Diego Rivera

The fact that Diego Rivera was an avowed and outspoken communist had not prevented Nelson Rockefeller from commissioning him to a paint a massive mural for the Rockefeller Center in New York. But when Rockefeller became aware that Rivera's painting, titled “Man at the Crossroads,” included a prominent depiction of Vladimir Lenin, he took exception and asked Rivera to remove Lenin from the painting. After Rivera refused, Rockefeller paid him in full, then had the mural painted over.

Ten months later Rivera unveiled a re-worked version of the painting, now titled “Man, Controller of the Universe,” at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The new version of the painting still featured Lenin (as well as Trotsky, Marx, and Engels). I won’t say that Rivera was bitter, but in the new painting he also added Nelson Rockefeller (a teetotaler) with a woman, in a nightclub, drinking a cocktail, and with syphilis bacterium floating over his head. Well, OK, I will say it. Rivera was bitter.

The photo is of Diego Rivera's “Man at the Crossroads,” which was unveiled on May 1, 1933 (ninety years ago today), then promptly painted over.

Despite this kerfuffle, Nelson Rockefeller and Diego Rivera eventually renewed their unlikely friendship.