Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945 | Art & Artists

Feb 17, 2020–Jan 31, 2021

Orozco on the Coasts

A photo of a mural depicting a tortured-looking man.

Orozco on the Coasts

The work of José Clemente Orozco had a tremendous impact on American artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Jackson Pollock, and Charles White. Orozco was the first of the leading Mexican muralists to come to the United States, arriving in New York in December 1927. His first mural in the United States, painted in 1930 for the Frary Dining Hall at Pomona College in California, appears in the exhibition as a half-scale reproduction. Rejecting the folkloric themes popular with his peers, Orozco focused on Prometheus, the mythical Greek Titan who incited the wrath of the gods by bringing fire—and thus knowledge—to humanity. The never-ending cycle of conflict and struggle remained a central theme in Orozco’s art as he continued to receive major commissions from institutions including Manhattan’s New School for Social Research, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and the Museum of Modern Art. Through works such as these, Orozco inspired artists across the country, who channeled his visceral brushwork and uncompromising portrayal of struggle and trauma into their own depictions of upheaval and strife, both personal and collective