Rockefeller Center Rivera mural
The Rockefeller Center Rivera mural, officially titled "Man at the Crossroads," was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller for the RCA Building in New York City, featuring the prominent Mexican artist Diego Rivera. This mural, which was meant to explore the theme of human domination over nature and the progress of science, depicted contrasting scenes of modern life related to electricity, medicine, radio, television, and education. Central to the mural was a figure representing humanity's uncertain future, caught between the ideologies of communism and capitalism. The inclusion of a portrait of Vladimir Lenin sparked significant controversy, leading to a conflict between Rivera and Rockefeller regarding artistic freedom and censorship. Ultimately, the mural was covered up and later destroyed in 1934, marking a pivotal moment in American art and political discourse. Rivera's work not only highlighted the ideological tensions of the 1930s but also had lasting implications for his career and the perception of political art in the United States. A version of the original mural can now be viewed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Rockefeller Center Rivera mural
Identification Mural painted inside Rockefeller Center’s RCA Building (now known as GE Building)
Also known asMan at the Crossroads
Artist Diego Rivera
Date 1934
Place Rockefeller Center, New York, New York
Sixty-three feet long and seventeen feet high, Man at the Crossroads was the center of a heated ideological debate between supporters of capitalism and the followers of communist ideas.
Three murals were to adorn the lobby of the RCA Building, and Nelson Rockefeller appointed Diego Rivera for the main commission. For many years, Rockefeller had been a supporter of Mexican art. Rivera’s mural was to occupy the central panel, while painters Frank Brangwyn and José María Sert were in charge of the two surrounding walls. The main theme of Man at the Crossroads was human domination over nature and the advancement of science. Rivera, a former member of the Mexican Communist Party, showed differences in modern life in the socialist East and capitalist West, and each scene depicted good and bad uses of electricity, medicine, radio, television, and education. In the middle, a man looked at the future with uncertainty, trying to choose between communism, portrayed as good, and capitalism, portrayed as bad. Many Americans were unhappy with this portrayal.
When Rivera included as a central piece of the fresco a portrait of Vladimir Ilich Lenin that was not in the original sketch, Rockefeller ordered the painter to modify it. Rivera refused, arguing that he would rather see the mural destroyed than compromise its content. Long negotiations ensued without results. Two months later, the fresco was covered with wooden panels, and Rivera’s commission was canceled. In February, 1934, the Rockefellers ordered the destruction of the mural. A version of it can be seen at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (National Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City.
Impact
Soon after the controversy surrounding Man at the Crossroads, Rivera traveled back to Mexico, and his career in the United States was never the same. What the mural meant for American political life could be best explored considering the contrasting themes of the piece: communism versus capitalism. The fresco confronted Americans with a reality of ideological differences that was particularly acute during the 1930’s, before World War II.
Bibliography
Bethell, Leslie, ed. A Cultural History of Latin America—Literature, Music and the Visual Arts in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Hurlburt, Laurence P. The Mexican Muralists in the United States. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1989.