Essay #3 final draft that I turned in.

Diego Rivera: The “Pan American Unity” Mural at City College of San Francisco

When I see a mural, I am always getting lost in them, even if only for a few seconds as I skateboard down the street. More often than not, though, I will stop and take a minute or two at least to check them out and see what’s going on within them. They are usually done on such a massive scale that to think of the hours it took to create is astonishing on its own. Imagining the ancient indigenous people of Mesoamerica who first started doing them, with even less resources, is truly admirable. The large scale of the paintings is the main attribute that murals have that differentiate them from other forms of art. In particular, the murals of Diego Rivera, as well as the ones of Latin America in general, are different than those found in other countries for a number of different reasons.

The “Pan American Unity” mural done by Diego Rivera is epic, to say the least. Just by looking at it’s enormous 5 panels that are nearly 1,800 square feet can be quite overwhelming. In fact, due to the unfortunate placing of them within the Diego Rivera Theatre, since you are so close to such a large work of art, it makes it really hard to look at it and see it as one painting. Despite it’s unfortunate placing, I still was in awe of how massive and detailed it was. There is so much going on in each panel that it is very easy to get lost in it.

Upon first seeing the Pan American Unity mural I noticed a few things. One thing, aside from the great attention to detail, is the large amount of people depicted. Another is the familiar use of bright and also warm colors/pigments that Rivera is known for. I also noticed the very little amount of perspective that is used. Granted, there is some, however, not in the traditional sense. The people do get smaller as they are depicted further in the background, and there is the view of the mountains and city, but they still manage to look relatively flat. There is no sfumato technique that painters such as Leonardo Da Vinci used to show haze/things in the distance. Although, I don’t blame Rivera for choosing to not go that far in to detail as to make it “perfect” since that, I’m sure, would have made the mural process take much longer. I also think that it would have made the finished product look more machine printed rather than hand painted. Perhaps his “Mexican grid” style helped in this respect as well as to show movement within the mural.

The subject of the mural is an example of juxtaposition. The painting depicts North American culture and of South American art. North American side is shown as more mechanical and material and the South was more culture-rich and religious. The two sides are unified in the center by Quetzalcoatl, the Mexican goddess of Earth and of water, and on the other side the figure is made of machinery, in particular the machinery used for industrial purposes. This machine is very similar to that which he painted in his Detroit mural for Henry Ford (who is in the mural along with Thomas Edison).

The left side of the mural, Panel 1, is the Mexican and Pre-Hispanic side. As far as the people go, which are painted on that side as well as throughout his mural, everyone in Rivera’s murals are supposed to be important figures in history. Along with that, he does a lot of replicas of other paintings he’s done in the past, such as the scene of Quetzalcóatl as high priest who is teaching his council leaders. As with his other paintings, what stands out most is the emphasis on the people that are shown working, creating, and inventing, such as Nezahualcóyotl inventing a flying machine of some sort. What also stands out is the lighter color usage on this panel compared to the others. Perhaps this is because the times depicted were more simple and peaceful. This particular panel is an exact contrast to the far right panel of the Northern California technology boom, including the right panel’s use of darker colors. Putting these two extremes on opposite sides helps balance the composition quite nicely.

The second panel is showing different parts of the past as well as ones leading to the present time that the mural was painted. This panel also has some lighter type of color usage for the most part. Many more people are shown here such as a modern Mexican artist carving Quetzalcóatl, as it’s showing continuity of Mexican art in modern times. Diego Rivera shows himself painting, in the fresco style, the “great liberators”, Washington, Jefferson, Hidalgo, Morelos, Bolivar, Lincoln, and John Brown. This panel also shows city of San Francisco and it’s Bay Bridge. While visiting the mural, I learned that this panel, panel 3, and 4’s upper half, compositionally, symbolize a scaled down version of the suspending space between two of Bay Bridge’s tall support posts.

As I had mentioned before, panel 3/the center panel, shows the North and the South uniting. The intense figure in the middle immediately drew my attention, as well as any one else’s who sees the mural. The mural’s focus is this central figure, Coatlicue, “ella de la falda de serpientes.” She is the goddess of Death and Earth. Her right hand is being held up and it has jade calluses that symbolize the importance of working the soil. The other half of her is the Detroit Motor Company machine that I mentioned earlier. The mending of these two things is supposed to be Rivera’s vision of an American Quetzalcóatl, equally as important to the U.S. as it was to the Aztecs. Under Coatlicue is a number of people and things such as Rivera’s friend Dudley C. Carter who is carving a wooden ram (later to be City College’s mascot). Rivera admired him a lot, not only for doing things primitively as the people of ancient Mesoamerica did, but also because, like Rivera, Carter looked to the indigenous people of America for inspiration for his own art. Rivera often thought that it is best to look for inspiration from that which is around you, and not to look to Europe, for then your work will not be of your own, but of Europe. Rivera is also kind enough to show his wife, Frida Khalo, despite him having numerous affairs behind her back, including with Paulette Goddard, Charlie Chaplin’s wife, who is also in the same panel holding Rivera’s hands. Rivera also shows Timothy L. Pflueger, who funded this particular mural, and is the architect of the library which the mural was supposed to reside in. (However, at the time, WWII halted building and had died around the same time so it was never built.) The ancient Europeans did this as well when the royalty would commission artists for work, they would often be included in the painting.

Panel 4 depicts more women and their role in creative fields. The top half shows women painters as well as architects. It also shows Treasure Island, which is where the mural was created at the Golden Gate Expo. The woman painting is supposed to be Mary Lou Packard. She was Rivera’s primary assistant as well as a social activist. The bottom half of the panel shows the darkest colors. Perhaps this is because most of the subject matter is political and revolutionary. The scenes are from movies that “dramatized the fight between the democracies and the totalitarian powers.” There is a hand on the right that is rising up with the American flag behind it. Perhaps this is the revolutionary part of America reacting against these totalitarian powers. Rivera used movies because he saw them as American “art” and as modern day frescos that helped tell stories and spread political messages to the masses.

Panel 5 is, like I said, the opposite/parallel to panel 1. It shows the technological advances in the North. The colors in this panel seem to be darker than that of panel 1, however, I think this also is because of the landscape that is shown. Rivera depicted the great mechanical engineering feats such as oil refinery, gold mining, and wood working in this panel. Rivera also showed important inventors/artists such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Albert Pinkham Ryder (whom Rivera admired for also looking to his own country for inspiration like Carter), Samuel Morse (Morse Code), and Robert Fulton (steam boat). Rivera perfectly juxtaposed panel 1 with these more modern American figures.

Like all art, Diego Rivera’s “Pan American Unity” mural was ultimately a reflection of the times and what was going on. Despite the aesthetically pleasing colors and shapes, everyone thinks of these murals differently. However, they are important, timeless pieces of history that should be as important as any other artifact. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.