Prometheus (Orozco)

Prometheus (Spanish: Prometeo) is a fresco by Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco[4] depicting the Greek Titan Prometheus stealing fire from the heavens to give to humans.[2] It was commissioned for Pomona College's Frary Dining Hall and completed in June 1930,[4] becoming the first modern fresco in the United States.[5][6][7] It has received widespread critical acclaim.[8]

Prometheus
Spanish: Prometeo
ArtistJosé Clemente Orozco[1]
Year1930 (1930)[1]
MediumFresco
MovementMexican muralism
Dimensions610 cm × 870 cm (20 feet × 28 feet)[2][3]
LocationFrary Dining Hall, Pomona College, Claremont, California, United States

Description

The mural is above a fireplace at the north end of the refectory of Frary Dining Hall at Pomona College.[9] It consists of four panels: a main one facing the open eating area of the dining hall, two side ones, and an overhead one.[10] The Titan Prometheus of ancient Greek mythology dominates the main panel, reaching for fire to give to humans, an act for which he would later be punished by Zeus. Surrounding his muscular, contorted figure is a crowd of people reacting to the gift, with some welcoming it and others scorning it.[2][4] The color palette features heavy use of reds, blues, and black.[6]

  • Prometheus side panels
  • Left panel
    Left panel
  • Overhead panel
    Overhead panel
  • Right panel
    Right panel

Production

The mural was commissioned in 1930 for Pomona's newly built neo-Gothic men's dining hall by its architect, Sumner Spaulding, and professor of art history and Hispanic studies José Pijoán.[10] Journalist Alma Reed, a patron of Orozco's in New York, also helped the artist obtain the commission.[11] Students helped to raise $300[4] of Orozco's artist fee of $2500[12] (equivalent to $44,000 in 2022).

Orozco stayed on campus for three months to complete the mural, living in a Clark dormitory, eating meals at Frary, and using students as models.[9] He was assisted in the painting by Jorge Juan Crespo de la Serna, particularly with the side panels.[5]

Interpretation

Art historians generally interpret the mural to be a metaphor for the challenges often faced by those seeking to expand the realm of knowledge, particularly from conservative authority figures.[13] The varying reactions of the crowd around Prometheus depicts that human development comes with both costs and benefits.[2]

This theme connects to the mural's collegiate setting.[10][5] It also had personal resonance for Orozco, who faced resistance throughout his life from those opposed to his leftist political views.[14]

The subject of fire was of interest to him because of a fireworks accident in which he lost his left hand when he was 21.[14]

Reception and influence
External images
image icon 1930 banquet in Frary Dining Hall
image icon Empty Frary Dining Hall
Prometheus is visible in the background of both photos.

Prometheus received immediate critical acclaim upon completion.[8] Los Angeles Times art critic Arthur Millier declared it a masterpiece, writing that Orozco "has energized that wall with his sublime conception of Prometheus bearing fire to cold, longing humanity until it lives as probably no wall in the United States lives today." He praised its "dynamic composition", describing it as "powerful beyond anything one can anticipate".[15]

It was the first major work by a Mexican muralist in the United States,[16] and helped Orozco, who was relatively unknown at the time,[17][18] to subsequently land two other U.S. commissions, a mural room at The New School in New York City and The Epic of American Civilization at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.[19] He would later become known as one of the "big three" of the Mexican Mural Renaissance.[20][10]

Prometheus heavily influenced abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock,[21][22][23] who first visited the mural in the summer of 1930[11] and called it "the greatest painting in North America".[1][24] Spaulding, Frary's architect, said "I feel as though the building would fall down if the fresco were removed."[1]

Among contemporary students, it is often noted for its conspicuous lack of a penis;[25][26][27] Orozco likely omitted it to avoid offending puritanical sensibilities.[14] He attempted to add one when he visited Pomona several months after initially completing the mural, but it did not adhere properly to the wall.[14]

Preservation and restoration
The Frary Dining Hall refectory in winter 2018
(view as a 360° interactive panorama)

Pomona has undertaken various preservation and restoration efforts over the years. In 1980, a protective varnish was applied over the mural.[28] In 1982, structural damage was discovered in the wall behind the mural; it was subsequently reinforced.[1] In 1995, it was restored after being damaged by vandals.[29] In 2000, the college acquired preparatory drawings for the work from Orozco's relatives.[10]

See also

Public art at Pomona College

References
  1. "José Clemente Orozco's Prometheus". Benton Museum of Art. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. Vallen, Mark. "Prometheus: José Clemente Orozco". Art for a Change. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  3. "Prometheus". Benton Museum of Art. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. Allen, David (22 October 2017). "Orozco's 'Prometheus' mural provides food for thought at Pomona College dining hall". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. Scott, David W. (1957). "Orozco's Prometheus: Summation, Transition, Innovation". College Art Journal. 17 (1): 2–18. doi:10.2307/773653. ISSN 1543-6322. JSTOR 773653.
  6. "José Clemente Orozco Artworks & Famous Paintings". The Art Story. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. Angeleti, Gabriella (10 February 2020). "Beyond the wall: a golden period of exchange between Mexican and US artists is revisited in new show". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  8. "José Clemente Orozco's Prometheus". Pomona College. Retrieved 18 May 2020. It was almost immediately acclaimed a masterpiece. Critics noted the skill with which Orozco scaled the composition to its architectural environment.
  9. "1930". Pomona College Timeline. Pomona College. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. Cheng, Scarlet (10 December 2000). "An Intimate Take on a Public Gem". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  11. Haskell, Barbara (2020). "América: Mexican Muralism and Art in the United States, 1925-1945". Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art with Yale University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-300-24669-8. OCLC 1111979440.
  12. Allen, David (16 September 2017). "'Prometheus' mural ignites Mexican artists in PST: LA/LA show at Pomona College". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  13. Polcari, Stephen (1992). "Orozco and Pollock: Epic Transfigurations". American Art. 6 (3): 43. doi:10.1086/424159. ISSN 1073-9300. JSTOR 3109102. S2CID 194040790. The subject and Orozco's rendering of it suggest the complex cost of human development
  14. Gurza, Agustin (2 July 2012). "Orozco at the Border". Pomona College Magazine. Pomona College. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  15. Millier, Arthur (1 June 1930). "Prometheus Reconceived: Orozco's Fresco of Fire-Bringing Titan Gives Claremont Masterpiece". Los Angeles Times. pp. 33, 40, 49. Retrieved 16 December 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Knight, Christopher (15 March 2009). "When culling a collection is a good thing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  17. Waldman, Tom (1 December 1991). "Icons". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  18. "Prometheus". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  19. May, Stephen (3 December 2002). "José Clemente Orozco in the United States". Antiques and the Arts. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  20. Luz Elena Mainero del Castillo (2012). "El muralismo y la Revolución Mexicana" [Muralism and the Mexican Revolution] (in Spanish). Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de México. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  21. Cotter, Holland (20 February 2020). "How Mexico's Muralists Lit a Fire Under U.S. Artists". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  22. Polcari, Stephen (1992). "Orozco and Pollock: Epic Transfigurations". American Art. 6 (3): 37–57. doi:10.1086/424159. ISSN 1073-9300. JSTOR 3109102. S2CID 194040790.
  23. Schjeldahl, Peter. "The Lasting Influence of Mexico's Great Muralists". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  24. "American Masters . José Clemente Orozco . Filmmaker Interview". PBS. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  25. Sutton, Frances (28 February 2020). "Framed: 'Prometheus'—the hunk without the junk at Frary". The Student Life. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  26. Biemiller, Lawrence (16 February 2011). "What Students Ask About Orozco's Prometheus Is, Well, Obvious". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  27. McGrew et al. 2017, p. 67.
  28. Rodriguez, Abigail (2016). Playing With Fire: An Examination of the Context and Conservation of Jose Clemente Orozco's Prometheus (Thesis). Scripps College. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  29. "1995". Pomona College Timeline. Pomona College. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

Bibliography
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