Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit

by Mark Rosenthal

From April 1932 through March 1933, Diego Rivera (1886–1957) and Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) spent a dramatic and pivotal sojourn in Detroit. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and amid labor protests in the city, Rivera created his Detroit Industry murals, one of the most important and accomplished works of art made in the United States in the 20th century, for the Detroit Institute of Arts. Kahlo, meanwhile, developed her own artistic identity almost unnoticed, emerging with an oeuvre of extraordinarily expressive work.
 
For this highly anticipated catalogue, Mark Rosenthal and a team of scholars have written essays that examine the artists, the city of Detroit in this period, and the commissioning of the murals by Edsel Ford, the patron, and William Valentiner, then director of the Detroit Institute. Rivera’s cartoons for the murals, which have not been exhibited in decades, are highlighted here along with new archival research conducted by Rivera’s grandson, Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera. Featuring more than 100 color illustrations of works by both artists, this book presents Detroit as a profoundly important place for the artistic development of Rivera and Kahlo.

Genres: Art, Biography, Nonfiction, Art History

248 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never thought of myself as a person who puts much stock in hometown pride, but since having moved away any time Detroit comes up on tv or in a book or just offhandedly in conversation I am suddenly all “HELL YEA DEEEEE-TROOOOIT!” I’m sorry, but I do love me some Detroit. Especially because growing up going into Detroit meant the yearly field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts (which was voted best US museum in 2023 I’ll have you know, shoutout Detroit) where the early sparks of my love for art were cultivated. And if there’s something to be proud about in Detroit, the fact that Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo stayed there for some time as Rivera completed the enormous frescos that are at the heart of the museum and depict the Detroit auto-industry is a pretty cool thing to be proud of. And, like many growing up just outside the city, my father worked for Ford Motor Company and was a proud union member so a Diego Rivera mural to his livelihood was something we took as a practically sacrosanct. For my birthday this year I was headed to Detroit to go see Bob Dylan live in concert but I couldn’t go back home without making a pilgrimage to see the Diego Rivera murals at the DIA. Especially because I’ve spent the past few months slowly reading through Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo in Detroit, and incredible account of the artist duo’s time and works in the city complied by Mark Rosenthal to be released by the DIA along with their 2015 Frida and Diego exhibit. This is such a marvelous book that, with its cloth cover and full page photos on quality matte paper, is practically a work of art itself. And it is just bursting with fascinating history, artworks, and a deep love for the city who’s skyline is forever projected onto my heart: Detroit.

Photo of the mural from my recent visit

Rivera’s sketch of the fresco

Detroit became a catalyst for big change with both Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, being their home base from 1932-33 as Rivera completed the murals. Commissioned by DIA director Wilhelm Valentiner and Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford, the murals were to represent the spirit of Detroit industry and the growing technology of the future in union with humanity. Diego Rivera quickly fell in love with Detroit (how could you not?), fascinated by the auto plants such as the Ford River Rouge plant and found the mass scale of production to be rather inspiring.

Diego and Frida at the DIA, 1932


Frida, on the other hand, did not enjoy Detroit and spent much time travelling back and forth to NYC and, eventually, returning to Mexico with the death of her mother. She also had a miscarriage on July 4th, 1932 at Henry Ford Hospital and would paint one of her most memorable artworks in response, titled Henry Ford Hospital:

Frida arrived in Detroit still a rather burgeoning artist much in the shadow of her husband (which like, it’s a huge bummer to have learned he was rather abusive, admitting it himself saying “If I ever loved a woman, the more I loved her, the more I wanted to hurt her. Frida was only the most obvious victim of this disgusting trait” which, ugh so tragic) but the tumultuous year became a huge period of channeling pain into growth. Her painting Self Portrait Along the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States was also completed during this time and is considered one of her first major works and ‘almost like out of a chrysalis, the recognizable Frida Kahlo arrives because of the pain and everything she went through in Detroit.’


The murals themselves are incredible. We see the Detroit industry in a way that strongly emphasizes the blood, sweat, and tears of human labor and a championing of the working class. It serves as both celebration and critique of industry, juxtaposes images of peace and production of medication and machines that aid humanity with depictions of war manufacturing and death (the juxtaposition of bomber planes with a dove that is seen above the entrance to the hall is a great example). Notable figures appear in the portrait, such as the head of the DIA and Edsel Ford, though Diego also includes a rather unflattering depiction of a plant foreman who Diego disliked for his capitalistic tendencies.

Diego said fuck this guy in particular

They truly are a sight to behold:

North Wall

South Wall


This was such a fantastic book full of history of the city and art. It was a rather volatile year for the two painters, but one that would mark their careers and help launch them into the immortality of famous artists we still appreciate and look at today. Also shoutout to Detroit.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those elaborate and impressive books that commemorate a major exhibition, or give others who an't make it a chance to see it in another format. And this is gorgeous. I did just this past Monday get to the Detroit Institute of Arts to see this exhibit, which I had heard was great in the Tribune and the New Yorker. And they were right, it is great. So I know their work, or think I did, but this exhibit did what an exhibit is supposed to do, make you rethink what you thought you knew. Rivera is larger than life, and his greatest achievement are the murals he painted for Edsel Ford at the DIA. Rivera, a Communist, painting for one of the ultimate capitalists who just happened to love art more than money, and loved and ppreciated the genius of the work. (When he painted murals for Rockefeller, after that, THAT 1%er tore them down as communist propaganda.). What we see in this exhibit is the drawings, the detailed process that led to the murals. I first saw them in the late eighties and have seen them several times since, but they came alive in the context of seeing a broad range of Rivera's other work, too, his folk art, his work committed to the people, to the working class. This time when I saw the murals they came alive, thanks to the exhibit. Seeing the range of Rivera's art made me appreciate him even more.

Kahlo, too, has more depth than I had seen in her work previously. Part of it is seeing her work in his, even in the murals, their shared political concerns, but also their grief at the loss of a child. The range of work the exhibit gathers (and the book documents of the exhibit) makes us gain a deeper appreciation for her work, too.

Of course, their passionate and stormy relationship is always interesting, and this exhibit doesn't disappoint on that front. It's a rich, elaborate portrait of their time in Detroit. All Detroiters and socialists and art fans need to see it if they can; for those that can't, or like me who did, the book takes you deeper into analysis of the work and how it all relates together. Great stuff.

[Ellice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very eager to read this exhibit catalog, having seen the 2015 exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts and having worked on some related programming at another local cultural heritage institution. I was not disappointed. The plates cover every piece in the exhibit, and, as one might expect, are beautiful, lavish full-color reproductions. The essay by the exhibit curator, which takes up about half the book, provides a lot of additional context around the year that Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo spent in Detroit. The other essays, by a variety of contributors, give more background on the Detroit of 1932-33, the way Detroit was the place Frida's star really began to rise (and, perhaps, Diego's to fall), the way Edsel Ford's artistic and design values were a big reason he single-handedly funded Diego's creation of the Detroit Industry frescoes, and a lot of details about the fascinating relationship between these two hot-blooded artists. A must-read for those who see the exhibit and want to learn more, and likely of interest to others who may not get to see the exhibit.

[Karah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diego Rivera received the lion's share of attention. I borrowed this under the impression it would be something of a biography of their time in Detroit. An intensely analytical perspective of the art they produced during that time. I would recommend this to an art history buff.

Not recommended for casual readers.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has several great essays in it. I think the most valuable are the ones that set the larger context for Rivera and Kahlo's stay, and secondarily, the essays that attempt to piece together their lives and thoughts at the time.

The reason I hold back on praise about the artists' lives and motivations at the time is that both the Rosenthal and the Rivera essays state repeatedly that they are fixing the historical record by saying that Frida had an abortion, not a miscarriage, in Detroit. While Frida herself was slippery on the subject (as she was about just about everything), I think the facts speak to this being a very difficult situation, one in which it might be impossible to declare once and for all what happened.

The reason I say this is that it's clear to me throughout both essays that Rosenthal and Rivera don't have a real grasp on female anatomy, early pregnancy, the timing and use of abortifacients, or really any good grasp of the primary documents at hand. There are key differences in the role and placement of the vulva, vagina, and uterus (these are not used correctly in the book). More importantly, a woman cannot take a mid-20th century doctor-prescribed abortifacient of quinine and castor oil in mid-May and then have it induce an "abortion" some seven weeks later, in early July. If we carefully read the one piece of evidence most authors agree is the most trustworthy--Kahlo's letter to Dr. Eloesser on May 26, 1932, she describes that she took the abortifacient as administered by her doctor in Detroit (and for her health), she bled very little the next few days, and went back to the doctor, who told her she was still pregnant. Indeed, she describes still wanting "to vomit all the time" from the pregnancy hormones in her system. She then describes how much she wants the baby and is going to try to keep it. An added reason that I think we should acknowledge historical confusion on the matter is that in both English and Spanish, the words and meanings behind abortion vs. miscarriage can be misleading. (Still today, in the US, if a woman suffers a miscarriage, the technical term written in her medical record is "spontaneous abortion." In Spanish, the difference is even more slight: "hacerse [to get] un aborto" vs "tener [to have] un aborto.")

I realize that Frida is not the most reliable witness to her own story, and that she could have had mixed motivations and actions all throughout these early stages. But it seems clear to me that the (medically prescribed!) abortifacient she took did not lead to an abortion. It seems more likely, given all the evidence, that Hayden Herrera has it right: in the intervening months, she had decided to keep the baby, but lost it, due to congenital issues.

All of this aside, this book is still an excellent resource for anyone who wants to know more about Rivera and Kahlo's year spent in Detroit.

[Richard Archambault · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know any of the story behind these murals, nor much at all about their content, so I appreciated the in-depth discussions about them, as well as the chapters on Detroit, Edsel, and the techniques used. I was about to give up on the book, though, in the chapter on Frida in Detroit. Frankly, I have a strong aversion to art analysis that expends so much effort to draw out meanings in a drawing, in the details of a work of art. Sometimes a fruit is but a fruit, in my opinion. I also hate it when an article talks about a particular drawing or painting without showing it to you, and there were myriad examples of this (I know, I know, probably because of copyrights or some such, but still very annoying). Because of these two negatives, I can't give this book more than 3 stars. Too bad! The murals themselves are interesting, as is the experience that Diego and Frida had in the US, and how it would end up affecting the course of their lives.

[Jessica Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I enjoyed the first 130 pages or so, the main overview of Frida and Diego in Detroit written by Mark. He provides a helpful overview of their time there that also explores their artistic styles, personal influences, and political commentary. There are many colour plates of examples of the art which is very useful to visualise and understand the aspects of their art and politics discussed.

The additional commentaries were personally not as helpful for me, as they were at times, repetitive of the main outline.

[Matilde Cozzi]

Il libro vero è grida khalo e Diego Rivera, storie d amore eterne, libro carino sta sulle 3 stelle . Purtroppo è stato retto solo da frida, ma questo è un problema personale perché odio Diego; inoltre secondo me sono state sintetizzate troppo cose, ma nonostante tutto ci sta abbastanza

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a catalogue from the 2015 Detroit Institute of Arts exhibit.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally found a copy!

Not all of the essays were worth the read, but some contextualized the artists and their work of the time, some contextualized the Ford family and their role in bringing the artists to Detroit, and one went into the weeds of the materials Diego used on the cartoons for the frescos. Baller.

[Annie Carrott Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Took a while to finally (really) finish this coffee table type book that was published for the Detroit Institute of Art's wonderful exhibit of these two great Mexican artists. (Centered mainly on the murals he did within the museum) Frida is especially a favorite of mine so I relished the stories of her time in Detroit and her relationship with Diego. Also, I was surprised at how interesting Edsel Ford was in terms of his support of the murals and in general what a thoughtful, artistic man he was. (Too bad he died at such an early age)
Another character who held my attention was the DIA director at the time who was instrumental in arranging for Diego Rivera to come to the DIA before the "New York" crowd got a hold of him. Not to mention, of course, in obtaining the funding for the project. Thanks, Phil (my nephew), for a great read - even though you gave it to me a while ago!

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice text maintains focus on events pertaining to Detroit exhibit. Would have appreciated more pictures of Detroit Installation and Exhibit, but catalog has a more historical bent. Does a nice job explaining complicated personalities and relationship and its impact on their art.

[Frank McGirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read this in its entirety...mostly looked at the pics, but interesting bits about the protests of the DIA and the destruction of his New York mural. One essay argued that Kahlo came into her own during her time in Detroit.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite part Frida did not like America, so she would pretend not to speak english except for curse words.
Diego and Frida had dinner with Henry Ford and she asked him if he was Jewisah.