Diego Rivera Research Paper

Diego Rivera was commissioned by Edsel Ford to paint murals at the DIA; and today these murals are considered one of the most influential pieces of art in America. At the DIA; When one first walks into the Rivera Court, there is a phrase below one of the panel that says: ars longa, vita brevis; which translates to art is long, life is short; symbolizing how the messages in murals he painted are timeless, especially when history always seems to rhyme with the present.

Good vs evil, and nature vs machine are two common juxtapositions in the murals. The East wall represents the beginning. This Is shown through a baby in the embryo, and the agriculture, which were all from Michigan, being the source of nutrition to help nourish the baby. The cycle begins at birth, and is symbolizing nature, and the purity behind it. On the other hand, the Henry Ford plant its workers are depicted in the North and South largest panels. One of the panels depicts the Ford workers as muscular and the machines controlling them. literal green people are included in the painting; showing the nauseating effects the work had on people. This is machine taking over nature. Rivera also included the stamping press, and slightly altered it to replicate the Aztec statue that was very destructive. It was fed human hearts in order to maintain the order of the universe. Diego included …show more content…
His art also includes diverse workers working in the factories; and this is very important because this wasn’t reality; mostly white workers were on the lines and the minority workers were given jobs such as sweeping. In his murals, Diego Rivera depicts different realities, using the same elements. The west wall focuses on the positive and negative effects on technology comparing vaccines to chemical warfare. passenger airplanes to bombers, between and comparing the hawk and to a