FREE ESSAY ON DIEGO RIVERA MURALS - DETROIT

DIEGO RIVERA MURALS - DETROIT

Art comes in many forms such as dance, sculptures, photography, architecture, graffiti,
music and much more. What one person may see or think is art, someone may completely
disagree. Going to a museum, you may find a painting that captures your eye. By looking
at it, you may be able to understand its meaning. It maybe the answers to the questions
that you've been looking for. It may take you out of life's misery for a second and give
you peace of mind. 
This reminds of Sharky the dog from the cartoon Eek the Cat, a cartoon that I still watch
everyday. Sharky went to see a psychiatrist. The doctor was showing him cards that had
ink splattered on them and he was supposed to describe what he sees. Suddenly he jumps up
and starts shouting out,  That's it, this is the meaning of life. This is the answer to
all of life's questions. This is the cure for all illnesses... . The doctor got up and
said, oh, sorry, that's a ketchup stain from lunch! Just like Sharky, different people
see different things. Art is in the eyes of the beholder. 
One of the most remarkable forms of art are paintings. My favorite painting is one of
Diego Rivera's many frescoes. Entitled Detroit Industry, it's located in the Garden Court
inside the Detroit Institute of Arts. It has a great meaning to the city of Detroit and
represents the start of Detroit's fame as the Motor City. Its a form of type of Urban Art
discussed in our class. 
So who is Diego Rivera?
Diego Rivera is the one of greatest mural painters of all time. He was born in 1886 in
his native town of Guanajuato located in Mexico and came from a diverse family. His
grandfather was a Spanish nobleman who fled to Mexico from the republic movement in the
Nineteenth century. His grandmother was a Portuguese Jewess from a distinguished family.
His father was an engineer and an educator. His mother was Mexican, half Spanish and half
Indian.
Rivera's skill was unmistakable. Rivera's father noticed his son's talent at the age of
seven, drawing on a blackboard in one of the rooms in their home. He quickly set aside a
room, kind of like a studio, so Diego can practice. He attended the National Preparatory
School and the Academy of fine Arts in Mexico City when his family moved in 1898. In
1907, he was awarded a scholarship for the study of art. 
Rivera continued to paint. For twenty years he worked and studied in Europe, maily in
Italy and Spain. He became a close friend of Picasso, another great painter. From there
he moved on back to Mexico where he continued to paint.
In Detroit, the Arts Commission felt it was ready to paint the Garden Court in 1931.
Diego Rivera, famous for his many murals, was invited to do the job. 
He was originally asked to due only two panels but later expanded to paint the entire
court. The subject was left for him to decided, but the theme should be related to the
city of Detroit. So, Rivera decided to depict the mass production industry, which had
made Detroit world-famous and contributed much to the welfare of the country. 
Rivera spent many days in automobile factories, making an infinite number of sketches and
sometimes bringing photographers 
with him to take pictures for absolute accuracy. But he didn't really use them as much.
His talent and brain surpass any camera's abilities. 
His paintings gave a sense of clearness but they are very detailed. The men working are
not from his imagination, they are real men that he sketched while they working at the
factories he visited. The machines are not fictional, they are perfectly correct. Rivera
sketched the machinery first, then checked with engineers who designed the machines to
make sure they're correct.
The Mural is divided into four parts, the North Wall, West wall, South Wall and the East
Wall. In spite his reality, he draws the pictures on a colossal scale. In the two big
panels, the North and South Walls, rivera depicts the Detroit industry. In the other two,
the elements that make up our industrial civilization. 
The top of the side walls represents the four races that have helped build the American
culture. The White race eager, nervous and looking. The Black race is patient and
unhappy. The Indian is uninterested and the Chinese is calm and self-assured.
The North Wall has, in the left, the Indian holding in her hands the iron and the copper
ores forming in the earth beneath her, natural products important to the industry. On the
right, the Black women holds coal. The upper right and left panels represent man's
scientific knowledge. The right-hand panel shows the development and use of vaccines from
cattle, sheep and horses. The left-hand panel shows scientist making poison gas for
warfare. The middle center represents the industry. Men working together in the
production and assembly of motors.
The South Wall has the other two races. On the left, the White race, and on the right the
Indian race. They hold in their hands limestone and sand. At the left end is the
representation of the production of pharmaceutical products. On the right end, chemicals
being made. In the main middle panel, the final chassis and body assembly. The giant
press, that stamps out the cars' bodies, looks like a robot. In the lower right-hand
corner are portraits of Mr. Edsel B. Ford and Dr. William Valentiner. In Dr. Valentiner's
hand is a paper that reads, These frescoes, painted between July 25, 1932 and March
13,1933,...are the gift to the City of Detroit of Mr. Edsel B. Ford...
The West Wall carries the theme of transportation and mechanical power. The shapes of
birds and the motors of planes are pictured on the top. On the side of the door, two long
panels show boilers and turbines which represent the making of steam power. Portraits of
Henry Ford and Thomas Edison are painted at the foot of the turbines.
At the top corners of the East Wall are two female figures which symbolize agriculture.
In the middle panel, forms of animal and plant life, soil and fossils. 
This painting relates to the type of art discussed in our section of the text, Urban Art.
Urban Art represents the city and city life. Well, this clearly does exactly that.
Detroit Industry represents Detroit's culture and heritage. It recognizes Detroit's
success in, not only the automotive industry, but science, agriculture and for becoming
one of the world's greatest cities.
Art is truly in the eyes of the beholder. Not everyone considers the same thing as being
art. Different forms of art mean different things to different people. To me, Diego
Rivera's mural, Detroit Industry, is truly an extraordinary painting. It helps me
understand the struggle and the history of the city I call home, the Motor City.