Knowra Man at the Crossroads Man at the Crossroads Man at the Crossroads was a mural Diego Rivera designed for Rockefeller Center in 1933. After a dispute over its depiction of Vladimir Lenin, the unfinished work was destroyed; Rivera later recreated and expanded it in Mexico City as Man, Controller of the Universe.
Diego Rivera : Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter known for large-scale murals depicting social, political, and historical subjects. Rivera designed the Rockefeller Center mural and later recreated its composition in Mexico City.
Mural : A mural is an artwork executed directly on a wall, ceiling, or other permanent architectural surface. Rivera designed the work for a specific lobby wall rather than as a portable painting.
Censorship : Censorship is the suppression or restriction of expression by an authority or other controlling power. The mural’s removal became a prominent case of a patron suppressing commissioned political art.
Detroit Industry Murals : The Detroit Industry Murals are a cycle of frescoes Rivera painted at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1932–1933. Their contemporary industrial imagery provides a close comparison for Rivera’s Rockefeller Center project.
Rockefeller Center : Rockefeller Center is a complex of commercial buildings and public spaces in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The mural was commissioned for the lobby of its RCA Building, now 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Marxism : Marxism is a political and economic tradition based on the analysis of class struggle and capitalist society. The mural’s social contrasts and inclusion of Lenin drew on Marxist political imagery.
Artistic freedom : Artistic freedom is the ability to create and present art without undue external control over its content or form. Rivera’s refusal to remove Lenin brought the limits of a patron’s control into focus.
Fresco : Fresco is a painting technique in which pigments are applied to wet plaster and become part of the wall as it dries. Rivera’s mural was executed in fresco, a method that made the work inseparable from its wall.
Nelson Rockefeller : Nelson Rockefeller was an American businessman, politician, and art patron who directed the Rockefeller Center project. He objected to Lenin’s inclusion and asked Rivera to alter the mural.
Vladimir Lenin : Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and political leader who headed the Soviet government after the 1917 Revolution. Rivera included Lenin among workers, provoking the commission’s central conflict.
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