Murals by Diego Rivera at the Detroit Institute of Arts: the North Wall (continued)--page 5 (of 6 pages)







Main panel: "Production and Manufacture of Engine and Transmission"

The 1932 Ford V-8 is being produced in these combined scenes.
 

Blast furnace (top) and large spindle machines at the bottom and conveyor lines

 

Diverse workforce

A multiracial workforce was an important aspect of Rivers's Marxist idealism.
 

Dynamic curving conveyor lines connecting visually the separate scenes

 
 

The right bottom of the main panel

 

Rivera's self-portrait

Here he is a spectator (in bowler hat) not a worker.


Continue to page 6--the Predella Panels.

Go to Rivera Murals Index.

Works Consulted or Quoted:
Goldman, Shifra M. Dimensions of the Americas: Art and Social Change in Latin American and the United States. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1994.
Luis-Martín Lozano and Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera. Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals. Taschen, 2009.
Antonio Rodríguez. Diego Rivera: Mural Painting. Mexico City: Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana, 1988.
Linda Bank Downs. Diego Rivera. The Detroit Industry Murals. New York: Norton, 1999.

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© 2010 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.