question for manhattanites: nelson rockefeller and diego rivera

Factual Questions
1

In Tim Robbins’ latest movie, Cradle Will Rock, you can see Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) hiring Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to paint a mural in Rockefeller centre. Diego Rivera includes Lenin and some cells of bubonic plague/syphilis in his mural, so Nelson Rockefeller has him forcibly ejected and the mural removed.

Now I’m pretty sure this is fictional, but the movie says at the beginning “a mostly true story”, so I couldn’t help but wonder…

P.S. Go see that movie to see a funny depiction of 1936 New York City.

2

Nope, it really happened.

There’s a nice recounting of the story in Rem Koolhaus’s DELIRIOUS NEW YORK, a book every educated New Yorker should own and commit to memory.

Uke

3

What about uneducated Californians?

4

As I recall, Rocky didn’t give a rat’s ass about the germs (or “goims,” as we call them here in the City), but the depiction of the Master Bolshevik blew his stack.

Interesting that he had the power to do what he did…John D Junior, Nelson’s Pappy, was Da Man at that point in time. Nelson was a callow youth, just having completed an undistinguished academic career at Dartmouth.

Diego had painted a big floppy hat over Lenin’s face (he was standing in the midst of a group of disgruntled workers and joining their handss in solidarity), and just before the photographers showed up he removed it with turpentine. Therefore there are photographic records of the mural, but the work itself was destroyed.

Uke

5

Now why did I know that Ukulele Ike would have the answer to this question?

By the way, the mural is shown in the movie, so since there are photographs of it, Tim Robbins probably had it reproduced accurately. What a shame that it was destroyed! I thought that clever urban types loved irony, but I guess Nelson R. was somewhat humour-deficient.

It makes for a great story though.

6

Whatever you’ve been told about Nelson Rockefeller and Diego Rivera is just gossip.

your humble TubaDiva
(Since Ike beat me to it, I have nothing else to say.)

7

Nelson Rockefeller and Diego Rivera might be just gossip, but I believe the stuff about Rocky and Meagan Marshak (sp?).