Week 3 : Diego Rivera's Mural as Lense for Race & Ethnicity

The formal theme of the Golden Gate Expo was the “Pageant of the Pacific,” a theme which allowed for this exposition to synthesize European, Eastern, and Latin American cultural influences depicted through architecture, landscape, and art. The influence of Pacific Rim cultures set the tone for this exposition as it permeated throughout the fair.

This idea of uniting races and elasticities is not only exemplified in the diverse architectural styles and different pavilions at the fair, but through a special mural. Diego Rivera, the famed Mexican muralist and painter was asked to come to the Golden Gate International Exposition to paint a mural about “Pan-American Unity.” The mural was made up of ten panels mounted on movable steel frames.

The fact that San Francisco invited a Mexican artist to contribute in this way confirms the idea that one of the main goals of this fair was to celebrate diversity and imagine the possibilities of an eclectic America. By using the cultures of the Pacific Rim as subject matter, Rivera literally paints a picture of this imagined future. He states

"My mural which I am painting now -- it is about the marriage of the artistic expression of the North and of the South on this continent, that is all. I believe in order to make an American art, a real American art, this will be necessary, this blending of the art of the Indian, the Mexican, the Eskimo, with this kind of urge which makes the machine, the invention in the material side of life, which is also an artistic urge, the same urge primarily but in a different form of expression."

While Rivera refers specifically to the end goal of creating new artistic styles, this overarching notion can also be applied to other realms which contribute to broader end goals.

Works Cited:

"Hard Times, High Visions: Golden Gate International Exposition Exhibit Items ." University of California, Berkley , 2001. Web. 23 Sep 2011.

Marnham, Patrick. Dreaming with his eyes open: a life of Diego Rivera. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 2000.

"Pacifica II : A Project to Revitilize Pacific Unity ." Diego Rivera and The Golden Gate International Expo. N.p., 03/24/2011. Web. 25 Sep 2011.

Rivera, Diego, and Dorothy Puccinelli. Diego Rivera: the story of his mural at the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition. San Francisco : s.n. , 1940