Getty Research Journal

Abstract:

This This essay discusses activist and art historian Shifra Goldman and her essential role in preserving David Alfaro Siqueiros's mural América tropical, located on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. The essay examines the various articulations of Goldman's foundational analysis and interpretations concerning the mural. These reworkings not only situated the artwork and Siqueiros's intent within the local historical context and time frame but also drew connections to the Chicano movement and were informed by Goldman's writings on the popularity and reception of Latin American art in the United States. Through these efforts and texts, Goldman revitalized the campaign she began in 1968 to restore the mural and its visibility to both the general public and a more specialized audience of art and cultural historians.