Diego RiveraMexican, 1886–1957Viva Zapata
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Viva Zapata” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1990.106.51
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Diego Rivera
The whole lifeNovember 1930
Arriving in San Francisco with Frida Kahlo
In September 1930 Rivera accepted architect Timothy Pflueger's commission for two works connected with his design projects in San Francisco, and in November he and Kahlo came to the city, living and working in the studio of the sculptor Ralph Stackpole, who had recommended Rivera to Pflueger.
1930s
Asylum for Leon Trotsky
Rivera obtained from President Lázaro Cárdenas asylum in Mexico for the political exile Leon Trotsky and sheltered him and his wife Natalia Sedova in his own house; later a conflict arose between them.
November 1931
Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art
In November 1931 the Museum of Modern Art in New York mounted a retrospective of Rivera's work, which Frida Kahlo attended with him; it took place shortly before he began the Detroit murals.
1933
A scandal over the portrait of Lenin
Rockefeller's son, the press and part of the public protested against the portrait of Lenin and the mural's pro-worker Marxist content; when Rivera refused to remove Lenin he was ordered to leave the United States.
December 1933
Return to Mexico from the United States
In December 1933 Rivera returned to Mexico, after being ordered to leave the United States for refusing to remove Lenin from the mural.
1934
The Rockefeller Center mural is destroyed
In 1934 the board of Rockefeller Center decided to destroy the fresco after Rivera refused to replace the portrait of Lenin with the face of an unknown man.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
