Rivera In America

The great Mexican muralist's work in the North

Rivera in America

One hour, 1986, 

Rick Tejada-Flores

Producer/director

aired on American Masters, PBS

Rivera In America tells the story of the great Mexican muralist’s travels in the United States, the epic work that he created here, and his lasting effect on American artists.

Rivera was a communist, but he painted his first mural in the United States for the Pacific Stock Exchange in San Francisco. From San Francisco he traveled to Detroit, to create an epic portrait of the auto industry. That mural was paid for by Edsel Ford. His next and most notorious commission was for a mural at Rockefeller Center in New York. When he included the head of Lenin, the mural was destroyed. Years later he would return once more to paint a movable mural for the Worlds Fair on Treasure Island.

“The fascinating hour-long piece includes an amazing assemblage of archival photographs and remarkable vintage footage of Rivera at work.”

Watch a short trailer