Source: WTL photograph© at the Special Exhibition of "Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910 - 1950," at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, December 13, 2016.
Image: This photograph was taken in the Philadelphia Art Museum exhibition of a reproduction of a complex mural titled "Portrait of the Bourgeoisie" (1939-40) by David Alfaro Siqueiros, Luis Arenal, Antonio Pujol (1913-95), and Josep Renau (Spanish, 1907-82).
Comments: According to the Spanish muralist José Renau, the theme of this leftmost panel is: "the development of capitalism toward its death; the demagogue, secretly put into motion by the power of money, pushes the masses toward the grand slaughter." Find these elements in this teeming panel: at the bottom, the gears and pulleys of a machine that symbolizes industrial capitalism; in the middle, the human figure with a parrot's head, which the muralists correlate with a demogogue sitting in from of tiny human soldiers of clashing police; at the top, the temple of democracy going up in smoke and flames (notice the shibboleth of the French Revolution: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" in the temple's pediment (triangle at top). Except for the demonstrative political symbolism, this panel would seem to be an example of Surrealism, which is based on psychological free associations.
Humanities Question: Setting aside your own political views for the sake of objective humanities analysis (to the degree that this is possible, of course), how well do you think the four muralists manage to convey, with symbolism and detailed realism, Renau's stated message?