Wondering where those big painted city walls came from? The history of street murals stretches from ancient cave paintings to Mexico’s 1920s movement and the Chicano neighborhood murals that followed.
Murals are one of the most visible parts of the local music and arts scene, and this short history shows how they got there.
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cave paintings at Altamira | Some 15,000 years before Christ |
| Mexican Revolution | 1910-17 |
| Mexican muralism emerges | 1920s, after the Mexican Revolution |
| Los Tres Grandes | José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros |
| Rivera’s Rockefeller commission | 1933 |
| Chicano movement begins | Mid-1960s |
These figures come from the Copyright Alliance’s overview of Mexican Muralism and the Civil Rights Teaching essay on murals. Dates and descriptions can be revised, so check the sources before you rely on them.
Where did wall painting begin?
Painting on walls is one of the oldest ways people share ideas. An essay from Civil Rights Teaching places the cave paintings at Altamira at some 15,000 years before Christ and says wall paintings have long served to communicate collective visions within a community.
In Renaissance Italy, murals were regarded as the highest form in the hierarchy of painting. According to the same essay, they served to illustrate the religious lessons of the Church.
Public art stayed the norm for a long time. Before a significant private picture market developed in 17th-century Holland, most art was public, commissioned by royalty, clergy, or powerful citizens, as the essay explains. Galleries, critics and museums gradually developed only after the Industrial Revolution.
Mexican muralism and the 1920s
The modern chapter starts with Mexican Muralism, which the Copyright Alliance says emerged in the 1920s following the Mexican Revolution. It began as an effort by the government to unify citizens living in a fractured, post-revolutionary state.
The Civil Rights Teaching essay dates that revolution to 1910-17 and describes murals as a way of educating a largely illiterate populace. The Copyright Alliance makes a similar point: murals were an effective way to reach citizens who could not read or write, and the government commissioned artists to paint public and historical buildings.
From that pool of artists emerged “Los Tres Grandes,” the three great ones:
- José Clemente Orozco: his murals often used muted color palettes and graphic images, and his art is often described as empathetic towards humanity yet skeptical of its future.
- Diego Rivera: his murals often depicted historical scenes and figures using bold colors and careful composition.
- David Alfaro Siqueiros: in 1923 he helped found a syndicate of painters, sculptors and engravers to promote public access to art, the Copyright Alliance notes.
A Google Arts & Culture story says murals first became an established art form in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s. For the muralists, the form itself was political: unlike paintings in galleries, murals were publicly available to rich and poor alike.
That politics had a cost. The Civil Rights Teaching essay says Mexican murals portrayed the ideology of a worker-peasant and middle-class revolution against the former ruling class. Since then, many have identified contemporary muralism with poor people, revolution, and communism.
Muralism crosses into the United States
Mexican painters soon worked north of the border. In 1933, Rivera was commissioned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. for the mural “Man at the Crossroads,” as the Copyright Alliance recounts. A portrait of Vladimir Lenin stirred controversy, and Rivera refused to remove it and was later ordered to leave the U.S.
His answer was defiant: he said he would use the remaining money from his commission to repaint the same mural wherever possible until his funds ran out. He was later invited back and painted “Pan American Unity” in front of attendees at the Golden Gate International Exposition, according to the same article.
Los Angeles has its own early chapter. In an Alta Journal interview published October 29, 2021, Pete Galindo, director of the Great Wall of Los Angeles Institute, said some of the first outdoor murals there were painted in the 1930s, some by Mexican artists and others through the Works Progress Administration. He named a Siqueiros mural on Olvera Street and noted that the WPA murals were not grassroots.
The Chicano mural movement
The next wave grew out of civil rights organizing. The Civil Rights Teaching essay says the Chicano movement for civil rights and social justice began in the mid-1960s, and that murals again became an important organizing tool and a way to reclaim cultural heritage.
The Minnesota Historical Society’s MNopedia says public art of the late 1960s and early 1970s responded to the destruction of America’s inner cities. Chicanos painted murals in their neighborhoods to express cultural pride, to protest injustice, and to celebrate their aesthetic values.
These projects gave the whole community ownership of the walls. Per the same MNopedia entry, they recruited:
- lead artists
- artists’ collectives
- neighborhood activists
- youth volunteers
Murals appeared in schools, in public parks, on freeway support pillars, and on the walls of local businesses, MNopedia reports.
In Los Angeles, Galindo points to Willie Herrón’s The Wall That Cracked Open, painted in 1972 in the same East Los Angeles alley where Herrón found his brother bleeding after a stabbing, per the Alta Journal interview. The article also describes the 2,754-foot-long painted history of California in the San Fernando Valley, designed by artist Judy Baca, that Galindo’s institute is named for.
Community work continues in places like Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. A University of Chicago student project says murals there generate a sense of belonging and unity in neighborhoods often marginalized by the rest of the city. Its example, “El Abrazo,” involved community meetings to brainstorm themes and multiple community days to prepare the wall and paint it.
Graffiti, style mixing and fragile walls
Spray paint changed the look of city walls. The Google Arts & Culture story says its easy availability in the mid-20th century led to an explosion of graffiti, which it defines as wall paintings made without the property owner’s permission. Some was seen as vandalism, while other works rose to the level of wall art.
The same story says graffiti styles blended with Mexican and Chicano muralism. It points to several ingredients:
- tagging, or painting a stylized signature
- cartoons, Japanese anime and pop culture
- Aztec and Spanish Catholic imagery
Murals are also fragile. Google Arts & Culture notes that many of the earliest Chicano murals have faded or been destroyed, and walls painted semi-legally get covered or demolished when property changes hands.
Policy can matter too. The Alta Journal piece describes a new 2021 mural in El Monte that celebrates the local Latino community’s triumph over a 1977 moratorium banning murals, with nods to earlier artworks whitewashed by the city.
Money brings its own questions. In that October 2021 interview, Galindo pointed to three Boyle Heights murals sponsored by food delivery service DoorDash and said he was skeptical about how much agency the artists were given, as Alta Journal reports.
How to read a mural near you
Knowing this history makes the walls on your own street easier to read. Try looking for:
- Who is portrayed. Because murals are specific to a location, they often honor people who were born, raised, or lived in the neighborhood.
- Cultural symbols. Aztec, Spanish Catholic or other imagery can point to the community’s roots.
- Layers of style. Lettering, cartoons and collage can show graffiti and pop culture at work.
- Condition and ownership. Fading or fresh paint often reflects who controls the wall.
If you want to see how this plays out in real neighborhoods, read about the benefits of public art for communities. For a way to see murals on foot, find out what is an art walk and how it works.
Frequently asked questions
When did Mexican muralism start?
Show answer
The Copyright Alliance says Mexican Muralism emerged in the 1920s following the Mexican Revolution.
Who were Los Tres Grandes?
Show answer
They were the muralists José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, who emerged from the artists commissioned by the Mexican government, per the Copyright Alliance.
Why have so many early Chicano murals disappeared?
Show answer
According to Google Arts & Culture, many were painted semi-legally, so walls get covered or demolished when property changes hands. Many of the earliest ones have also faded.
Are murals and graffiti the same thing?
Show answer
Not exactly. The Google Arts & Culture story defines graffiti as wall paintings made without the owner’s permission, and says some was viewed as vandalism while other works rose to the level of wall art.
