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"AMERICA TROPICAL" (DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS).   Term Paper ID:25797 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines background, painting, theme, style, re-discovery & restoration of mural painted by Mexican artist in Los Angeles in 1930s.... More...

9 Pages / 2025 Words 6 sources, 20 Citations, MLA Format $36.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines background, painting, theme, style, re-discovery & restoration of mural painted by Mexican artist in Los Angeles in 1930s. Paper Introduction: David Alfaro Siqueiros painted only three murals in the United States, one in a private home and two in public spaces in Los Angeles. The public murals were highly political--protesting American imperialism and labor practices and featuring strong socialist statements. They created storms of protest among city officials and the first was destroyed while the second, entitled America Tropical, was painted over. In the 1970s it was found that the second mural was, though damaged and faded, largely intact under layers of paint and by the 1980s various groups had become involved in restoration efforts. The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) assumed the work of restoring the mural and some of the burden of funding the project. The project has involved technicians from several institutions and has provided the opportunity for innovative approaches to restoration. This work Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In 1919 he metDiego Rivera in Paris and the two young men traveled in Italy studying thegreat muralists of the Renaissance. But in 1932 the country was sunk in the Great Depression and in thenearby plaza union leaders, anarchists and socialists were calling foraction while the American government "was sponsoring mass deportations ofMexicans from the Southwest [including] not just foreigners but U. This story was repeated almost exactly when Siqueiros received hissecond commission in Los Angeles. "The Getty Sullies Itself with Ethnic Politics." Los Angeles Times 6 Mar. Inthe assessment stage the Institute's Scientific Program took paint samplesfrom the mural and compared them with samples taken in 1971. Itwas to be called Meeting in the Streets and was to feature, as he told theschool's owner, street performers as the focus of the composition. Siqueiros was a lifelong revolutionary. This work has continued into the 199 s and, despite thepassage of so much time and vast changes in social conditions, therestoration efforts have managed to stir up some degree of protest based onthe content of the mural itself. 1998. Because pollution levels were so high in downtown Los Angelesthe surface of the mural, as it was gradually exposed, became coated withdirt and grime and it was almost invisible. The mural was painted on a prominent 19 x 24 foot wall in a littlemore than two weeks and Siqueiros kept the central theme to himself. The result was that even with acertain amount of protection offered by the whitewash the restoration ofthe mural could only ever achieve "an appearance similar to that of a wallpaining in an archaeological context" (Bishop, Buzzanca, Rainer andPalumbo). Siqueiros returned to Mexico in 1922and joined Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and others in painting murals withpolitical subjects that eventually offended government sponsors. Encino, CA: Floricanto Press, 1994. Online. 1998. Ferencz, director ofthe Plaza Art Gallery, commissioned Siqueiros to paint a mural across the16 x 8 foot second-story wall of the Gallery. In 1993 Eric Lange, a fellow of the GCI's Documentation Program,designed a system for "precise digital image capture" (Levin). pag. The surprise theme, when revealed to a city in the grip ofunemployment and ethnic tensions, caused considerable outrage. Anthony. He moved to LosAngeles where, despite successful gallery exhibitions and smallcommissions, he remained in need of money. The data collected was usedby the firm of Altoon and Porter, architects with experience working onhistoric structures, for the design of the permanent protective shelter. In May 1991the second phase began with the establishment of a special monitoringsystem. In 1977 Jean Bruce Poole, the current historian of El Pueblo, joinedthe staff and began to promote conservation of the mural. In June 1932 F. He neglects tomention the deportation of American citizens of Mexican ancestry and theCalifornia growers' brutal repression of organized labor, but he concludesthat the restoration of an incendiary work by a communist artist is adisservice to Los Angeles and that the Getty has "sullied" itself with"ethnic politics" (Warder). Theinvestigators found that the paint's binder was cellulose nitrate--a mediumfor which exposure to direct sunlight and heavy pollution over many yearshad "significantly contribute[d] to the deterioration of the mural'spainting layer" (Levin). Internet. Internet. Palumbo. This time the place and theoccasion were even less promising for the type of art Siqueiros wanted tocreate--though they probably inspired him in his choice of theme. Thoughstories vary considerably about what came next, the result was that themural was quickly destroyed. 1998: n. In 1926 a wealthy reformer, ChristinaSterling, had discovered the derelict state of the area's historicbuildings and undertook its revival as a commercial center and touristattraction. Lange employed a Hasselblad camera with a Zeiss lens and Leafdigital camera back. The unmistakable imagery provoked praise fromsupporters such as film director Seymour Stern who called Siqueiros "thefirst true voice of the world revolution in the sphere of the graphic arts"and praised his "revolutionary message, with a revolutionary form" (quotedin White 146-7). Getty Conservation Institute. Ferencz was a sympathizer of American communist John Reed and"probably had a good idea from the outset of the general political themeSiqueiros had in mind" (Reynoso 24). 31, 1985. Unfortunately Siqueiros died in 1974before completing this work and Goldman and Treviño were unsuccessful atraising sufficient community interest or funds for the work. Viewed as an incitement to greaterdiscontent and a call to insurrection, the mural outraged civic leaders andFerencz, conceding to pressure, whitewashed the central portion of themural. Rainer, and G. Portionsof loose cement plaster were reattached to the building wall and traces ofasphalt adhering to the lower part of the mural were removed. Online. He entered the San CarlosAcademy of Art in Mexico City in 1911, the year after the revolution haddeposed the corrupt regime of Porfirio Diaz. Available http://www.claremont.org/olvera.html.Levin, Jeffrey. David Alfaro Siqueiros painted only three murals in the UnitedStates, one in a private home and two in public spaces in Los Angeles. But everyone else involved in theproject imagined that America Tropical would feature, as Siqueiros said, "acontinent of happy men, surrounded by palms and parrots, where the fruitvoluntarily detached itself to fall into the mouths of the happy mortals"(quoted in Levin). 245.Reynoso, Antonio Gonzalez. The mosaiced digital image developed by Lange was the base onwhich the conservators worked and, in combination with the AutoCAD menu, itallowed the conservators onsite "to examine the mural and enter datadirectly into laptop computers" (Bishop, Buzzanca, Rainer and Palumbo).The customized menu allowed conservators unfamiliar with AutoCAD to entercondition data easily and since graphic documentation of the mural was doneat the site the AutoCAD innovations vastly increased conservators' controlover the process. This phase of the project provided thebaseline for conditions and conservation treatments carried out to 199 .At present it is undecided what further conservation measures will beneeded. 3 Sept. Works CitedBishop, M. H., G. A short time later the entire surface was whitewashed. The new approach also successfully eliminated the "long,expensive and error prone process of copying manually produced conditioninformation into digital form by staff not working on site" (Bishop,Buzzanca, Rainer and Palumbo). BothOrozco and Rivera were having some success in the United States andSiqueiros decided that he too needed, as he put it, to "familiarize myselfwith the great industrial society (quoted in Reynoso 17). Abstract. Leslie Dutton, a Los Angeles television host and producer, waspreparing a program on the mural and was outraged by the attitudeconservation forces took toward those who originally tried to eliminate themural. 3 Sept. The components were customized to work with aprepared scaffolding that moved on a "self-leveling trackway" and a cameradolley designed to ride "on its own track at the top of the scaffolding"(Levin). In 199 the first phase was undertaken by Mexican conservatorsAgustín Espinosa and Cecilia Espinosa, with assistance from staff of theCourtauld Institute of Art in London. Claremont Institute Online. In addition to being able to viewthe sections in any combination, conservators are now able to "instantlymagnify or enhance particular areas or features of interest" (Levin). The remaining layers of white paintwere removed and the painting layer was cleaned and consolidated. Thepublic murals were highly political--protesting American imperialism andlabor practices and featuring strong socialist statements. Siqueiros: A Biography. The Getty Conservation Institute decided, however, to go aheadwith the project and in 1988 it officially joined with the El PuebloHistoric Monument and the Friends of the Arts of Mexico Foundation topreserve what could be saved of the mural. The same year the GCIformulated a comprehensive technical plan for America Tropical, to begin in199 . Available http://www.claremont.org/getty.html.White, D. Friends persuaded the reputableChouinard Art School to invite Siqueiros to teach a course in muralpainting. If not for the "capability for digitalcalibration and adjustment illumination, color balance, and registration aseach shot was captured" a seamless composite image could not have beencreated (Levin). 3 Sept. Claremont Institute Online. Los Angeles: Plaza de la Raza, 1985.Warder, Michael. Internet. The system enabled Lange to position the camera with greataccuracy and he produced 156 images in a 6 x 26 grid. After completing the on-site recording lower resolution copies ofthe original images were assembled like a mosaic to create a single view ofthe mural. 3 Sept. They createdstorms of protest among city officials and the first was destroyed whilethe second, entitled America Tropical, was painted over. They were, unjustly according to Dutton, portrayed as "capitalists,elitists, imperialists with a racist agenda" (Booth). Becausethe government objected to murals in which Siqueiros "insisted on linkingthe spirit of the Revolution to contemporary social and political concerns"he was forced to give up public commissions and devoted his time to smallerpaintings and to political activism (Reynoso 16). In 1997 the next phase of the project involved conducting a conditionsurvey prior to the construction of the shelter and a viewing platform.GCI conservators developed a specialized AutoCAD (computer assisted design)menu based on work previously done at the Istituto Centrale per il Restauroin Rome. Siqueiros would be pleased indeed to see thatthe power of this work was intact even when it remained a mere shadow ofitself. The computer was a Quadra 95 with a 2 -inch colormonitor and an extended RAM. Michael Warder, ofthe conservative Claremont Institute agreed, and pointed out that the workwas and is an "appeal to a crude ethnic and class divisiveness" (Warder).Warder cites the conditions of the time--American unemployment, Stalin'sstarvation of Ukrainian peasants, Hitler's consolidation of power, andJapan's invasion of China--and is appalled by Siqueiros' desire to "fomentinsurrection in Los Angeles through his art" (Warder). The white paint over the mural slowly eroded over the years and thepainting underneath began to fade and peel in some places. But,despite Sterling's good intentions, she was committed to the "tradition ofromanticizing the past of Old California and filling it with dashingSpanish caballeros and pretty Indian maidens and happy docile Mexicans," ageneral notion of past and present that was hardly congenial to Siqueiros(Booth). This confirmed what Siqueiros himself had laterdiscovered regarding the use of automotive paints which were deliberatelyformulated to fade with the passing years. Available http://www.getty.edu/gci/conservation/9_2/feature/tropical.html.96 422. Buzzanca, L. "The Picture Los Angeles Hid for 66 Years." Washington Post 1 May 1998: n. In the 197 s itwas found that the second mural was, though damaged and faded, largelyintact under layers of paint and by the 198 s various groups had becomeinvolved in restoration efforts. 1998. Online. "America Tropical." Conservation 9 (1994): n. Siqueiros was jailed for his work as a communist organizer in 193 and then sentenced to a year of internal exile in the city of Taxco. Siqueiros, pleased by their efforts, made plans to paint areplica of the central portion of the mural on wood panels which he was topresent to the city of Los Angeles. Online. The enormous mural took Siqueiros' team of 24 paintersseveral months and, once again, Siqueiros completed the central image insecret--working late at night just before the unveiling. This was important for the project since the temporary sheltercovering the mural was extremely shallow and no one had been able to see itin its entirety since its cleaning. After serving in the Constitutional Army ofVenustiano Carranza in the battle to secure the Mexican ConstitutionSiqueiros was rewarded with a diplomatic post in Europe. The project has involved technicians from severalinstitutions and has provided the opportunity for innovative approaches torestoration. Ironically it was the overpainting of the mural that preserved it.Even with the best of materials the mural would have been directlysubjected to the intense sun, rains, and highly acidic pollution of LosAngeles. Thenight before the unveiling Siqueiros himself painted in "a labor organizeraddressing construction workers from a soapbox and flanked by a black manand a white woman, each holding a child and listening to the speaker"(White 142). Poole managed togenerate a great deal of interest among the Mexican-American community butfunds did not materialize and the only protective measure taken was theinstallation of a plywood shed surrounding the mural. The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)assumed the work of restoring the mural and some of the burden of fundingthe project. pag. But Siqueiros had chosen to work with materials "suitable for'dialectical-subversive painting' [including] the electric drill, thecement gun, white water-proof cement, the airbrush or spray gun, the blow-torch, pre-colored cement" and commercial automotive paints (White 149).Though a contemporary reviewer exulted that "rains will never wash it off,nor sun dim its details" because it was painted on cement the commercialpaints were actually less stable and more readily affected by sunlight thantraditional wet fresco technique would have been (quoted in Levin). 15-Oct. His teachers there wereimbued with the spirit of the Revolution and the quest for human rights andSiqueiros' subject matter--the struggles of the peoples of Latin America--was determined for life. Internet. The central image of the"victim of Yankee imperialism" was surrounded by a mass of grasping vinesand other vegetation and on one side "a Mexican and a Peruvian peasantcrouched, their rifles ready to defend their lands against the imperialistsof today" (White 146). The first attempt to save the mural came about in the early 197 swhen art historian Shifra Goldman and filmmaker Jesús Salvador Treviñoattempted to organize financial support for its preservation andrestoration. He decided that the best approach to teaching was to actuallypaint a mural and formed a team on which he was "the master artist and theother artists were his apprentices" (White 141). In 1987 Poole metwith the Getty Conservation Institute and engaged the interest of SpecialProjects Director Miguel Angel Corzo (now the Institute's director). pag. K. When the mural was revealed it showed a Mexican peasant crucified atthe center of a crumbling Pre-Columbian pyramid while an American eagle(taken from American currency) hovered overhead. This systemenabled the collection of digital images which could then be manipulated byother members of the project for various computerized documentationpurposes. Since opening in 193 the area had been a great success. TheGallery was part of Olvera Street, the site of the original mission fromwhich Los Angeles had grown. The GCI and the El Pueblo Historic Monument will open the Siqueirosmural to the public in 1999. 1998. While Siqueiros was pleased that thecommunity was taking an interest in preserving the mural in the 197 s, andwould certainly be pleased by all that has happened since, he might be mostdeeply gratified by some of the negative responses to the conservationproject. pag. Overall the project included documentation, treatment, theconstruction of a permanent shelter, and the development of an exhibitiontreating Siqueiros' career and the history of America Tropical. Available http://www.uoc.es/caa98/ct/web.d/info.d/papers.d/1papers/1_BIS.html.Booth, William. "Digital Recording of the Condition of America Tropical, a Mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros." Communicacions / Communicaciones / Papers, 1998: n. This equipment recorded all environmental factors including "windspeed and direction, rainfall, temperature, humidity, and the movement ofsunlight across the mural's surface" (Levin). S.citizens of Mexican descent" (Booth). Portions ofplaster slowly detached from the wall and bricks were dislodged byearthquakes. David Alfaro Siqueiros: An Exhibition at Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles, Sept. The conservatorswere thus able to record "cracking patterns, plaster joins, previousrestorations, biological deterioration, and other important features" andto produce color-coded transparencies for the various features to beoverlaid on the computer images (Levin). The muralwas, however, placed under the protection of the El Pueblo de Los AngelesHistoric Monument. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.