THE OPENING OF DIEGO RIVERA: MURALS FOR THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (November 8, 2011)

image credit: Nicholas Ruiz. Bow Tie #8. Assembled October/November 2011. Wire cloth, sand ceramic caulk, wall plaster, wire hanger, spray enamel, acrylic paint. Forest Hills, Queens, New York.

THE EXHIBITION:

Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art

November 13, 2011-May 14, 2012

Diego Rivera was the subject of MoMA’s second monographic exhibition (the first was Henri Matisse), which set new attendance records in its five-week run from December 22, 1931, to January 27, 1932. MoMA brought Rivera to New York six weeks before the exhibition’s opening and gave him studio space within the Museum, a strategy intended to solve the problem of how to present the work of this famous muralist when murals were by definition made and fixed on site. Working around the clock with two assistants, Rivera produced five “portable murals”—large blocks of frescoed plaster, slaked lime, and wood that feature bold images drawn from Mexican subject matter and address themes of revolution and class inequity. After the opening, to great publicity, Rivera added three more murals, now taking on New York subjects through monumental images of the urban working class and the social stratification of the city during the Great Depression. All eight were on display for the rest of the show’s run. The first of these panels, Agrarian Leader Zapata, is an icon in the Museum’s collection. Read more.

[source: MoMA.org]