Diego Rivera. Detroit Industry (1932-1933): north wall fresco, lower panel 5.398 m x 13.716 m. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, USA.

摘要

This massive mural >22 feet high and 73 feet wide is bursting with life, energy and power. It depicts engine and transmission production for the 1932 Ford V8 at the Ford River Rouge factory in Detroit, an 'ore to assembly' complex employing 100 000 people on 1200 acres [1]. In the upper section, foundry operations are shown in sequence. A blast furnace is being tapped, while ladles of molten steel are filled, conveyed and emptied. The centre of the panel is occupied by two rows of giant multiple spindle drills, which ream out engine blocks and tower over the straining figures on the engine assembly line. Overhead conveyors traverse the composition like a giant circulatory system [2]. At the bottom of the mural, small Renaissance style monochrome predella panels depict various steel-making processes in 'a day in the life' of a' worker at the plant. The fresco is signed and dated 1 March 1933 [3].