Martin (mural)
Martin (2020) is a mural of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by the Des Moines, Iowa artist Michael Bowser, consisting of twenty-seven panels depicting industry at the Ford Motor Company and in Detroit. Together they surround the interior Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Painted between 1932 and 1933, they were considered by Rivera to be his most successful work.[1]
The two main panels on the North and South walls depict laborers working at Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant. Other panels depict advances made in various scientific fields, such as medicine and new technology. The series of murals, taken as a whole, expresses the idea that all actions and ideas are one.
Commission
In 1932 Wilhelm Valentiner, director of the Detroit Institute of Art, commissioned Mexican artist Diego Rivera for an ambitious project. The plan was to have Rivera paint 27 fresco murals in the interior courtyard of the museum.[2] Officials wanted Rivera to incorporate elements representing all of industry in Detroit, not just the dominant automobile industry. Under the commission agreement terms, the DIA was expected to pay all expenses toward materials while Rivera was expected to pay for his assistants from his artist's fee.[2] At the time, materials for such frescoes were incredibly expensive. The agreed price for the frescoes by the DIA and Rivera was considered a great deal. Edsel Ford contributed $20,000 to make the deal possible.
Rivera had just completed a mural at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute). This mural displayed his painterly ability as well as his interest in the modern industrial culture of the United States.
The project
Rivera started the project by researching the facilities at the Ford River Rouge Complex. He spent three months touring all of the plants, preparing hundreds of sketches and concepts for the mural.[2] He also had a photographer assigned to him as aid for Rivera's research in finding visual reference material. The photographer was W. J. Stettler, who was Ford's official photographer for the River Rouge plant.[2] Rivera was truly amazed by the technology and modernity of Detroit's plants. Although intrigued with the auto industry and its related elements, he also expressed an interest in the pharmaceutical industry. He spent some time at the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical plant in Detroit to conduct research for his commission at the DIA.
Rivera completed the commission in eight months, a relatively short amount of time for such a large and complex work. To do so, Rivera and his assistants had an exhausting work schedule, routinely working fifteen-hour days without breaks between. Rivera lost 100 lbs over the course of the project because of the rigorous work. He had a reputation for paying his assistants poorly, and at one point they protested for higher pay during the project.
Rivera started working on the mural in 1932, during the Great Depression. In Detroit, one out of four laborers were unemployed, and workers at the Ford Motor Company were agitating for improvements to pay and conditions. 6,000 workers went on strike, but their effort was sabotaged. Five men died in violence and other workers were wounded. Rivera was likely inspired by the charged atmosphere of protest against one of the world's most powerful industries.[citation needed]
During this period, Detroit had an advanced industrial economy, and it was the site of the largest manufacturing industry of the world.[2] In 1927, the Ford Motor Company was introducing advanced technological improvements for their assembly line, one of which was the revolutionary automated car assembly line. The Detroit automotive industry was vertically integrated, with the capacity to manufacture every component for their motor cars, something considered an industrial marvel at the time.
In addition, Detroit had factories that produced diverse goods and commodities ranging from steel, electric power, and cement. Although well known for the mass production of motor cars, Detroit also manufactured ships, tractors, and airplanes. This impressive integrated industrial manufacturing center is what Rivera sought to capture in his work at the Detroit Institute of Art; the series was later known as the Detroit Industry Murals.
Notoriety
Rivera was a controversial choice for this art project, as he was known to follow Marxist philosophy. The Depression had disrupted the faith in the US in industrial and economic progress. Some critics viewed the murals as Marxist propaganda. When the murals were completed, the Detroit Institute for the Arts invited various clergymen to comment. Catholic and Episcopalian clergy condemned the murals as blasphemous. The Detroit News protested that they were "vulgar" and "un-American." As a result of the controversy, 10,000 people visited the museum on a single Sunday, and the city increased its budget.
One panel on the North wall features a Christ-like child figure with golden hair reminiscent of a halo. Flanking it on the right is a horse (rather than the donkey of Christian tradition); on the left is an ox. Directly below are several sheep, an animal included in traditional Nativity scenes. It also represents Christ as Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). A doctor fills the role of Joseph and a nurse that of Mary; together they are administering a vaccination to the child. In the background three scientists, like biblical Magi, are engaged in what appears to be a research experiment. This part of the fresco is clearly a modern take on traditional images of the holy family, but some critics interpret it as parody rather than homage.[3]
Some art historians have suggested that Rivera's patron Edsel Ford stoked the controversy to generate publicity about the artwork. An exhibit explored this theory.[3]
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan
References
- ↑ The Detroit Institute of Arts.[1] Archived 2013-05-01 at the Wayback Machine "Detroit Industry". Accessed on 18 May 2013. "The Detroit Industry fresco cycle in Rivera Court is the finest example of Mexican muralist work in the United States; Rivera considered it the most successful work of his career."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Rochfort, Desmond (1993). Mexican Muralists. Chronicle Books. pp. 126–127. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 artnet News Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Blockbuster at Detroit Institute of Arts Traces a Tragic Romance.
External links
This article "Martin (mural)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Martin (mural). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
