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Exhibition

Diego Rivera's America

July 16, 2022–January 3, 2023

Floor 4

The most in-depth examination of the artist’s work in over two decades, Diego Rivera’s America brings together more than 150 of Rivera’s paintings, frescoes, and drawings—as well as three galleries devoted to large-scale film projections of highly influential murals he created in Mexico and the United States. Rather than surveying his entire career, the exhibition focuses on Rivera’s work from the 1920s to the mid-1940s, when he was conceiving a new vision for North America informed by his travels in Mexico and the U.S.

Ten thematic galleries are dedicated to places like Tehuantepec and Manhattan that captured his imagination, and to his favorite subjects, such as street markets, popular celebrations, and images of labor and industry.

Diego Rivera’s America es el análisis en profundidad más extenso de las más de dos décadas de trabajo del artista. La exposición reúne más de 150 cuadros, murales y dibujos de Rivera, además de tres galerías dedicadas a proyecciones de películas a gran escala de los murales más influyentes que el artista creó en México y Estados Unidos. Más que hacer un estudio de toda su carrera, la exposición se enfoca en la obra de Rivera desde la década de 1920 hasta mediados de la década de 1940, cuando concebía una nueva visión de Norteamérica basada en sus viajes por México y Estados Unidos.

Hay diez galerías temáticas dedicadas, por un lado, a sitios como Tehuantepec y Manhattan que capturaron su imaginación y, por el otro, a sus temas favoritos, como mercados callejeros, celebraciones populares e imágenes de trabajadores y la industria.

Exhibition Preview

Diego Rivera, Dance in Tehuantepec, 1928; Collection of Eduardo F. Costantini, Buenos Aires; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Diego Rivera, Flower Seller, 1926; Honolulu Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip E. Spalding, 1932; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: courtesy Honolulu Museum of Art
Diego Rivera, The Man, costume design for the ballet H.P. (Horsepower), 1927; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo © The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource NY
Diego Rivera, La ofrenda (The Offering), 1931; Art Bridges; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Christie’s Images Limited
Diego Rivera, Still Life and Blossoming Almond Trees, 1931; Stern Hall, University of California, Berkeley, gift of Rosalie M. Stern; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: © The Regents of the University of California
Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1935; collection SFMOMA, Albert M. Bender Collection, gift of Albert M. Bender in memory of Caroline Walter; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York;
Diego Rivera, Retrato de Lupe Marín (Portrait of Lupe Marín), 1938; Museo de Arte Moderno, INBAL, Mexico City; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: © NPL – DeA Picture Library / Bridgeman Images
Diego Rivera, Girl in Blue and White, 1939; The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy Sotheby’s, New York
Diego Rivera, Woman with Calla Lilies, 1945; private collection, U.S.A.; courtesy Galeria Interart; © Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Scott Cramer

Special Events

For Members, Free, Special Event

Diego Rivera's America Member Preview

July 14–16, 2022
Special Event

Free Community Day: Diego Rivera’s America

Sunday, July 17, 2022, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Performance

Una Tarde con The Great Tortilla Conspiracy

Thursday, August 4, 2022, 3:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Film, Free

Diego Rivera: Moving a Masterpiece

First Thursdays, September–December
Performance

Art and Labor: Songs and Poetry in Response to Diego Rivera's America

Thursday, September 1, 2022, 6 p.m.
For Educators

Back to Museum Open House for Educators

Saturday, September 24, 2022, 10 a.m.
Performance

Una Tarde con Mariachis with Rivera's Pan American Unity Mural

Thursday, November 3, 2022, 5:30 p.m.
Performance

Frida: March 1941 Interview, A Play by Will Maynez

Thursday, December 8, 2022, 6 p.m.
Screening

Las Muralistas: Our Walls, Our Stories

Thursday, January 5, 2023, 1:30 p.m.

Special Features

Listen

Critique + Celebration: The Diego Rivera's America Audio Guide

Listen as Bay Area Chicano/a artists Enrique Chagoya, Michael Ríos, and the late Yolanda López engage in a candid dialogue about Rivera’s legacy. Narrated by San Francisco native Melissa Saenz Gordon.

 A museum visitor looks at a wall of artworks by Diego Rivera in the exhibition "Diego Rivera's America."

Read

8 Questions on the Life + Work of Diego Rivera with James Oles

Why this exhibition now? How did Rivera’s life in Mexico and European travels influence his art? Why is Rivera is such an enduring artist? Guest curator James Oles answers FAQs about the exhibition and Rivera’s work.

Read

How San Francisco Became the Site of Diego Rivera’s First U.S. Mural

The long process that brought the artist’s radical public work to the United States.

Watch: Archival Videos

 

 

Fresco Painting + Process

Archival

An Assistant's Take: Working with Rivera

Ernst Halberstadt, an assistant to Rivera, explains the process and labor that went into the artist’s fresco paintings.

Activity

Making a (Salt Dough) Fresco Inspired by Rivera

This family-friendly activity offers step-by-step instructions for making a “salt dough” fresco inspired by Rivera.

Artwork Guides for Kids

An accessible introduction to the work of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, featuring fun facts and discussion questions.

Young Learners

Artwork Guide: Diego Rivera

Young Learners

Artwork Guide: Frida Kahlo
Free to See: Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity Mural

In partnership with City College of San Francisco, Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity mural is free-to-the-public in the Roberts Family Gallery on Floor 1.
Shop the Museum Store Collection

Take a look through the Rivera-inspired items in our Store.

Murals in San Francisco: Proyecto Mission Murals

San Francisco was particularly important to Rivera; it was the first place he painted murals in the U.S. Likewise, his work was deeply influential to local artists and muralists. Coinciding with the exhibition, the museum's ongoing digital publication Proyecto Mission Murals examines the origins of the community mural movement in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Digital Publication: Proyecto Mission Murals

In collaboration with community partners, this digital publication launches with documentation of murals created in the Mission District between 1972 and 1988.
Audio Zine: Mission Muralismo

Take audio stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District, learning about the neighborhood murals and the artists who collaborated to create them.

The presenting sponsors for Diego Rivera’s America are Bank of America, the Neal Benezra Exhibition Fund, the Davidow Family Fund for Exhibitions of Modern Art, the Evelyn D. Haas Exhibition Fund, Sir Deryck and Lady Va Maughan, Helen and Charles Schwab, and anonymous donor.

Major support is provided by the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, the Mary Jo and Dick Kovacevich Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom, and The Bernard Osher Foundation.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition and catalogue do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Generous support is provided by Jean and James E. Douglas, Jr., Jessica and Matt Farron, Linda and Jon Gruber, Deborah and Kenneth Novack, Nancy and Alan Schatzberg, Lydia Shorenstein, and Margaret V. B. Wurtele.

Additional support is provided by the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Generous support for the catalogue is provided by Mary Leonard Robinson.

Research and planning support is provided in part by the Koret Foundation.

Public program support for Diego Rivera’s America is provided by the Walter & Elise Haas Fund.

This project is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Major in-kind support provided by BARTable and Modern Luxury.

Additional in-kind support is provided by Cumulus Media.

SFMOMA is grateful to the Mexican Government’s Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) for their collaboration on this exhibition.

Projections of works by Diego Rivera in the exhibition: © 2022 Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust. Av. 5 de Mayo No. 2, Col. Centro, Alc. Cuauhtémoc, 06000, Mexico City. These reproductions have been authorized by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), 2022

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