allegory of california

Anushka Ghatia
September 19, 2014
Class time-9:30-10:45am

“I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in completing this work, nor have I presented someone else’s work as my own.”

The Allegory of California The Allegory of California is a mural painting by Diego Rivera. The artwork was created in 1931 and was done on a wall and a ceiling. The size of the painting is 472 square feet and it portrays a comprehensive view of California in terms of agriculture, transportation and industry of that period of time. It also exhibits dreams and hopes of the people for the brighter future. The main character of the painting is a warrior queen Califia who was the bellwether of California. She is portrayed as a strong lady. When some people looked at the painting their observations were that it showcased different levels of the religion triarchy - lower, middle and upper level. The upper class (queen) is shown at the top of the painting middle class shown in the halfway (merchants, farmers) while the lower class is painted at the bottom (miners). According to people’s opinion the airplane in the center indicated the sign of invention and would give opportunity to people to travel different parts of the world. They also claimed that the main character of the allegory is an audacious woman who ruled California. In the painting she has blue eyes and is looking straight ahead which indicates her command and power over the state. The other parts of the painting displays engineers, merchants, coal miners and farmers.
People reported that there are many oil refineries shown at the top of the painting which are taking oil from the sea. It gives view of the development occurred in the field of industries in California. I completely agree with people’s observations, but I would like to highlight three areas of the painting in detail. First, the most eye catching part of the painting is the airplane in the centre of the painting. The youth of California and their dreams are represented by the boy holding an airplane in his hands. Second, the warrior queen’s left hand holding riches that are found in ground like coal showing the presence of huge amount of coal in the coal mines while her right hand holds fruits and wheat which showed there was bountiful vegetation in the state at that time. Queen is wearing a necklace made of wheat which showed the ample production of wheat in California.
Third, the industries and oil refineries are shown behind the queen’s shoulders. The painting portrays industries refining oil from the sea. The industries gives sign of progress and generation of employment in the state.
The ‘Allegory of California’ is a very beautiful and impeccable painting. It beautifully portrays the amity between human and nature. It also narrates the development and progress in California during that period of time.