Detroit Industry Murals

1932-1933

Diego M. Rivera Mexican, 1886 - 1957

On View

Rivera Court, Level 2, Central Wing

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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Audio Transcript

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About the Artwork

The themes established on the east wall are continued on the west wall, where the technologies of the air (aviation) and water (shipping and pleasure boating) are represented in the upper panels. The half-face/half-skull in the central monochrome panel symbolizes both the coexistence of life and death as well as humanity's spiritual and physical aspects, while the star symbolizes aspirations and hope for civilization. This heraldic image introduces another major theme of the cycle: the dual qualities of human beings, nature, and technology. Vertical panels on each side of the west entrance to the court introduce the automobile industry theme through the representation of Power House No. I, the energy source for the Rouge complex.

Title Detroit Industry Murals

Artwork Date 1932-1933

Artist Diego M. Rivera

Life Dates 1886 - 1957

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Mexican

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Frescoes

Dimensions various dimensions

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Gift of Edsel B. Ford

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 33.10

Markings

Signed various signatures on each wall

Provenance

1933-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Canaday, John. Mainstreams of Modern Art. New York, 1959, p. 507 (fig. 640).

Hillyer, V. M. Fine Art. New York, 1966, p. 122-123 (ill.).

Museum Adventures.New York, 1969, p. 115-117 (ill.).

Myers, B. S., ed. Encyclopedia of Painting. New York, 1970, (col. pl. 176).

DIA Handbook. 1971, p. 151.

"The Rouge." The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1978, p. 47-91 (ill.).

Ford, S. F. "Edsel Ford: Artistic Industrialist." The Herald. (Spring 1979): p. 34 (ill.).

Nagle, J. "The Responsive Arts." Sherman Oaks, CA, 1980, p. 162 (figs. 4-43).

Pieterson, M., ed. Het Technisch Labyrint. Amsterdam, 1981, p. 63 (pl. 7).

"Labor Law." The Michigan Bar Journal 61, 7 (July 1982): p. 517 (ill.).

Bergstrom, B., A. Lowgren, and H. Almgren. "Alla Tiders Historia." Liber Laromedel, 1984, p. 63 (pl. 7).

Bird, D.W., II. "The Detroit Industry Frescoes of Diego Rivera." Automobile Quarterly XXIII, 2 (1985): p. 165-169 (ill.).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, p. 224-225 (ill.).

Johnson, W. "The Tumultuous Life and Times of the Painter Diego Rivera." Smithsonian 16, 11 (February 1986): p. 43-45 (ill.).

Kostof, Spiro. America by Design. New York City, 1987, p. 276-277 (col. pl. 5).

Catalano, Julie. "The Mexican Americans." The Peoples of North America. New York, 1988, p.36-37 (ill.).

Downs, Linda Bank. Diego Rivera: The Detroit Industry Murals. New York, 1999.

Sikora, Sonja, “Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner.” In Ludwig Meidner: Encounters, ed. Philipp Gutbrod. Munich, 2016, ill. 90.

Doss, Erika. American Art of the 20th-21st Centuries. New York, 2017, p. 74 (pl. 46).

Coffey, Mary K. Orozco's American Epic: Myth, History, and the Melancholy of Race. Durham and London, 2020, pp. 169-176, (fig. 3.22-3.26).

Moving Pictures: The Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera. London, BBC4, 2020 (digital audio file) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000pm01 (Released November 23, 2020).

Oles, James, ed. Diego Rivera's America. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, 2022, p. 165-171; p. 165 (fig. 2); p. 178 (pl. 154, ill. detail).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

ARS represents the Bank of Mexico on Rivera and Kahlo’s works of art with a few exceptions. Our murals are one of the exceptions and they are in public domain when published in the United States.

Diego M. Rivera, Detroit Industry Murals, 1932-1933, frescoes. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Edsel B. Ford, 33.10.