Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (2024)

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (1)

A monumental fresco by famed Mexican painter Diego Rivera missed its first chance at widespread public viewing in San Francisco when the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-40 endedas the ever-expanding work was still in progress.

It has taken 80-plus years for “Pan American Unity” to get a second chance at a major showing, but now the fresco — by far the largest portable painting by the once-controversial Mexican muralist — is scheduled to go on display this summer atthe San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

On Monday, June 28, the 1,600-square-foot panoramic work will be unveiled and hang for three years in the free Roberts Family Gallery on the ground floor gallery at the museum’s Howard Street entrance.

“The Diego Rivera mural was probably the most stellar artwork created at the World War II-era exposition held on Treasure Island,” said Anne Schnoebelen, vice president and historian for the Treasure Island Museum. “Rivera was notorious and a celebrity, and to see him there painting the mural was a major draw.”

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (2)

To get from the exposition to its new home at the world-class museum required a lengthy layover at City College of San Francisco. There, after spending 20 years in storage, in 1961 the massive work was installed on the back wall of the lobby of the college’s Diego Rivera Theatre.

The fresco essentially a mural painted on fresh plaster — was done in large panels and eventually measured 74 feet wide and 22 feet tall. Itwas commissioned by a partnership of the exposition, a rival to the 1939 New York world’s fair, and the federal Works Progress Administration. It was purposefully made to be portable so that it could be moved to City College, where it was planned as the focal point of a new library to be designed by famed San Francisco architect Timothy Pflueger. But the library never was built, and the fresco was never given the display it was promised.

Still, Rivera fans, art tourists from around the world and New Deal historians have managed to find it, tucked inside a dimly lit concrete theater building of proletarian design. That traffic, though, is sure to be minor compared to the summer crush expected at SFMOMA.

“When SFMOMA offered to borrow the mural, the thing that sold me is when director Neal Benezra told me, ‘That mural will never ever be little-known again,’ ” recalled Will Maynez, a retired City College employee who runs the Diego Rivera Mural Project and writes about Rivera at riveramural.org.

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (3)

“Pan American Unity” — shortened from Rivera’s own title of “The Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent” — is one of three Rivera frescoes in the city. It is by far larger and more complex than the Rivera fresco at the San Francisco Art Institute. That painting, in the school’s Diego Rivera Gallery, has been in the news since the possibility was raised to sell it for $50 million to keep the struggling art school afloat.

Rivera at work on the fresco was the marquee attraction of a1940 exhibition called “Art in Action” at the Treasure Island exposition, which featured a number of painters, sculptors and other artists creating work while the public watched.

The concept was developed by Pflueger, who recruited his buddy Rivera to be its focal point.Fair goers who wandered in could watch as Rivera built a complex world that combined ancient Aztec rituals with the newly completed Golden Gate and Bay bridges, along with depictions of celebrities including actors Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard, Rivera himself and his wife, artist Frida Kahlo.

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (4)

The goal was also for Rivera to complete the frescobefore the exposition closed in September 1940, but it did not work out that way.

“The fair closed but he just kept coming back until it was finished,” said Schnoebelen.

On Dec. 1, 1940, when Rivera declared he was finally done, 1,000 vehicles lined up with their passengers waiting to see what The Chronicle described as a “vast super colossal and possibly slightly dizzying fresco mural.” After a two-day free showing, it was disassembled, packed in crates and held in a storage shed until the new theater was constructed at City College, where it has resided for the past 60 years.

It has taken three years for an international crew of scholars, conservators and engineers to prepare the fresco for its move downtown.

“A lot of research and technical prowess has gone into analyzing this move,” said Maynez. “And Diego would love that so much of that technical prowess came from graduate engineering students in Mexico City.”

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (5)

It took seven round trips to truck the fresco to SFMOMA. When it comes back after the loan, it is destined for a new home: a long-planned new theater building at City College.

But construction of that building is delayed, with a firm completion date unknown.

“If it has to go back into storage, it will be a crime,” said Maynez.“But the mural is going to last 200 years, and this is my watch.”

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  • Sam Whiting

    Sam WhitingSam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com. Instagram: sfchronicle_art

Diego Rivera mural finally gets big debut, 80 years later, at SFMOMA (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Diego Rivera's mural? ›

Rivera never finished the work and several months later it was destroyed. Determined not to have his work censored, Rivera recreated the mural in Mexico on the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The mural, retitled “Man Controller of the Universe” is still on display today.

When did Diego Rivera make his first mural? ›

1922: At the National Preparatory School of Mexico Rivera starts his first mural. He marries Guadalupe Marin. Rivera joins with other top artists of Mexico in forming the radical Union of Technical Workers, Painters and Sculptors. He becomes a member of the Communist Party of Mexico.

How long will the Diego Rivera mural be at SFmoma? ›

On view until January 2024, the mural will then return to CCSF to be installed in a new performing arts center.

What is the most famous mural by Diego Rivera? ›

Detroit Industry represents probably the most famous one of all Diego Rivera murals. It consists of 27 fresco panels painted on the interior walls at the Detroit Institute of Art.

What was the Diego Rivera mural that was destroyed called? ›

In May 1933, Rockefeller ordered Man at the Crossroads to be plastered-over and thereby destroyed before it was finished, resulting in protests and boycotts from other artists. The fresco was peeled off in 1934 and replaced by a mural from Josep Maria Sert three years later.

What did Diego do after Frida died? ›

Frida died the next day on 13 July, 1954. After her death, Diego formed a trust to turn her house, the famous Casa Azul (Blue House), into a museum to commemorate the love of his life.

What is a famous quote that Diego Rivera said? ›

If the artist can't feel everything that humanity feels, if the artist isn't capable of loving until he forgets himself and sacrifices himself if necessary, if he won't put down his magic brush and head the fight against the oppressor, then he isn't a great artist."

Why was Diego's art considered controversial for its time? ›

Diego Rivera is a controversial artist known for his communist views and depictions of Mexican life. Rivera's work focused on political turmoil and observations. Diego Rivera is a controversial artist known for his communist views and depictions of Mexican life.

How much was Diego Rivera worth when he died? ›

Diego Rivera's net worth at the time of his death in 1957 was estimated to be around $20 million. This substantial wealth was accumulated through his successful career as a painter, muralist, and art educator.

What is the longest mural in California? ›

Baca and SPARC created the mural and own the copyright to it. The Great Wall of Los Angeles is one of the largest murals in the world, 13.5 feet high and 2,754 feet long, stretching over half a mile. The west wall of the channel functions as a canvas for the mural.

How many Diego Rivera murals are in San Francisco? ›

DIEGO RIVERA'S FOUR MURALS IN SAN FRANCISCO

#1 The Making of a Fresco at the the San Francisco Art Institute. #2 The Allegory of California at the City Club of San Francisco. #3 Still Life & Blossoming Almond Trees in Stern Hall at UC Berkeley. #4 Pan American Unity at City College.

How big is the largest section of the Diego Rivera mural? ›

Middle section of Diego Rivera's famous Pan American Unity Mural. It was the largest mural he ever created, at 22 x 74 feet. Scroll for more.

Why is Diego Rivera so famous? ›

In the 1920s and 1930s Rivera became famous for the large murals he painted on the walls of public buildings. He believed art should be seen and enjoyed by all people. Through his murals he told powerful stories about the struggles of the poor, and he emphasized the history and diverse peoples of Mexico.

What was Diego Rivera's first mural? ›

On returning to Mexico, Rivera painted his first important mural, Creation, for the Bolívar Auditorium of the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. In 1923 he began painting the walls of the Ministry of Public Education building in Mexico City, working in fresco and completing the commission in 1930.

What about Diego's Rockefeller mural did they not approve of? ›

Man at the Crossroads was a fresco by Diego Rivera in the Rockefeller Center, New York. The painting was controversial because it included an image of Lenin and a Soviet Russian May Day parade. Despite protests from artists, Nelson Rockefeller ordered its destruction before it was completed.

What caused Diego Rivera's Chicago World's Fair mural to be canceled? ›

The cancellation of Diego Rivera's Chicago World's Fair mural was caused by bad publicity. This suggests that negative attention or criticism surrounding the mural led to its cancellation.

What happened to the mural in 1934? ›

When Mexican artist Diego Rivera was commissioned in 1932 to do a mural in the middle of Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, some might have wondered whether industrialist tycoon John D. Rockefeller Jr. knew what he was getting into. In 1934, the legendary artist's work was chiseled off the wall.

Why was Man at the Crossroads destroyed? ›

Rivera's design for Man at the Crossroads included a portrait of the Russian communist leader Lenin, which angered the capitalist Rockefeller. He insisted Rivera remove it, but Rivera refused. In the end, Rockefeller paid Rivera for the commission, but locked the artist out and had the work destroyed.

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