Diego Rivera, a devote communist, hired by the Rockefellers to paint a mural in the new Radio City Building in mid town Manhattan. Why would such successful capitalists as the Rockefellers hire Diego Rivera, knowing full well his political agenda in advancing the communist movement? Why would Diego Rivera, a man who hated everything the capitalist Rockefellers stood for, agree to paint the mural in a newly built building that stood for everything capitalism is about? It is quite obvious, the association of the Rockefeller family and Diego Rivera is more deeply rooted than what is laid out to us in historical case studies and documentaries. Either Nelson Rockefeller was a commun ...view middle of the document...
The political statements that Diego Rivera makes in his art was well known to the world when Nelson Rockefeller proposed that he, paint the mural in the new RCA building. While some may point out that Nelson Rockefeller was a devote capitalist who would scoff at hiring any communist to paint in his building, it is clear he had other intentions when he hired Diego Rivera to paint "Crossroads". Geoffrey T. Hellman writes, "One of Rivera's Mexico City murals depicted the senior Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and J.P. Morgan starving at a meal of gold coins and ticker tape, with a miniature Statue of Liberty standing like a toy on a table" (Hellman 568). The Ministry of Education building in Russia houses a large number of Rivera's paintings from when he was there as a Communist delegate from Mexico (Hellman 572). When looking at the art from the same time period, it is easy to see that Diego Rivera was the leading artist in using art to promote a Communist agenda. Rivera spent many years in Europe and in Russia, learning and practicing Communism. It is through those years that Rivera honed his skills as a painter and transcended that talent to make propaganda to support the Communist movement. Rivera's talent for propagandist was shown immediately when he returned to his home in Mexico. He painted murals of Capitalists in an extremely negative light all throughout buildings and walls in many cities in Mexico. Knowing all of this, Abby Rockefeller, wife of Nelson Rockefeller, set Diego Rivera up with his own one man show at the Museum of Modern art in December 1931(Reich 559). What did Abby Rockefeller have in mind for Rivera when she set him up with his own show in December 1931? Abby Rockefeller, although being a fan of Rivera's art, must have had some other reasoning behind helping a communist activist grow into an internationally acclaimed artist.Being a huge admirer or art and a collector of many things, Abby Rockefeller was certainly a big fan of Diego Rivera's. Although Abby Rockefeller seemed to be a fan of Diego Rivera's, she did way too much help him in America without having ulterior motives behind them. After setting up Rivera with a one man show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Rivera states "all of my paintings confirmed the socialistic tendencies that have been apparent in my work for almost fifteen years." (Rivera 554). Abby Rockefeller was fascinated with Rivera's murals and the force that he brings to his art (Reich 559). Frozen Assets, the show Mrs. Rockefeller had put up for Rivera was very successful and a cornerstone in promoting his art to American culture. What makes this all the more interesting is a copy of the mural Rivera painted in Mexico City portraying John D. Rockefeller sitting with other fellow capitalists of his day, putting John D. Rockefeller, Abby Rockefeller's father-in-law in a bad light was requested by Abby Rockefeller. It is very clear Abby Rockefeller was a huge fan and supported of Diego Rivera...
