A mural long riddled with scandal and cloaked behind white paint
is finally seeing the light of day. For 80 years, David Alfaro
Siqueiros’ fresco mural known as América Tropical has been
hidden from the public eye in downtown Los Angeles and was
thought to have been destroyed. J. Paul Getty Trust |Getty
Conservation Institute conservators work to preserve América
Tropical, by David Alfara Siqueiros. The public artwork in Los
Angeles was whitewashed in the 1930s, due to its anti-American
message.| The 1932 installation depicted a minority being
crucified by American oppression—a powerful message that didn’t
go over well with the era’s city fathers, who had it painted
over. Now, however, the City of Los Angeles and the Getty
Conservation Institute have spent many years and almost $10
million to reveal and preserve the forgotten work. Finally, the
revived mural was officially unveiled Tuesday (Oct. 9).
Controversy behind the Art The piece is the only surviving
public mural by Siqueiros in the U.S. that’s still i