- Detroit Industry
"Detroit Industry" is a
mural by Mexicanfresco artistDiego Rivera . It is a series of twenty-seven panels depicting industry at theFord Motor Company . Together they surround the Rivera Court in theDetroit Institute of Arts . Painted between 1932 and 1933, it is considered by Rivera himself to be his most successful work. [The Detroit Institute of Arts. [http://www.dia.org/collections/AmericanArt/33.10.html] "Detroit Industry". Retrieved on March 24, 2008. "The Detroit Industry fresco cycle in Rivera Court is the finest example of Mexican muralist work in the United States; Rivera considered it the most successful work of his career."]ubject matter
The two main panels on the North and South walls depict laborers working at Ford Motor Company's
River Rouge Plant . Other panels depict other advances made in fields of science, such as medicine and new technology. The entire mural as a whole encompasses the idea that all actions and ideas are one.Controversy
Even before the murals were made, there had been controversy surrounding the conflict between Rivera's
Marxist philosophy andDetroit being a developing industrial center at the time. Critics viewed it as pro-labor propaganda.One panel on the North wall displays a
Christ -like child figure with what appears to be a halo over its head. Surrounding it are livestock, a doctor and nurse giving the child avaccination , and three men working on a lab experiment. This is believed to be a parody on the birth of Christ, with the scientists as thethree wise men , and offended members of the religious community. It was demanded to be destroyed, but was saved due to support from commissionerEdsel Ford and the director of the DIA. [ [http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects06/sdtber/Detroit%20institute.html University of Michigan] "An Analysis of Diego Rivera's Exhibitions in the United States".]References
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