David alfaro siqueiros america tropical

1932 mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros

América Tropical is a 98-foot wide fresco mural created in 1932 by David Alfaro Siqueiros and other artists in Los Angeles, California, on a second-level exterior wall of the Italian Hall.^[1] It was painted over soon after its completion on an external wall of the Italian Hall on Olvera Street, in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument of Downtown Los Angeles.

It was restored and revealed to the public in 2012, 80 years to the day after its first unveiling.^[2]

History

Siqueiros came to Los Angeles as a political refugee in 1932 and was sponsored by the Plaza Art Center to create a mural that was supposed to be about happy men, parrots, and palms with fruit falling into the mouths of people.^[3] Siqueiros completely ignored the institutional project request in pursuit of his own unique artistic idea by creating a mural, which turn