Sharing snaps and a story, regarding the easel Frida Kahlo received as a gift from Nelson Rockefeller, back in the 40s. It sits at the Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacan, CDMX, displayed along with her wheelchair, paints, and palette. Her house is one of the hottest tourist tickets in Mexico City, and it’s always interesting to me to get a vibe on how artists worked, as well as lived. Her presence at Casa Azul remains strong, as does her will. Perseverance as an understatement, originality at every turn. Interesting how she and her art have resonated over the years, to the point where her star continues to rise.
The easel gift came after Rockefeller commissioned Diego Rivera to paint a mural at Rockefeller Center in New York. The work, “Man at the Crossroads,” depicted a worker controlling machinery at the center, flanked by panels contrasting socialism and capitalism. When Rivera refused to remove a portrait of Vladimir Lenin that was part of the mural, Rockefeller had it destroyed. Nonetheless, Frida got this parting gift, and Diego redid the work as “Man, Controller of the Universe” (El hombre, controlador del universo), still on display at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Diego took photographs of the original, so the repurposed mural is pretty close, although smaller in scale. The right side of the fresco includes Lenin, as well as Leon Trotsky (then exiled in Mexico), Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels; the left or capitalist side includes John D. Rockefeller Jr. surrounded by images of war (soldiers in gas masks), societal decay, and wealthy elites partying while police on horseback suppress striking workers. The mural draws a crowd, it seems, both times I visited there were folks gathered around, coming and going, always looking, always pointing.
Despite it all, Nelson Rockefeller, remained on good terms with Diego and Frida, even taking his family to visit the repainted mural in Mexico City when it was completed. He was a fan of the arts, and a fan of their work. I’m not saying Nelson was perfect, but to say rich dudes were different back then is an understatement.
