This is Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Art |
The “Detroit Industry”
frescoes are probably
as close as this country
gets to the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel.
Roberta Smith **
New York Times
(4/4/15)
In 1506, Michaelangelo was commissioned by a Catholic pope. In 1932, Diego Rivera was commissioned by an American industrialist. |
It has been rumored that Mr. Rivera refused to paint on the ceiling because he was afraid that his artist/wife, Frida Kahlo, might put a hex on the scaffolding. |
The Detroit Industry
fresco cycle was conceived
by Diego Rivera as a tribute
to the city's manufacturing
base and labor force.
Instead of the spirituality of God and Man reaching across the sky, DETROIT INDUSTRY murals feature the working rhythm of men of different races. |
Rivera completed
the twenty-seven
panel project in
eleven months,
from April 1932
to March 1933.
The bespectacled man in the bowler hat is Diego Rivera. |
the finest example
of Mexican mural art
in the United States.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes
I begin with the obvious:
This morning's mail from Mrs. CarPeo
morphed into what you see on this page.
However, were she to have written the text,
it would–no doubt–have been more more aesthetically pleasing
and intelligent but probably a teensy bit less humorous.
**
Roberta Smith's quote would have been much more profound
but significantly less accurate were it not
to contain the word probably.
I end with the obvious:
Happy Easter or Happy Passover or
Happy Sunday to anyone who reads this!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is Anonymous Art Critic Numero Uno:
ReplyDeleteThe funniest line in Roberta Smith's review is quote
from Frida Kahlo regarding her husband:
"Of course, he does pretty well for a little boy,
but it is I who am the big artist."
That may give credence to Diego's fear of having
Frida standing beneath his scaffold.
She's not funny? Ha!
ReplyDelete—Ms. Petard
Ms. Petard
DeleteI did not know you were a Feminista.
I thought you were above and beyond
the preference of Attitude over Aptitude.
Sincerely,
A.A.C. Numero Uno