How Lenin almost graced Rockefeller Center in New York
Diego Rivera was one of the most famous Mexican artists of his time; the representative of one of the wealthiest families of America, Nelson Rockefeller, invited him to decorate Rockefeller Center in New York in 1932.
However, Rivera was not only a famous artist but also a dedicated communist, so the result of his work was totally unexpected for Rockefeller.
The theme commissioned for Rivera was “Man at the Crossroads.” The artist interpreted it as a person’s choice between capitalism and communism. Capitalism, at that, was depicted in a horrific way: in the top left corner of the fresco stand soldiers with gas masks and soar military aircraft, in the middle the police disperses demonstrators; the scenes of wild “nightlife” are depicted. Communism, to the contrary, is shown with apparent sympathy: a head of a statue with a swastika is knocked off; in the top right corner a demonstration in honor of the Labor Day is held, and workers stand around Lenin.
Lenin became the cause for a scandal. Rockefeller demanded to remove Lenin from the fresco, but Rivera refused. He was removed from his work on the decoration of the center and the finished part of the fresco was destroyed. Later, Rivera restored it at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, but in a slightly altered way. He added, in a very unflattering way, the portrait of Nelson’s father, John Rockefeller, on the “capitalist” side of the fresco.
