Despite earlier claims that the artwork will be saved rather than sold, the status of Diego Rivera’s cherished mural at the San Francisco Art Institute is still up in the air. Tuesday saw the announcement from Cushman & Wakefield that it will be selling the SFAI site. The renowned art school shut its doors in 2022 due to serious financial difficulties. The Rivera mural, The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City (1931), is also a part of that building at 800 Chestnut Street.
The Rivera mural, which is 74 feet wide, is regarded as a significant one. The artwork, which was commissioned by SFAI, shows workmen creating a fresco in the same room as the Rivera piece. According to ABC News, it may be worth $50 million.
“The fresco has made SFAI an international destination for the study of Rivera’s work and is considered an outstanding example of his mastery of the medium,” the now defunct school notes on its website. With the possibility of closure approaching in 2021, SFAI officials tried to sell the painting in an effort to raise money for the institution. These efforts were criticised by both students and academics. According to a union for adjunct faculty, “this would provide only a limited lifeline, and does not address patterns of misbehaviour and mismanagement by S.F.A.I.’s board and executive officers.” (SFAI disputed these claims.)
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to start the process of designating the Rivera painting as a landmark. This would legally assure that it could not be relocated. Rivera supporters were encouraged by a $200,000 Mellon Foundation grant provided to the school for the support of the painting in April of last year. Many believed that SFAI’s announcement that it would restore the piece after receiving the funding meant that the painting would not be put up for sale. Then, in July, SFAI made the decision to formally close. Presently, it appears that the mural and the entire site are being put up for sale. The Mellon Foundation has been contacted by ARTnews to inquire about the grant’s status.
“The real property is being marketed for sale. The Diego Rivera mural, which is the personal property of the SFAI bankruptcy estate, is located at the real property,” Gregg Kleiner, counsel to the trustee, said in a statement to ARTnews. “If the bankruptcy estate receives a viable and acceptable offer for the real property and the mural together, the estate will move forward with a combined sale, which sale will be subject to required notice and bankruptcy court approval.”
He continued, “The SFAI bankruptcy estate is also exploring a sale of the mural alone. Based on available information, the mural was designed to be removable from the real property. If the bankruptcy estate receives a viable offer for the mural only, the Trustee is likely to propose a sale of the mural alone, subject to required notice and bankruptcy court approval.”
A representative from Cushman & Wakefield declined to give the property’s 93,000 square feet of space a price. The Rivera painting was reportedly on George Lucas’ shopping list for his upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, according to the New York Times at the time. However, such an opinion was apparently expressed in a board meeting in 2020, before the project was given landmark status. According to a statement from Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director Tom Christian, the building at 800 Chestnut Street “will make an inspiring home for another education institution, museum, or other creative / innovative use.”
Feature image courtesy: ARTnews
Pratiksha is an art enthusiast and writer.
