The Liz Diaries : Diego and Frida at the Detroit Institute of Arts

I made it, I actually made it and with a day to spare too! For a moment there I thought I was going to miss the special Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo exhibition of their time in Detroit at the Detroit Institute of Arts (see my blog post about that right here). I was there on July 11th and the last day of the exhibition was July 12th. (Whew, that was close!)

I know that when people think of Detroit the last thing they think about is art, but let me tell you that the art is really happening there and not just the street art either.

As you may or may not remember, Detroit was once a very important city in the U.S. and a very wealthy one too because it was such a huge industrial hub. Late in the 19th century Detroit was even known as the Paris of the west and what would Paris be without art?

The Detroit Institute of Arts, or the DIA as it is widely known, has one of the best art collections in the U.S. In fact, the first Matisse and Van Gogh pieces to come to the U.S. went to the DIA.

I got to spend about six hours at the DIA and I could have spent even more time there. I kind of wish I would have. This was, after all, my reason for going to Detroit.

Because most of Kahlo's pieces are privately owned (even, ahem, Madonna owns a few) most people do not want to lend them out (and can you blame them?) so it took 10 years for this exhibition to come together according to one of the docents at the DIA. I found it astonishing that it took that long to get the pieces that they did on loan for this exhibition and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to see them. It was absolutely phenomenal, a dream come true, really. I wish I could have taken photographs. Luckily I will never forget the experience.

But let's not forget about the great pieces that are part of the DIA's permanent collections. Aside from finding Matisse and Van Gogh there you can also find Picasso, Bernini, and so many others from all over the world.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin

Self Portrait With Straw Hat by Vincent Van Gogh

The Detroit Industry murals, one of the DIA's highlights, sit on the walls of the DIA's courtyard. They were painted by Diego Rivera who was the best and most well known muralist of his time. In 1932 Edsel Ford (Henry Ford's son) and William Valentiner (the DIA's director) commissioned Rivera to paint a mural about Detroit. Ford paid Rivera $20,000 which in today's money would roughly be a quarter of a million dollars. Upon completion many people disliked the murals and wanted them destroyed, but Edsel loved them and would not allow it. It was his gift to Detroit and in my opinion his gift to the world. Thank god it remains today because it is said that Detroit Industry is the best work of Rivera's career and with good reason. It is quite intriguing and well worth the visit to the DIA.