The Making of a Fresco, Showing The Building of a City 1931

Diego Rivera made this fresco without a date at the San Francisco Art Institute, showing the building of a city. There’s a real sense of industry here, like the whole thing is humming with activity. Rivera layers his figures and forms with a limited palette. The colors are earthy and muted, which gives it a timeless quality. I think there is a clever juxtaposition of the artistic process with construction work. It’s like he’s saying that making art is also a form of building, of putting things together to create something new, like a city. Look at the figure in the center, who is working on the giant head. The way Rivera captures the curve of the back and the angle of the arm is so confident. It reminds me a little bit of Thomas Hart Benton, who also captured American life and labor with such dynamism, but Rivera brings a political edge that’s all his own. Both artists share a love of process and the ongoing conversation between people, places, and paintings.