‘Man, Controller of the Universe’ (1934) by Diego Rivera 📍Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico At the centre of Rivera’s enormous mural sits a worker operating a machine, surrounded by two intersecting visions of the modern world: the microscopic realm of cells and disease, and the vast universe of planets, stars and galaxies. But the mural is also fiercely political. On one side, Rivera depicts the capitalist world through scenes of wealth, nightlife, war and social unrest. On the other, workers gather alongside figures of the socialist movement, including Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin. Lenin’s presence has a particularly famous history. Rivera originally painted a version of the mural, titled Man at the Crossroads, for Rockefeller Center in New York. When Nelson Rockefeller asked him to remove Lenin’s portrait, Rivera refused. The unfinished mural was subsequently destroyed. Rivera returned to Mexico and recreated the composition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1934, preserving the image that had caused one of the great art controversies of the 20th century. #fyp #foryou #art #artist #streetartglobe
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