Diego Rivera, Reproduction of Man, Controller of the Universe, 1934

Narrator: Diego Rivera originally painted Man, Controller of the Universe, in Rockefeller Center. 

Mark Castro: Rivera, especially during his time in the United States became increasingly fascinated by the ways in which humanity's own ambitions and ability intersected with technology and modern industry. 

Narrator: Mark Castro. 

Mark Castro: And that was something that I think was reflected in much of his work, and is reflected in the mural he began to paint at Rockefeller Center. The theme that he had been given by the architects who were designing the building was "man at the crossroads."  And he initially began with an image that was a little bit different in his sketches, but over time, he changed it to add, I think, what is the most important figure in the mural, this central man, who's kind of guiding a machine, that is really made up of physical parts in some ways, but more so sort of ideas. 

So he sits at the center point of these two long elliptical shapes that act as viewpoints, into things that man is able to see through the use of technology. So the cosmos, the microbiological world, cells, diseases—all of these things become visible within this kind of space, and at their center sits man who is guiding the machine and, in a sense the machine is humanity and guiding us forward.

I think that Rivera felt that technology and science would someday intersect with political change, and that these things together were what was going to remake humanity into something better. 

Narrator: In a case nearby, you’ll find documents and newspaper articles demonstrating the ultimate fate of the mural. Rivera’s political commitments were communist. This made his industrialist patron Nelson Rockefeller an uneasy partner—and eventually, the commission fell apart. Rivera painted an image of Vladimir Lenin into the composition, which Rockefeller asked him to paint over with an anonymous figure. When Rivera refused, he was removed from the job. Within months the mural was painted over. Rivera re-created it for the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, and the reproduction on view here comes from that work.