rivera’s Epic Rockefeller Mural Was Destroyed

The headline here is rather sensational, don't you think. It tries to suggest that the history of this mural as long known was false. But the reality is that Rockefeller ordered the demolition of the mural after Rivera intentionally added elements clearly intended as being offensive to the patron. The fact that the mural couldn't be saved and moved due to structural elements doesn't change that. Rivera reportedly added the offensive details at the prodding of his wife, Frida Kahlo, who was far more seduced by Communism and Marxism. It has even been suggested that she was involved in the assassination of Leon Trotsky.

It is ironic that Frida lived in the shadow of her husband during her life, while now, he stands in her shadow thanks to her grand romantic and tragic biography. I reality, Rivera is quite often grossly underrated. Diego was close with many of the great European Modernists, including Picasso and Modigliani. During a stay in Italy, he was profoundly inspired by the great frescoes of the Renaissance artists. He felt they provided a great visual narrative bedrock of the culture and desired to create something similar for Mexican culture. Not only did he achieve this with his great frescoes, but his examples became a source of inspiration for American artists as well. Artists like Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Guston, George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Stuart Davis, Jacob Lawrence, etc... were all inspired by his example, while the grand scale of his work would fuel the grand aspirations of the Abstract Expressionists.
 
The headline here is rather sensational, don't you think.

Yes, indeed. It appears the only way this version differs from the standard one is that if the work was painted in such a way that it could be moved, Rockefeller might have moved it instead of destroying it.
In his place, I would simply have waited for Rivera to finish, then appointed another artist to paint out Lenin and replace him with someone else. Ayn Rand, for example, just to get on his nerves. Or Henry Ford. :D

It is ironic that Frida lived in the shadow of her husband during her life, while now, he stands in her shadow thanks to her grand romantic and tragic biography. I reality, Rivera is quite often grossly underrated. Diego was close with many of the great European Modernists, including Picasso and Modigliani. During a stay in Italy, he was profoundly inspired by the great frescoes of the Renaissance artists. He felt they provided a great visual narrative bedrock of the culture and desired to create something similar for Mexican culture. Not only did he achieve this with his great frescoes, but his examples became a source of inspiration for American artists as well. Artists like Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Guston, George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Stuart Davis, Jacob Lawrence, etc... were all inspired by his example, while the grand scale of his work would fuel the grand aspirations of the Abstract Expressionists.

I have long been an admirer of Rivera's work. His politics, not so much, and of course, even less that of his wife.
 
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