"The role of the artist is that of a soldier of the revolution."

Diego Rivera (artist)

New York, 1931. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Rockefeller family started construction on an immense project, Rockefeller Center. They sought out the best talent to decorate their namesake commercial hub—the first of its kind to provide office space, retail outlets and entertainment venues in the same property.

After famous European artists Picasso and Matisse declined their offer, the family propositioned an improbable candidate to adorn the walls of the world’s newest temple of capitalism: communist Mexican painter, Diego Rivera.

Samuel Gottscho, "View of Rockefeller Center", 1933, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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Despite his ideology, Rivera accepted the job and began working on a massive mural in the center’s central building. The Rockefellers knew Rivera’s political leanings, but they were still shocked when the artist revealed his work: it was undeniably militant.

Diego Rivera, "Man, Controller of the Universe", around 1933, Museo del Palacaio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. This work was a variation of the Rockefeller Center fresco "Man at the Crossroads". ©2016 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / ADAGP, Paris.
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Monumental and crowded with characters, Rivera’s mural depicted two worlds. One was capitalist, represented by police brutality and frightening references to war. The other was communist, with its athletic women, uniformed workers and—problematically—depiction of Vladimir Lenin.

That portrait of the famous Russian revolutionary was too much for the Rockefellers. When Rivera refused the family’s request to paint over Lenin’s image, they ordered the mural destroyed. Today, only photographs of the original work remain.

Details from Diego Rivera’s "Man, Controller of the Universe" fresco. Clockwise from bottom left: police brutality, soldiers, workers and Vladimir Lenin.

Rivera didn’t take well to having his art demolished. When he eventually returned to Mexico, he integrated some vengeful references into a mural for the National Palace, Man, Controller of the Universe.

While it has the same theme, composition and color palette as the Rockefeller work, the later fresco is far more politically charged: it includes not only Lenin, but also his communist comrades Trotsky, Engels and Marx. Another face, that of John D. Rockefeller Jr., is recognizable in the capitalist world’s night club scene. It’s an unmistakable jab at Rivera’s former client.

Photograph of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (left) and his portrait in Diego Rivera’s fresco (right).

Photograph of Diego Rivera in front of a miniature reproduction of the "Man at the Crossroads" fresco at Rockefeller Center. ©2016 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / ADAGP, Paris.

WRITTEN BY

Nadia Goupil

APPROVED BY

Gérard Marié

Professor of Art History

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