Focus on Prometheus (Orozco) and discuss the Reception and influence.
Prometheus received immediate critical acclaim upon completion. 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".It was the first major work by a Mexican muralist in the United States, and helped Orozco, who was relatively unknown at the time, 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. He would later become known as one of the "big three" of the Mexican Mural Renaissance.Prometheus heavily influenced abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock, who first visited the mural in the summer of 1930 and called it "the greatest painting in North America". Spaulding, Frary's architect, said "I feel as though the building would fall down if the fresco were removed."Among contemporary students, it is often noted for its conspicuous lack of a penis; Orozco likely omitted it to avoid offending puritanical sensibilities. 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.
The Epic of American Civilization The New School Prometheus Mexican Mural Renaissance Jackson Pollock Dartmouth College Arthur Millier fire fresco Los Angeles Times