Pan American Unity 1940

This is Diego Rivera’s ‘Pan American Unity’, a fresco mural in a gray-green palette that feels both epic and intimate. Imagine Rivera up there on scaffolding, brush in hand, layering image upon image. I can feel how much he wanted to capture the pulse of a place and time; to paint the collision of histories, cultures, and technologies into a single, sweeping vision. Look at the way he juxtaposes ancient indigenous traditions with modern industrial machinery—it’s like he’s collapsing time itself. I wonder what it was like for him, painting this massive narrative. What did he want to say about progress, about unity, about the Americas? He was always in conversation with other artists and thinkers. And so is every artist. Rivera invites us to participate in the making of meaning, to bring our own experiences and perspectives to the ever-evolving story of art.