New York Herald Tribune reported on his plans to "paint the rhythm of American workers." The city was in the throes of one of the greatest construction drives of all time, made possible by the armies of surplus labor available during the Depression. The figures in the foreground here use a pneumatic drill and jackhammer to bore into Manhattan\'s granite foundation. Rivera later identified this scene as depicting preparations for the construction of Rockefeller Center, which was still in its early stages when he arrived in New York.'; ?>
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Fresco on reinforced cement in a galvanized-steel framework, approx. 94 x 74" (239 x 188 cm). Location unknown since 1977. Reproduced from a 1932 photograph by Peter A. Juley & Son. Photograph courtesy Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum (cat. no. J0005920)

Charcoal on paper, 97 1/4 x 76 7/8" (247 x 195.2 cm). Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico. © 2011 Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, México, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph © Eumelia Hernández and Ricardo Alvarado; Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes

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