March 18, 2022

This morning Rebecca and I reminisced about our first visit together to San Francisco together. I then recalled a visit I made to the Coit Tower there erected 1933 with murals painted by the Works Progress Administration(WPA) a program under Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration which employed artists to depict everyday life in America in the 1930's (https://www.sftodo.com/coit-tower-murals-art.html and https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=APq-WBsCcFtmfU1W8Lw5FJ6SQoOgbRahpA:1647633021051&q=san+francisco+mural+wpa&tbm=isch&chips=q:san+francisco+mural+wpa,online_chips:coit+tower:DVJapeDeUZY%3D&usg=AI4_-kT1Njp3XAgsGgCtvEbCn_vgRcDVbQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwillsKnt9D2AhWTDkQIHRlNBbQQgIoDKAF6BAgtEA4&biw=1280&bih=648&dpr=2#imgrc=rhz5Yjj6ADZusM).  The great depression of the 1930's was a calamity of epic economic collapse in which the roaring 20's collapsed into the worldwide bankruptcy of unregulated financial systems. The dust bowl caused in part the great migration to California as written about in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Xenophobic prejudices collided with extreme poverty and rootlessness of the poor and disenfranchised. The agriculture migrant labor strikes of mexican and filipino workers of 1933 was a seminal events during those times. George Creel representing the National Labor Relations Board under Roosevelt assisted the strikers and growers to come to a settlement but death of two workers and mayhem occurred along the way. The artist now employed to paint the murals depicted everyday life with very democratic views of everyday life. I still recall my visit to the Coit Tower and the emotional uplifting spirit of the murals showing common humanity. 

When visiting Mexico I recall in Merida in the Yucatan being very moved by a large mural in the city. Diego Rivera and others thankfully appealed to the populace and were able to create masterpieces of historical struggles and everyday life of the poorer and oppressed that are treasurers to this day (https://www.google.com/search?q=+diego+rivera+mural&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi0p7biwND2AhUxHDQIHbtyD9gQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=+diego+rivera+mural&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIICAAQgAQQsQMyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQ6BwgjEO8DECc6BAgAEEM6BggAEAcQHjoGCAAQBRAeUKMLWJE7YLQ9aABwAHgAgAGVAYgBiwqSAQMwLjmYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=aOw0YrTTHrG40PEPu-W9wA0&bih=648&biw=1280).  His murals caused controversy so when Rockefeller commissioned him the create a three panel mural in the Rockefeller Center called Man at the Crossroads Rockefeller plastered over the offending mural due to the depiction of Lenin and communism as part of the theme. 

When visiting my sister in Long Island we went to the Nassau County Museum of Art where they had a wonderful exhibition of graffiti art (https://www.google.com/search?q=Nassau+county+museum+of+art+graffiti+art&newwindow=1&sxsrf=APq-WBunfxxKZrloveTQScz8S0irU6nsOw:1647636254022&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC_Y6tw9D2AhU8IkQIHcA-A2oQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1280&bih=648&dpr=2). Graffiti artists have a tradition life muralists of calling attention to our countries exploitations and prejudices as well as the beauty and rich culture of the seemingly forgotten. 

The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht premiered in 1928 both satired traditional opera but created a musical genre that had its heyday on Broadway. Brecht and Weill disillusioned by capitalist exploitations and World War 1 influenced by the Dadaists movement created a delightful musical often performed to this day. According to Google "In The Threepenny Opera, Brecht argues that a capitalist system drives people to do anything to make money. They steal, kill, and sell their bodies, and none of these actions is out of the ordinary. These activities will arise naturally because the characters live in a system that rewards ruthless competition."  Charles Chaplin likewise created a character 'of The Tramp with the satire brilliance of Modern Times showcasing the humanity of the commoner and the exploitation and disregard of the worker of the industrial revolution. 

So along the same topic I recall puzzling over the movie Citizen Kane played and directed by Orson Welles. A controversial film depicts the life and death of the main character a tycoon of the twentieth century. It's dark, somewhat creepy, and the Rosebud ending causes some puzzled sadness. But tycoons are not to be admired after viewing this film. More comically carried out Welles read on the radio H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds with such convincing rendition that people believed we were being invaded by the Martians! I'm sure you may have your favorite picture and radio show to add to this brief collection of art moving us to a better appreciation of each other and the forces that both oppress and liberate us. 

I'm convinced that in a society such as communist China or Russia today these art projects would never see the light of day. 

Yesterday we attended a birthday party for a 100 year old matriarch mother of children with two survivor children and a number of grandchildren. Her son took on photography as his profession. He showed us a small booklet he recently published associated with his youth. He joined a bus going to Selma and photographed this trip. More recently while going through old slides he came upon this trip. Rebecca and I were very impressed with this small booklet of history in the making. More recently he has gone to Mexico to photograph the Trump Wall erected on our taxpayer payroll to keep out illegal immigrants. He has photographed some beautiful artistic mural like paintings on the Mexican side but the American side is barren and full of toxic swamp devoid of people. Let's applaud our artists both visual, video, and written for moving us towards embracing diversity and democracy!

Leonard 

P.S. Last week while hiking Hanauma Ridge loop hike I ran into this photographer. He and his buddy with tripods were photographing the views from the ridge using a medium format camera. I admired his work and so here's his link to enjoy. 

 https://www.mousehawaii.com/index

Rebecca wanted me to share that at the Honolulu Museum of Art there is part of the Berlin Wall erected by Communist Soviet Union (Russia). On one side facing the communist side it's blank barren. On the other side the free democratic side is all sorts of art. https://www.google.com/search?q=honolulu+museum+of+art+berlin+wall&newwindow=1&sxsrf=APq-WBv7HzlOpNEfFjbAo71pD_D_pCSxbQ:1647645230577&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&vet=1&fir=aNnc6wOP8YVHOM%252CDZ0SITTxW0VxCM%252C_%253BVo4QoqwHkdZ6_M%252CwjusHo7QZzaGwM%252C_%253BKhzzE85_d95hrM%252CNPupGwocmgIM_M%252C_%253BbXLk7PJTRog8RM%252CAg6VE0qIj3ZT4M%252C_%253BwEAsW0YCDaimsM%252C9mlBEc9ip6vesM%252C_%253BJgZrCZAuybMVkM%252CAg6VE0qIj3ZT4M%252C_%253B0eQ_j59kFuJm7M%252ClLiGr-CqFXjmxM%252C_%253B8z7bXgBy_6HWsM%252C1DBHQbSCyTXvxM%252C_%253BRZgeTJDjfUq3fM%252CERsTkoEOE8eRQM%252C_%253BJm_Zf_2gHq4dHM%252Cukps4R8lDsDGTM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRvyNv2hYViihsbhk7hl7Z5RdOg1Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifs7zl5ND2AhVfJEQIHVxpCD0Q9QF6BAgLEAE#imgrc=A3i_MkSc1hQvwM

  

San Diego Museum of Art Balboa Park (my photographs)

Iceland (my photographs)