Commission
For work on the Rockefeller Center, what was Rivera paid?
Man at the Crossroads
The Rockefellers wanted to have a mural put on the ground-floor wall of Rockefeller Center. Nelson Rockefeller wanted Henri Matisse or Pablo Picasso to do it because he favored their modern style, but neither was available. Diego Rivera was one of Nelson Rockefeller's mother's favorite artists and therefore was commissioned to create the huge mural. He was given a theme: "Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future." Rockefeller wanted the painting to make people pause and think. Rivera was to be paid $21,000 for the work. He was officially commissioned by Todd-Robertson-Todd Engineering, the development agents for the building. The full commission envisaged three murals. "Man at the Crossroads" would be in the center. It would be flanked by "The Frontier of Ethical Evolution" and "The Frontier of Material Development". The central composition was intended to contrast Capitalism and Socialism. This basic compositional idea was approved by Rockefeller.