The year 2020 is very special. Four American centennials are being celebrated across the country. Yet there’s another centennial which is not American, but has impacted this nation deeply. In 1920, the Mexican Revolution ended. The government was trying to figure out how best to unify the country after the war. What was decided -- bring back an art tradition that dates before Columbus and for which the people loved. Murals have depicted everything from historical events such as wars to religious ceremonies like human sacrifices.

Mexican artists like Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueriros revitalized the Italian fresco style because it cemented their beautiful works with powerful messages, permanently in public spaces.

During the Depression, the Roosevelt Administration created the WPA and the Federal Arts Project to also unify this country. Our government wanted to show how it could positively impact our population and get them back to work.

Many famous artists like Jackson Pollack, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko and including African American greats like Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Charles Alston, Aaron Douglas, Hale Woodruff and Elizabeth Catlett participated.

This talk will elaborate on this special time at the Throckmorton Fine Arts Gallery in midtown and moderated by Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director & Chief Curator, West Harlem Art Fund. 

Throckmorton Fine Arts Gallery
145 East 57th Street, 3rd Floor
New York NY 10022
Saturday, February 22, 2020
3 p.m.