Detroit, USA; October 2005
These days Detroit is often put forward as the poster child of urban decline, but it wasn’t always this way. Back in the days of Motor City, it was quite the place to be. Although it’s thought of as an industrial city, the wealth from the car industry helped support a thriving artistic community
In the 1930s Mexican artist Diego Rivera accepted a mural commission for the city of Detroit and he spent quite some time in the city, with his wife and fellow artist Frida Kahlo. These days Kahlo is arguably better known outside Mexico, perhaps in part because her art is so much more portable. (The movie Frida with Salma Hayek probably helped as well). Back then though she was firmly in Rivera’s shadow artistically, partly because she was a woman and partly because she was much younger.
You can see Rivera’s murals at the wonderful Detroit Institute of Arts – the museum itself is top class and the murals are stunning. When Rivera wasn’t working, he liked to hang out at the Scarab Club in the historic district of Detroit. You can visit the Scarab Club today and see his signature, dated 1932, on the roof beams. Membership didn’t open to women until 1962, which would help explain why Kahlo’s signature is missing.
This post is my submission to Photo Friday, a weekly blogging event run by Debbie of Delicious Baby. Please check out all this week’s submissions and don’t forget to congratulate Debbie who’s just given birth to baby number three!
Who knew? Thanks for sharing this tidbit of info about Detroit. I’ve flow into the city on my way to Ann Arbor numerous times but this is definitely worth a visit in itself.
The Diego Rivera frescoes are a treasure of our city. The interesting thing is that we almost lost them. The commission was issued by Edsel Ford (Henry I’s son). Some local Bigwigs wanted to plaster over the paintings because of Rivera’s leftward leanings and the fact that the murals were thought to be anti-capitalist (of course they are).
To his credit, the great capitalists son Edsel insisted that they remain, thankfully.
I remember sitting in the Scarab Club having lunch during the Detroit Festival of the Arts looking at all the signatures, didn’t notice Rivera’s though.
Thanks for writing about our gem of a museum.
I just clicked on the Detroit Institute of Art page. Thanks for the insight, especially with the car industry the way it is, it’s nice to learn a little bit about Detroit’s art history background.
I know, I don’t understand why Detroit gets a bad rep, I’ve actually heard the opposite. Like what your post is about. So, if it’s any consolation, I really want to visit there!!!
Photo Friday – Costa Rica Independence Day
Oh, I love Diego and Frida. There’s a few murals of his here in San Francisco, and it’s one of my summer goals to go and check them all out.
You’re right – think Detroit and I think cars not art
Detroit does get a bad rap…really unjustly in many cases…so you see why I spend so much time blogging about some of the truly wonderful assets we have here.
I see Tim already told you about our visit to the Scarab Club during the Festival of the Arts…and a little background about the murals and the DIA.
We’re members of the DIA and visit several times each year. The Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Historical museum, The Henry Ford in Dearborn, the national Arab American Museum in Dearborn….I’ve blogged about a lot of these places over at Midwest Guest. So, any one who wants to visit the Detroit area, let us know! We’ll find you plenty of great Detroit-area sights to see and experience.
Oh…and speaking of Ann Arbor…they recently reopened their art museum after an ambitious $41.9 million re-do and expansion (yup, I blogged about that as well). Ann Arbor is only about an hour west of Detroit, and we go there often.