Diego Rivera and the Detroit Industry Murals

When

Wednesday March 15, 2017: 7:00pm to 8:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Description

In this fascinating presentation, Detroit Institute of Arts docent Ken Szmigiel discusses the art, history, and importance of The Detroit Industry Murals.

These famous murals, painted by Diego Rivera in 1932-33 and on display at the DIA, provide an opportunity to consider both the working conditions within a major automobile factory of the era and a glimpse of social and political issues of the times as interpreted by a Marxist artist.

In 1932 the Detroit Institute of Arts commissioned the noted Mexican muralist to produce two murals on the north and south walls of the museum’s Garden Court. Project funding came from Edsel Ford, who was then president of the Detroit Art’s Commission.

Arriving in April of 1932, Diego Rivera spent several months researching his subject: the history of Detroit, including the evolution of the city as an industrial center. Soon, however, he proposed a major expansion of his commission, proposing to cover all available wall space of the Court. And so, a much more ambitious project was approved, based on the broader theme of the evolution of technology.