RT Journal
A1 Harris JC
T1 DIego rivera's man at the crossroads
JF Archives of General Psychiatry
JO Archives of General Psychiatry
YR 2012
FD April 1
VO 69
IS 4
SP 337
OP 338
DO 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.102
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.102
AB 
On Wednesday, May 10, 1933, Diego Rivera made front-page news in the New York Times: “ROCKEFELLERS BAN LENIN IN RCA MURAL AND DISMISS RIVERA.” The night before, Rivera (1886-1957) was ordered to stop painting his commissioned mural, Man at the Crossroads (epigraph), in the main entrance lobby of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) building in Rockefeller Center. He was paid the $14 000 remainder of his $21 000 fee and dismissed. Within an hour, the mural was covered over by new canvas panels. Earlier that week, Rivera sought permission for a professional photograph to be taken of his work in progress. Permission was denied. Sensing trouble, Rivera's wife, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), alerted Rivera's assistant, Lucienne Bloch (1909-1999). A diversion was created to allow time for Bloch, the daughter of noted conductor Ernest Bloch and a talented photographer, to quickly take photos of the large mural and close-ups of the area showing Lenin (epigraph) using her handheld Leica (cover, thumbnail).