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Unión de la Expresión Artistica del Norte y Sur de este Continente
English: The Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent, English: Pan American Unity
Map
ArtistDiego Rivera
Year1940
MediumFresco on plaster
Dimensions670 cm × 2,260 cm (264 in × 888 in)
LocationSan Francisco
Coordinates37°43′39″N 122°27′03″W / 37.727546°N 122.450914°W / 37.727546; -122.450914
OwnerCity College of San Francisco

Pan American Unity is a mural painted by Mexican artist and muralist Diego Rivera for the Art in Action exhibition at Treasure Island's Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in San Francisco, California in 1940.[1] This work was the centerpiece of the Art In Action exhibit, which featured many different artists engaged in creating works during the Exposition while the public watched.[2]

History

[edit]

Pan American Unity, a true fresco, was painted locally in San Francisco on commission for San Francisco Junior College (later City College of San Francisco (CCSF) during the second session of GGIE, held in the summer of 1940.[1] At the time of the mural commission, college leadership had planned on installing it at the yet-to-be-built Pflueger Library after the closing of the 1939–1940 GGIE. Timothy Pflueger had designed the library with the intent that Rivera's mural would cover three walls;[3] the mural as-completed would be mounted on the south wall of the library's reading room, and Rivera intended to return once the library was complete to add murals to the west and east walls.[4] Both the San Francisco Arts Commission and San Francisco Board of Education received protests over the mural's content before its completion, primarily because of the included caricatures of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The Art Commission approved the artistic merit in August 1940 but deferred the judgement of appropriate subject matter to the Board of Education.[5] Pflueger announced that Rivera would continue to work on the mural for "at least another week" after the close of GGIE.[6]

Rivera completed the mural three months after the close of GGIE, and 32,000 automobiles came to Treasure Island with up to 100,000 visitors to view the completed work on Sunday, December 1.[4] The mayor of San Francisco, surveying the crowd, quipped "This Rivera is more popular than Wendell Willkie."[3] The San Francisco Arts Commission accepted the mural in January 1941.[7] After its showing in early December, the mural was crated and stored on Treasure Island.[4]

While in storage, the de Young Museum declined to take the mural in 1941, as it was too large to move conventionally; the US$4,800 (equivalent to $110,000 in 2025) cost to lower the panels through a skylight was cited as the reason to decline it.[4] That year, while extinguishing a hangar fire on Treasure Island, one of the crates was pierced by a fireman's axe, leaving a 20 in (510 mm) gash near the portrait of Sarah Gerstel in Section 5.[4] Pflueger wrote to Rivera, who offered to repair the damage, but he never had the opportunity.[4] The crated pieces were moved into storage at the college in June 1942, next to the men's gym.[4] Emmy Lou Packard, Rivera's primary assistant on the mural, examined the damage but did not repair it at the time, instead choosing to wait for the installation of the mural in the library.[4] However, with the start of the Second World War, the construction of the library was postponed to save materiel for wartime manufacturing, and after Pflueger's death in 1945, shelved indefinitely.[4]

After Milton Pflueger (the younger brother of Timothy) was given the commission to design the CCSF campus theater in 1957, he proposed his initial design for the theater lobby should be expanded to accommodate the mural in the new facility.[4][8] Packard returned to repair the damage after the theater was completed in 1961, and Mona Hoffman, another one of Rivera's assistants on the original work was unable to distinguish the repair, to Packard's delight.[4]

The current library at CCSF, which opened in 1995, was designed with a four-story atrium to hold the mural, but it was not moved amid concerns of potential damage.[4] In 1999, a Getty Conservation Institute expert chided college personnel to consider the next two hundred years,[1] and the artist's daughter, Guadalupe Rivera Marín, challenged CCSF to construct a building dedicated to the mural.[4] A conceptual building was designed by Jim Diaz of KMD Architects in 2012 to house the mural.[9][10]

Pan American Unity being installed at SFMoMA (July 2021)

From June 2021 to 2024, the mural was exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) and complemented the exhibition, Diego Rivera's America, to open in 2022.[11] It was in the Roberts Family Gallery, which is freely accessible to the public.[11][12] Its return to CCSF was ensnared in litigation over which institution would pay for it. Following resolution, Pan American Unity was disassembled and placed in storage at an undisclosed location on the CCSF campus.[12]

As of January 2026, a vacant lot on the CCSF campus has been graded for the future Diego Rivera Performing Arts Center, which will house the mural.[12]

Technical

[edit]

The mural was created on 10 robust steel-framed panels bolted together and weighing about 23 short tons (21 t) in total. It was deliberately designed to be portable, as it would have to be moved to the college campus from Treasure Island after completion, and others have speculated Rivera made it portable after the destruction of Man at the Crossroads.[4] At 22 ft × 74 ft (6.7 m × 22.6 m), it is his largest contiguous work and it completely spans the narrow lobby of the college's Diego Rivera Theater.[1]

Assistants

[edit]

Rivera was assisted in the project by Thelma Johnson Streat, an African-American artist and textile designer.[13] Life magazine also noted the assistance of Mona Hoffman,[14] and Rivera later wrote a letter to the editor crediting Emmy Lou Packard and Arthur Niendorff as his chief assistants.[15]

Theme

[edit]

The formal title of the piece, as given by Rivera is Unión de la Expresión Artistica del Norte y Sur de este Continente (The Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent) , but it is more commonly referred to as Pan American Unity.[16] During a 1940 interview Diego Rivera was quoted as saying,[17]

"I believe in order to make an American art, a real American art, this will be necessary, this blending of the art of the Indian, the Mexican, the Eskimo, with the kind of urge which makes the machine, the invention in the material side of life, which is also an artistic urge, the same urge primarily but in a different form of expression."

— Diego Rivera

He later elaborated "American art has to be the result of a conjunction between the creative mechanism of the North and the creative power of the South coming from the traditional deep-rooted Southern Indian forms."[14] Rivera felt that artists in North America should be inspired by New World native arts, especially as Europe was plunging back into war; Roland J. McKinney was quoted as saying "If Europe blows up and destroys its cultural heritage, the Americas can turn for inspiration to their own, indigenous art, the art that predates Columbus."[1] The imagery is a comprehensive marriage of the themes of Mexican artistry and US technology in Pan-American Unity.[18]

The mural included the images of his wife, Frida Kahlo, woodcarver Dudley C. Carter, and himself, planting a tree and holding the hand of actress Paulette Goddard. Timothy L. Pflueger is depicted holding the architectural plans for the planned Pflueger Library.

The five sections

[edit]
A schematic illustration of Diego Rivera's ten-panel fresco Pan American Unity, showing approximate dimensions with a superimposed silhouette of a man and a woman rendered at approximately life-size.
Schematic of Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity fresco (1940), showing the ten panels and approximate dimensions. Section 3 is the only section where the work extends from upper panel to lower panel. Figures from the Pioneer plaque have been added at approximately life size to illustrate the scale of the work.

The mural is composed of ten panels arranged in five sections,[19] all of which relate Rivera's firmly held belief that multicultural artistic expression will form into a unified cultural entity regardless of individual points of origin. His belief in the eventual unity of the Americas, which became a common thread in much of his non-artistic expression, inspired the images represented in this mural.

Each section consists of a larger upper panel and a smaller lower panel. The sections are numbered from left to right.[2]

Section One

[edit]

'The Creative Genius of the South Growing from Religious Fervor and a Native Talent for Plastic Expression'

Persons depicted in Section One include:[20][21]

  • Nezahualcoyotl, shown holding a flying machine on left side of lower panel

Section Two

[edit]

'Elements from Past and Present'

Persons depicted in Section Two include:[20][22]

  • Simón Bolívar, leftmost in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • John Brown, in front of the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • Helen Crlenkovich (I), shown in an arching dive above the western span of the Bay Bridge at the top of the upper panel
  • Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, second from left in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • Mona Hoffman, Rivera's assistant on the mural, on right edge of upper panel, gazing up at Crlenkovich
  • Thomas Jefferson, second from right in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • Mardonio Magaña, shown sculpting the snake-god Quetzalcoatl at the lower-left upper panel
  • Abraham Lincoln, rightmost in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • José María Morelos, third from left in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel
  • Diego Rivera (I), shown on left side of lower panel painting the row of "great liberators"
  • George Washington, third from right in the row of "great liberators" on the lower panel

Section Three

[edit]

'The Plastification of Creative Power of the Northern Mechanism by Union with the Plastic Tradition of the South'

The central section is largely taken up by a depiction of Coatlicue, Aztec Goddess of Life, merged with a huge stamping machine from Detroit, symbolizing the union between north and south.[2] It is echoed throughout the section in the depiction of the modern carver (Carter) eschewing motorized tools for hand axes, in Kahlo looking for inspiration in native traditions (and dressed in native clothes), and in the symbolic joining of Rivera (from Mexico) and Goddard (from America) holding the "Tree of Life and Love" together.[3]

Persons depicted in Section Three include:[20][23]

  • Dudley C. Carter, shown twice in the lower section of the upper panel, once carving wood and once swinging an axe; and shown once in the lower panel, next to Pflueger
  • Paulette Goddard, holding the Tree of Life and Love with Rivera in the lower panel
  • Frida Kahlo, holding a palette at the left side of the lower panel
  • Donald Kairns, son of Emmy Lou Packard, shown watching Rivera and Goddard in the lower panel[4]
  • Timothy L. Pflueger, wearing a brown suit and holding architectural plans for the library
  • Diego Rivera (II), holding the Tree of Life and Love with Goddard in the lower panel

Section Four

[edit]

'Trends of Creative Effort in the United States and the Rise of Woman in Various Fields of Creative Endeavor through Her Use of the Power of Manmade Machinery'

Persons depicted in Section Four include:[20][24]

Section Five

[edit]

'The Creative Culture of North Developing from the Necessity of Making Life Possible in a New and Empty Land'

Persons depicted in Section Five include:[20][25]

  • Thomas Edison, shown with light bulb and phonograph to the right of Ford
  • Henry Ford, shown holding a fuel pump on the left side of the lower panel
  • Robert Fulton, shown with steam boat models at right side of lower panel
  • Sarah Gerstel, working on an embroidery sampler with a kerchief in the lower center of the upper panel
  • Samuel Morse, shown holding telegraph tape above globe on right side of lower panel
  • Albert Pinkham Ryder, painter of seascapes, in center of lower panel

Representation of women

[edit]

In the past, people have asserted that Diego's paintings predominantly feature allegorical, figurative figures that potentially conform to societal and historical attributes assigned to women,[citation needed] which would be evidence of the male gaze in his artistic creations.[26] However, women are not simply objectified in the mural, which features a diverse array of figures that symbolize the cultural amalgamation of the Americas.[27] The poses of the female figures vary, encompassing roles that span from agricultural labor to intellectual pursuits, suggesting a deliberate effort to depict women in diverse and empowered roles.[28] However, some figures exhibit traditional femininity, raising questions about whether Rivera fully subverts established gender roles. The direction that the female figures are looking varies — some meet the viewer’s gaze with confidence, while others are engrossed in their activities, creating a nuanced interplay between agency and objectification.

Reception

[edit]

During the completion of the mural in November 1940, the editorial board of the Madera Times opined "There will be many who view the work who will wonder why, after it is placed in storage, it is not permitted to remain there. There would be no great loss to the art world if this could happen."[29]

Patrick Marnham wrote "The colours and many of the details are superb ... Yet there is something unconvincing about the political ideas expressed" in his 1998 biography of Rivera. ... it would have made a wonderful storyboard for a Hollywood feature cartoon — but it does not move us."[30] By 2021, Neal Benezra declared it "Rivera's painterly plea for a kind of unity of the Americas ... an anti-nationalist way of looking at things."[31]

Legacy

[edit]

Pan American Unity inspired a poem by Bob Hicok, "Rivera's Golden Gate Mural", published in his first collection of poetry, The Legend of Light.[32]


See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Pan American Unity

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
, commonly known as Pan American Unity, is a ten-panel portable created by Mexican artist in 1940 for the International Exposition's "Art in Action" exhibition on San Francisco's .
Measuring approximately 22 feet high by 74 feet wide and weighing over 60,000 pounds, the work symbolizes the integration of artistic traditions across the Americas, blending indigenous motifs like Quetzalcoatl with industrial machinery and figures from North American invention, such as conveyor belts representing mechanical progress.
It features notable portraits including three self-portraits of , his wife , and symbolic feminine archetypes, painted live by in an airplane hangar to promote hemispheric cultural unity amid pre-World War II tensions.
As 's largest contiguous and his last major project in the United States, it was donated to in 1941, later relocated temporarily to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and returned to its permanent home at in 2024 following conservation.

Historical Context

Commission and Exposition Background

The (GGIE), held on in , opened on February 18, 1939, and ran until October 29, 1939, before reopening for a second season from May 25, 1940, to September 29, 1940. Organized to celebrate the recent completions of the in 1937 and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936, the event adopted the theme "Pageant of the Pacific" to promote cultural and economic ties across the Pacific region, featuring exhibits from Asian and American Pacific nations alongside architectural highlights like the and Court of the Moon. The exposition drew over 17 million visitors across both seasons, emphasizing international cooperation amid global tensions preceding , though its Pacific focus extended to broader hemispheric solidarity concepts. To boost attendance in the 1940 season, organizers introduced the "Art in Action" program, a live demonstration exhibit in the Hall of Fine and where visitors could observe artists creating works in real time, including sculptors carving wood and painters applying frescoes. This initiative, spanning May to September 1940, involved dozens of artists under the auspices of New Deal-era cultural programs, aiming to democratize art production and highlight American creative labor. Diego Rivera's commission for Pan American Unity stemmed directly from this program, with San Francisco architect Timothy Pflueger— who had previously collaborated with Rivera on the 1930 Stock Exchange mural—inviting the Mexican artist to participate and produce a large-scale fresco promoting unity between North and South America. The exposition's organizers, via Pflueger, tasked Rivera with executing the work on-site during the summer of 1940, resulting in a ten-panel portable fresco measuring 22 feet high by 74 feet wide, intended as a symbolic contribution to the event's internationalist ethos despite its primary Pacific orientation. Rivera arrived in for the project following personal and political setbacks in , completing the mural amid public viewings that drew significant crowds to witness the fresco technique.

Rivera's Motivations and Influences

Diego Rivera created Pan American Unity primarily to symbolize the fusion of artistic traditions from North and South America, envisioning a "real American art" that assimilated indigenous forms—such as Mexican, Indian, and Eskimo influences—with the inventive, machine-oriented dynamism of modern North American culture. In a 1940 statement, Rivera described the work as “the marriage of the artistic expression of the North and of the South on this American continent,” emphasizing a synthesis that prioritized local American emotional and creative impulses over European styles like those of Picasso or Matisse. This motivation aligned with the mural's commission for the Golden Gate International Exposition, where Rivera adapted the event's Pacific-focused theme to advocate broader continental cultural solidarity amid rising global tensions in 1940. Rivera's influences drew from mythological and historical sources, including the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl to represent southern spiritual depth, alongside northern industrial pioneers such as (steamboat inventor) and (telegraph developer), whose innovations he portrayed as tools for human progress. Artistically, his approach reflected the Mexican muralist tradition he helped pioneer, which emphasized public, figurative works accessible to the masses, informed by his European training in fresco techniques and early exposure to , though he rejected abstraction in favor of narrative clarity. Personally, the inclusion of self-portraits and his wife underscored intimate ties to Mexican identity and , while broader reconciliation of art with science—evident in depictions of machinery intertwined with human creativity—stemmed from his lifelong interest in technology as an emancipatory force. Politically, Rivera's Marxist convictions, tempered by anti-Stalinism after his 1927 Soviet visit and expulsion from the Mexican in 1929 for Trotskyist sympathies, drove his push for pan-American worker unity against and . He subverted the mural's ostensible theme of hemispheric cooperation into a vision of indigenized modernity, where pre-Columbian heritage merged with industrial power to foster and societal liberation, critiquing figures like , Hitler, and Mussolini as authoritarian threats. This reflected his belief in art as a tool for class struggle and pluralistic revolution, distinct from Stalinist orthodoxy, though he publicly distanced himself from in 1940 writings to navigate U.S. sensitivities post his controversy.

Production Process

Technical Methods and Materials

![Schematic illustration of the ten-panel structure and dimensions of Pan American Unity][float-right] Pan American Unity was executed using an adapted technique, in which pigments ground from natural earth colors were mixed with distilled water and applied to freshly laid on portable supports. Unlike traditional wall frescoes, which bind irreversibly to , this was painted on ten individual panels reinforced with frames, enabling disassembly and relocation after completion. Each panel measured approximately 22 feet in height, forming a contiguous composition spanning 74 feet in length when assembled, with the total work weighing around 23 tons. The steel frames provided structural integrity for transport, while the cement base offered a stable, absorbent surface mimicking permanent architecture, allowing the to cure as in without the need for a fixed wall. prepared the panels on-site during the 1939–1940 , applying wet plaster in sections and painting while it remained damp to ensure chemical bonding of pigments. This method preserved the luminosity and durability characteristic of true , though the portability introduced challenges in maintaining alignment and preventing cracks during moves. No synthetic binders or modern additives were employed; reliance on mineral pigments—such as ochres, siennas, and umbers—ensured longevity and fidelity to practices studied in . The panels were bolted together for display, facilitating the mural's transition from temporary exposition pavilion to permanent installation.

Assistants and Live Creation

The Pan American Unity mural was produced through a public, on-site process as the centerpiece of the "Art in Action" exhibition at the on , held from February 1939 to October 1940. Rivera began painting in June 1940 inside a hangar adapted for the display, where fairgoers could observe the technique—applying pigments to wet on portable panels—directly from scaffolding and viewing areas, emphasizing the mural's role in demonstrating live artistic labor. The work progressed over four months, culminating in completion by October 1940, with Rivera directing the transfer of detailed preparatory sketches to the 22-foot-high by 74-foot-wide surface amid the exposition's temporary structures. A 15-minute captured segments of this process, showing Rivera and his team at work against the backdrop of . Rivera relied on a cadre of assistants, including American painters familiar with his methods, to execute the labor-intensive application and detailing across the ten panels. Emmy Lou Packard served as chief or primary assistant, drawing on her prior collaboration with Rivera on projects like the frescoes at the ; she managed aspects of pigment mixing and surface preparation during extended work sessions. Mona Hofmann acted as Rivera's first assistant specifically for this mural, contributing to sketch enlargement and on-panel execution; a California-based painter who had assisted Rivera in in 1934, she appears self-portrayed in the composition. Additional support came from local artists and international collaborators, handling scaffolding, material transport, and background filling to meet the project's scale and deadline. This collaborative effort reflected Rivera's workshop model, adapted to the exposition's public format, though he retained artistic control over iconographic elements.

Composition and Iconography

Overall Structure and Themes

Pan American Unity consists of ten portable panels measuring 22 feet in height by 74 feet in length, constructed on steel-framed and weighing over 60,000 pounds. The composition centers on a hybrid figure merging the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl with industrial machinery, such as components, symbolizing the synthesis of ancient indigenous symbolism and modern . This central motif divides the mural into northern and southern halves, with the northern side emphasizing machine-driven industrial culture and the southern evoking emotionally expressive artistic traditions, while figures of artists from both regions collaborate across the divide. The primary theme, as articulated by Rivera, is the "marriage of the artistic expression of the North and of the on this ," advocating for a unified American form that integrates indigenous elements—like Mexican, Native American, and influences—with the mechanical innovations of industrialized society. Rivera envisioned this blending as essential: "I believe in order to make an American … this blending of the of the Indian… with the kind of urge which makes the machine." The mural encompasses historical integration, scientific , and cultural synthesis, portraying a shared past, present, and future across to promote solidarity amid global tensions in 1940. Iconography draws from diverse sources, including portraits of revolutionaries like and , inventors such as and , and depictions of laborers in crafts like and ceramics, underscoring themes of human labor, technological advancement, and artistic creation as drivers of continental unity. Rivera incorporates self-portraits and figures like , embedding personal and revolutionary elements into a broader humanistic narrative that fuses , modernist, and indigenous styles without overt political extremism.

Section One: Artistic Foundations

Panel 1 of Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity establishes the mural's thematic groundwork by depicting the pre-Columbian artistic achievements of Mesoamerican civilizations, portraying them as the primordial sources of creative expression across the Americas. The composition centers on indigenous artisans engaged in stone carving, codex illumination, and architectural construction, symbolizing the integration of art with societal and spiritual life in ancient Mexico. Rivera draws from Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Mixtec traditions, featuring colossal Olmec heads, Mayan glyphs inscribed on stelae, and feathered serpent motifs evocative of Quetzalcoatl, to underscore the technical mastery and symbolic depth of these cultures' output. Prominent among the figures is Nezahualcoyotl, the 15th-century poet-king of Texcoco (1402–1472), shown as a philosopher-engineer overseeing aqueducts and codices, representing the fusion of intellectual inquiry, , and in indigenous leadership. This portrayal aligns with 's view of pre-Hispanic art as a holistic foundation—rooted in communal labor and cosmological insight—contrasting with what he perceived as fragmented European influences, thereby advocating for a revived, continent-spanning aesthetic derived from native precedents. The panel's vibrant earth tones and dynamic poses evoke the frescoes' live creation process in , mirroring the enduring vitality Rivera attributed to these ancient practices. By positioning these elements at the mural's left extremity, Rivera initiates a temporal progression from historical origins to modern synthesis, emphasizing artistic continuity as a bulwark against cultural erasure and industrialization's dehumanizing effects. This foundation critiques colonial disruptions while privileging of Mesoamerican ingenuity, such as precisely engineered pyramids and durable stonework, as verifiable testaments to innovative capacity predating European contact.

Section Two: Historical Integration

In Section Two of Pan American Unity, illustrates the integration of historical narratives from North and through depictions of revolutionary leaders and symbols of emancipation, emphasizing shared struggles for independence and liberty. Central to this section is Rivera's self-portrait as he paints a of the , beneath which stand portraits of key liberators: (1783–1830), the Venezuelan leader who emancipated northern from Spanish rule; (1753–1811) and y Pavón (1765–1815), Mexican priests who spearheaded independence movements against colonial Spain; (1732–1799) and (1743–1826), architects of the and framers of the ' founding documents; (1809–1865), who preserved the Union and abolished slavery via the in 1863; and John Brown (1800–1859), the abolitionist who raided Harpers Ferry in 1859 to incite a slave uprising. These figures, drawn from both continents' histories of anti-colonial and anti-slavery resistance, underscore Rivera's vision of a unified hemispheric heritage rooted in revolutionary ideals rather than conquest or division. The section blends these historical elements with contemporary motifs to bridge past and present, as seen in the figure of Helen Crlenkovich, a diver and 1939 national champion who qualified for the 1940 Olympics, executing a swan dive over ancient Mexican iconography that merges into Bay Area landmarks like the (completed 1936). This juxtaposition symbolizes the continuity of indigenous and revolutionary traditions into modern American life, with Crlenkovich's athletic form evoking fluidity between epochs. Nearby, Mexican artisan Mardonio Magaña carves the head of deity from representing creation, knowledge, and elemental forces like wind, water, and fertility, flanked by contemporary Mexican craftspeople—including a plasterer, potter, woodcarver, , weaver, and basket makers from , highlighting matriarchal societies—demonstrating the persistence of pre-Columbian techniques amid industrialization. Rivera's assistant, Mona Hofmann, appears aiding in the work, reinforcing the collaborative spirit of artistic preservation. Architectural references, such as Timothy Pflueger's 450 Sutter Building (1929) and Pacific Telephone Building (1924), integrate San Francisco's urban landscape into the historical tableau, portraying the city as a nexus for pan-American synthesis. This section advances the mural's overarching theme of cultural by portraying not as isolated national tales but as interconnected narratives, countering fragmentation with a realist depiction of shared causal forces—revolts against empire and tyranny—that Rivera believed fostered continental unity. The inclusion of diverse liberators reflects Rivera's Marxist-influenced optimism in proletarian and indigenous roots of , though grounded in verifiable historical events like Bolívar's campaigns (1810–1824) and Hidalgo's Grito de Dolores (1810).

Section Three: Scientific and Technological Progress

In the central panels of Pan American Unity, Rivera depicts scientific and technological progress as a fusion of ancient ingenuity and modern industrial power, symbolizing the potential for hemispheric advancement when harnessed collectively. A towering serpentine machine dominates the composition, integrating inputs from historical labor on both flanks—pre-Columbian artisans on the left and industrial workers on the right—into a unified mechanism of . This central apparatus, evoking a steel press with mechanical fangs, reimagines the Aztec goddess Coatlicue as a mechanized entity, her form blending mythological ferocity with precision to represent technology's transformative force on labor and society. Key elements include early technological motifs drawn from Mesoamerican history, such as in metal workshops and Nezahualcoyotl's conceptual flying machine, which Rivera positions as precursors to contemporary innovation, underscoring continuity in human invention across eras. Adjacent panels illustrate inventors and architects wielding tools to construct modern structures, alongside engaged in experimentation, portraying not as abstract force but as extension of creative endeavor akin to artistry. Rivera draws inspiration from his earlier *, where machinery embodies worker empowerment, yet here adapts it to critique misuse, as seen in depictions of warplanes and barbed wire symbolizing technology's destructive applications under authoritarian regimes like those of Hitler and . The mural's symbolism emphasizes causal linkages between technological mastery and social unity: a , draped in the American flag, emerges from the central to crush a hand bearing a , framing progress as a bulwark against amid 1940s global tensions. , influenced by Marxist views of industrialization, envisions science and machinery as dialectical tools—capable of alienation if monopolized by elites, but liberating when directed toward pan-American solidarity and empirical advancement. This duality reflects contemporaneous debates on automation's role in labor, with the fresco's portable steel-framed panels (10 in total, weighing approximately 23 tons) themselves exemplifying engineering feats enabling public demonstration.

Section Four: Cultural Synthesis

In the fourth section of Pan American Unity, Rivera depicts the evolution of creative endeavors in the United States, portraying women harnessing industrial machinery to advance fields such as , , and , thereby symbolizing a fusion of with expressive cultural output. Central to this portrayal is a triad of female figures representing these disciplines, with machinery amplifying their productivity and signifying the integration of mechanical power into humanistic pursuits. This arrangement reflects Rivera's broader theme of continental cultural , where Northern industrial efficiency bolsters artistic vitality derived from Southern indigenous roots, promoting a unified Pan-American creative amid mid-20th-century modernization. Key individuals rendered include Emmy Lou Packard, Rivera's primary assistant and a muralist-activist born in 1914, shown as emblematic of emerging female agency in ; Mary Anthony-Forester, modeled as an and botanist integrating natural and built environments; and Otto Deichmann, a German-born (1893–1964) who designed structures like the Shasta-Cascade Building, underscoring collaborative transatlantic influences in American design. Athlete Helen Crlenkovich (1921–1955), a City College diver and pilot, appears balancing the composition, diving over to evoke dynamic intertwined with technological conquest of space. Architectural motifs from the 1939–1940 , including the and Federal Building, frame these scenes, linking exposition-era optimism to cultural progress. Cultural critique permeates through cinematic references, with vignettes from Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (released October 15, 1940) and Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), the latter an early Warner Bros. anti-Nazi film, depicting resistance to fascism via popular media. A mechanized hand emerging from industry symbolizes the American conscience opposing aggression, contextualized by allusions to World War II leaders like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin, alongside the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Alcatraz Island looms as a counterpoint, representing penal containment of threats to democratic culture. These elements synthesize Hollywood's propagandistic role with Rivera's Marxist-inflected vision, advocating cultural tools for solidarity against totalitarianism while elevating women's contributions as a progressive synthesis of labor and intellect across the Americas.

Section Five: Future Vision

Section Five depicts Diego Rivera's conception of a prospective era of continental integration, where technological ingenuity and artistic endeavor converge to realize enduring solidarity between North and South America. Created as the mural's concluding segment in 1940, this portion synthesizes prior motifs of indigenous heritage, historical convergence, scientific advancement, and cultural fusion into a forward-looking tableau of collaborative progress, predicated on the harnessing of human creativity to overcome environmental and societal challenges. Rivera envisioned this future as emerging from the pragmatic imperatives of populating and industrializing vast territories, with serving collective welfare rather than isolated exploitation. Prominent figures in this section include American inventors emblematic of mechanical and communicative triumphs: appears clutching a , signifying the mechanization of mobility and production; is rendered alongside his incandescent bulb and , denoting breakthroughs in energy and sound reproduction that illuminated modern existence. Complementing these are , modeled with steamboat prototypes to evoke navigational and trade expansions, and , grasping telegraph ribbon over a terrestrial to illustrate instantaneous transcontinental linkage. Such portrayals underscore Rivera's assertion that North American pioneering—driven by the exigencies of a "new and empty land"—furnished tools for hemispheric cohesion, extending beyond conquest to mutual enrichment. Artistic contributors are interwoven to affirm culture's parity with machinery in forging tomorrow's society, as seen in the inclusion of painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, whose maritime canvases evoke imaginative resilience amid isolation. Everyday artisans, such as Sarah Gerstel engaged in embroidery, further humanize this vista, blending manual dexterity with industrial motifs to project a balanced polity where labor and invention interlock. The segment resolves with Rivera and Frida Kahlo clasping hands amid hybrid forms—part organic, part mechanical—symbolizing the prospective amalgamation of Latin American vitality with Anglo ingenuity, unmarred by division or domination. This denouement encapsulates Rivera's 1940 exposition-era optimism for a unified Americas, wherein art galvanizes technology toward egalitarian ends, though his Marxist inclinations framed such unity as contingent on transcending capitalist fragmentation.

Ideological Content

Marxist and Socialist Elements

Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity incorporates and motifs through depictions of key revolutionary figures and themes of class solidarity, reflecting the artist's lifelong adherence to Marxist principles despite his public disavowal of formal during the mural's creation. In the central panels, Rivera portrays as the theorist of , as its organizational practitioner, and even industrialist as an unwitting contributor to socialist production methods, illustrating Rivera's view of a dialectical synthesis between ideology and technology to foster hemispheric unity. These figures underscore the mural's emphasis on , where workers from North and collaborate across panels, symbolizing a transcendence of national boundaries through shared labor and anti-imperialist struggle. The work draws on aesthetics, evident in the idealized representations of collective labor—such as mechanics, farmers, and artists uniting in productive harmony—which echo Soviet-inspired propaganda art while adapting it to a pan-American context amid tensions. , expelled from the Mexican Communist Party in 1929 for Trotskyist leanings and later readmitted briefly, infused the with critiques of capitalist fragmentation, portraying pre-Columbian indigenous cultures as the unifying cultural base against modern exploitation. Yet, in a November 1940 article for a journal, declared "I am not a Communist," distancing himself from Stalinist orthodoxy to secure the commission, though the mural's belies this by prioritizing Marxist dialectics over partisan loyalty. This tension highlights Rivera's strategic navigation of ideological commitments, using the exposition's platform to advocate for a socialist-inflected continental alliance against .

Depictions of Labor, Unity, and Critique of Capitalism

In the mural's central panels, Rivera portrays industrial labor as a unifying force, with workers operating conveyor belts and machinery under the watchful eye of Henry Ford, who is depicted grinning beside a V-8 engine and fuel pump, symbolizing the integration of mass production techniques with human effort to propel continental progress. On the right side, California-specific labor scenes include Forty-Niners mining gold, lumberjacks felling trees, and railroad workers expanding infrastructure, feeding raw materials and historical momentum into a serpentine central machine that crushes a swastika-emblazoned hand, representing fascism's defeat through collective industrial output. The left side contrasts with pre-Columbian artisans smelting gold, crafting jewelry, and sculpting stone, linking ancient manual trades to modern endeavors and emphasizing labor's continuity across eras and regions. This labor-centric imagery fosters pan-American unity by merging Northern industrial prowess—exemplified by Fordist assembly lines—with Southern indigenous craftsmanship, as seen in the central "marriage" of artistic expressions where figures like , , and plant a tree, symbolizing rooted solidarity against division. The mural's overall structure channels these labors into a shared technological apparatus that outputs anti-fascist victory, portraying workers of diverse ethnicities (including , Latino, and women assistants like Thelma Johnson Streat) collaborating on the fresco itself, which underscores proletarian cooperation transcending national borders. Rivera's Marxist influences infuse a critique of capitalism by idealizing labor as the engine of human advancement rather than profit-driven exploitation, implicitly contrasting the mural's vision of harmonious, culture-bound production with the atomizing effects of unchecked market forces, as evidenced in his earlier works like the Rockefeller Center fresco where Lenin rallied workers against capitalists. While not overtly antagonistic—Ford appears integrated, not vilified—the depiction of toiling masses behind industrial titans evokes class dynamics, with the central machine serving collective defense over private gain, a theme Rivera articulated in his admiration for organized labor's potential to revolutionize society amid 1940s global threats. This ideological undercurrent, drawn from Rivera's lifelong sympathy for socialism despite his public disavowal of communism in a 1940 San Francisco journal article tied to the mural's creation, prioritizes worker solidarity and technological mastery for public good over individualistic accumulation.

Representation of Key Figures

Portrayal of Women

In Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity fresco, completed in 1940, women are depicted across multiple panels in roles that integrate artistic creation, , professional achievement, and symbolic unity between North and . These representations emphasize women's active participation in labor, intellect, and societal progress, often drawing from indigenous traditions and modern . Frida Kahlo, Rivera's wife, appears in the lower central panel dressed in Tehuantepec attire, holding a palette and engaged in painting, underscoring her role as a fellow within the mural's theme of continental artistic marriage. In Panel 2, a Tehuantepec sculptress embodies the matriarchal structure of communities in southern , where women traditionally dominate creative and economic activities such as crafting textiles and sculpture. Panel 4 highlights the "emancipation of women" through figures of a woman artist, woman architect, and sculptress, positioned amid symbols of American industrial and inventive progress, linking female agency to broader technological advancement. Actress is portrayed in the central composition alongside , jointly grasping the and Love, a motif representing fertile unity and future-oriented harmony. These depictions, informed by Rivera's observations of diverse societies, avoid passive stereotypes, instead showcasing women as vital contributors to cultural synthesis and human endeavor.

Historical and Contemporary Individuals

In Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity fresco, completed in 1940, historical figures from the Americas are prominently featured in the lower registers, particularly in panels emphasizing liberation and independence struggles. and represent North American foundational ideals, with Jefferson associated with the "liberty tree" motif drawn from his writings on periodic renewal through sacrifice. appears alongside themes of emancipation, while Latin American liberators such as (1783–1830), (1753–1811), and (1765–1815) symbolize anti-colonial resistance and justice, portrayed as patriots contributing to continental unity. John Brown, the 19th-century abolitionist executed in 1859 for his raid on Harpers Ferry, is depicted evoking radical anti-slavery action. Nezahualcoyotl, the 15th-century poet-king of Texcoco, is shown as an inventor of early flying devices, linking pre-Columbian ingenuity to modern progress. Contemporary individuals, reflecting Rivera's personal and artistic circles in 1940, occupy the mural's foreground to underscore present-day cultural synthesis. Rivera included three self-portraits, one depicting himself painting the liberty tree amid these historical figures. His wife, , holds a palette symbolizing artistic continuity, while actress clasps the and Love with Rivera, embodying interpersonal and hemispheric bonds. Architect Timothy L. Pflueger, who facilitated the project's logistics, appears among known associates; Canadian sculptor Dudley C. Carter works on a bighorn ram, highlighting cross-border craftsmanship; Mexican sculptor Mardonio Magaña chisels Quetzalcoatl's head; and Olympic diver Helen Cilenkovic (also spelled Crlenkovich) dives into , representing athletic prowess and vitality. These portrayals integrate living contributors to Rivera's vision of unified progress, distinct from the mural's allegorical elements.

Reception and Controversies

Initial Public and Critical Response

The creation of Pan American Unity occurred in public view during the Art in Action at the on , where worked on the from June to November 1940, drawing thousands of spectators to observe the process firsthand. Following completion, the mural received a private preview for San Francisco's elite in late November 1940 and was formally unveiled on December 1, attracting approximately 30,000 visitors during its brief public display, many of whom expressed appreciation for its scale and thematic ambition. Critical response was mixed: Life magazine highlighted it as an "amazing new mural" depicting hemispheric unity in its March 3, 1941, issue, emphasizing its artistic and conceptual scope. However, inclusions of dictators such as , , and provoked protests and political objections, with the Madera Tribune arguing on November 27, 1940, that the work should remain in storage due to its controversial elements. San Francisco Chronicle art critic engaged positively with Rivera, interviewing him and quoting his views on the mural's integration of modern media like with traditional techniques.

Political Objections and Debates

The inclusion of fascist leaders and in the mural's fourth panel, depicted amid ominous clouds threatening a vulnerable child figure, sparked protests during its creation for the 1939–1940 , as critics viewed the portrayals as inflammatory despite Rivera's antifascist intent to urge U.S. intervention against . The San Francisco Art Commission approved the work, prioritizing artistic integrity over content disputes and deferring political judgments to the Board of Education, reflecting a tension between aesthetic freedom and wartime sensitivities. Rivera's depiction of alongside Hitler and Mussolini, shown wielding a bloody in allusion to the 1940 of —whom Rivera had sheltered and whose murder prompted Rivera's break from —added a layer of ideological complexity, portraying the Soviet leader as part of a dictatorial triad rather than a heroic figure. This element, while critical of , contributed to broader unease over the mural's Marxist undertones, including endorsements of proletarian unity and technological progress under socialist ideals, which clashed with prevailing U.S. capitalist norms. Post-exposition, the mural's relocation to City College of San Francisco faced significant delays from 1940 to 1961, exacerbated by McCarthy-era anti-communist fervor targeting Rivera's longstanding Mexican Communist Party affiliations and Trotskyist leanings, rendering the work politically toxic for public display amid heightened scrutiny of leftist artists. Stored in obscurity for two decades alongside World War II construction moratoriums, the fresco's fate underscored debates over whether an artwork's ideological origins should preclude institutional stewardship, with Rivera's politics—despite his antifascist contributions—deemed disqualifying by conservative trustees and officials. This episode paralleled national controversies, such as 1953 congressional discussions on destroying Rivera murals in San Francisco public buildings, highlighting causal links between Cold War red scares and suppression of dissenting cultural expressions.

Post-Exposition History

Relocation and Preservation Efforts

Following the closure of the in October 1940, Pan American Unity—a portable constructed on panels with cement-lime plaster—was boxed and relocated from to the campus of Junior College (now , or CCSF), where it had been intended as a gift for the planned library. delayed permanent installation, leading to storage first on the fairgrounds and then at the college until 1957. In 1961, architect Milton Pflueger proposed and oversaw its transfer to the lobby of the college's newly constructed Little Theater (later renamed the Theater), where it remained on public display for six decades. Preservation at CCSF was managed through the Diego Rivera Mural Project, established to document the work's history, ensure structural integrity, and promote accessibility amid the challenges of maintaining a 60,000-pound, 74-foot-wide installation in an active educational space. The mural's non-traditional technique, designed for mobility rather than permanence on a wet wall, facilitated earlier moves but required ongoing monitoring for issues like panel warping or . In 2017, CCSF partnered with the Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) to address conservation needs and enhance public engagement, culminating in the mural's temporary relocation. Between and May 2021, the ten panels—measuring 22 feet high and weighing over 60,000 pounds—were disassembled, transported by truck at 5 miles per hour, and reinstalled at SFMOMA's Roberts Family Gallery for a three-year . Conservation efforts, conducted by SFMOMA conservators, Site & Studio Conservation, and scientists from Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM), included , high-resolution surface mapping, concrete core sampling, and in-situ treatment of cracks and discoloration, funded in part by a Art Conservation Project grant. The exhibit, free to the public from June 28, 2021, to January 2024, incorporated educational programs and student internships from CCSF. The returned to CCSF in early under a binding agreement, with post-exhibit inspections confirming no significant damage from the relocation. It awaits reinstallation in a purpose-built steel-framed enclosure within the new Theatre and Educational Center (PAEC), designed for enhanced stability, climate control, and future mobility while prioritizing long-term preservation.

Recent Developments and Disputes

In 2017, (CCSF) loaned Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) for a major centered on the artist's work, which ran through early 2020. required specialized due to the mural's scale—spanning 74 feet wide and weighing approximately 60,000 pounds—and included conservation efforts funded in part by the Art Conservation Project to stabilize the panels before transport. Post-exhibition, disputes arose over costs. In October 2023, SFMOMA filed a against CCSF, alleging the failed to pay its agreed-upon share—estimated at over $1 million—for dismantling, transporting, and reinstalling the mural back to campus, claiming CCSF's delays and non-payment violated their . CCSF countersued in November 2023, arguing SFMOMA bore primary responsibility for return logistics as the borrowing institution and accusing the museum of inflating costs while withholding documentation. The litigation concluded with a settlement announced on March 20, 2024, under which both parties withdrew claims and committed to collaborative funding for the mural's return and installation at CCSF's Diego Rivera Theatre, emphasizing shared preservation goals without disclosing financial terms. The fresco was successfully repatriated to CCSF storage by early 2024, where ongoing conservation includes surface inspections and protective measures to address age-related vulnerabilities like cracking in the fresco medium. As of August 2025, the mural remains in storage at CCSF, with public re-display delayed until at least 2028 pending construction of a custom climate-controlled case and theater renovations estimated at $10-15 million, partly funded by private donations and grants. Preservation advocates, including the mural's longtime steward, have criticized CCSF for insufficient institutional prioritization and transparency on funding progress, raising concerns over potential deterioration during extended storage despite professional inspections showing no major damage. No further legal disputes have emerged, though community groups continue lobbying for accelerated restoration to maintain the work's accessibility.

Legacy and Modern Assessments

Artistic and Cultural Impact

Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity, completed in 1940, exemplifies advancements in portable fresco technique, allowing the 22-foot-high by 74-foot-wide mural to be detached from its substrate and relocated without damage, distinguishing it from traditional site-specific wall paintings. This innovation facilitated broader public access and preservation, influencing subsequent approaches to monumental public art installations. The mural's synthesis of pre-Columbian indigenous motifs, European artistic traditions, and industrial symbolism contributed to the broader movement's impact on American , catalyzing a renewed interest in frescoes and socially engaged murals during and . Rivera's depiction of technological progress alongside cultural figures underscored art's potential as a tool for envisioning continental integration, echoing themes of hybridity that resonated in later works by artists exploring pan-American identities. Culturally, Pan American Unity advanced ideals of hemispheric solidarity amid pre-World War II tensions, portraying a shared artistic heritage from Mexico to the United States to foster mutual understanding. Its relocation to City College of San Francisco in 1941 established it as an educational cornerstone, where it has informed curricula on ethnic studies and history, emphasizing the interplay of art, labor, and technology. Exhibitions such as the 2021-2023 display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art revived its relevance, prompting discussions on borders, migration, and artistic collaboration in contemporary contexts.

Critiques of Ideological Assumptions

Critics of Pan American Unity have contended that the mural's core assumption of a harmonious synthesis between North American industrial technology and indigenous artistry ignores profound cultural, economic, and political divergences across the hemisphere. Rivera's portrayal of continental unity through shared labor and mechanical progress presumes a dialectical convergence that overlooks historical U.S. economic dominance and interventions in , such as the 1930s occupations in and , which fueled resentment rather than solidarity. This optimism has been deemed unrealistic, as Rivera's own reliance on European artistic traditions contradicted his advocacy for purging such influences to forge a purely "American" aesthetic from to . The work's ideological framework, informed by Rivera's Marxist commitments, has faced scrutiny for idealizing worker-machine integration as an inevitable path to progress, without accounting for incentives in free-market systems that prioritize efficiency and profit over egalitarian unity. Figures like and appear alongside proletarian motifs, yet this reconciliation has been viewed as superficial, masking a bias toward collectivism that subordinates individual innovation to class solidarity. Scholars note inconsistencies in Rivera's , where his promotion of indigenous iconography for Latin cultural elevation clashed with U.S. patrons' economic motives for hemispheric integration, revealing a tension between socialist idealism and pragmatic . Additional critiques highlight the mural's naive faith in antifascist solidarity amid , portraying a alliance of Americas that war-era observers dismissed as detached from divisions, including emerging fissures. From a realist perspective, the assumption of —evident in depictions of machines transforming society—underestimates human agency, resource competition, and the zero-sum aspects of , as evidenced by post-1940 hemispheric conflicts like the 1954 CIA-backed coup in . These elements reflect a broader leftist in Rivera's oeuvre, where empirical divergences in governance and values are subordinated to utopian projections, often amplified by academic interpretations that downplay such flaws.

References

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