Siqueiros mural reemerges

Don’t hold your breath, but the 33-year effort to return “America Tropical” -- Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros’ mural on Olvera Street -- to public view appears to be entering its final phase. The badly faded 80-by-18-foot painting, which has been under conservators’ care behind a wooden structure for many years, is being readied for a permanent display that will allow the public to see what’s left of the once vibrant artwork.

The old wooden covering was removed Monday, in preparation for construction of a new shelter and public viewing platform. Building materials are scheduled for delivery Friday, and construction is expected to begin by the first of the month.

“It will open in 2004,” said Kristin Kelly, head of public programs and communications at the Getty Conservation Institute, which has played a leading role in the project.

What has so far emerged from under wraps is a ghostly image. In keeping with current conservation practices, the monumental painting has been stabilized, cleaned and conserved but not restored to its original intensity. Visitors will be able to compare the remains of the mural to a vividly colored reproduction of the original, to be installed near the painting when the viewing platform is complete.

The opening of the mural to the public will end a saga that began in 1932 when Siqueiros started painting on the second floor of Italian Hall, overlooking a rooftop beer garden. The central image of a crucified Indian peon, topped by an American eagle, so offended some city officials that it soon disappeared from view. A section that could be seen from street level was painted over first. Then the rest was whitewashed, and the mural was left to the elements.

A drive to save “America Tropical” began in 1969, but it didn’t get going in earnest until 1987, when the Getty Conservation Institute joined forces with El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the city department that administers the historic site. The $4.5-million project secured major funding from the J. Paul Getty Trust, with additional contributions from the city, the National Endowment for the Arts and local foundations. Even with all that support, the project has been repeatedly delayed by bureaucratic procedures, personnel changes and technical complications.

What conservators found once they were able to work on the mural was that Siqueiros’ methods only added to the painting’s decay. It is believed that he laid out the composition in fresco, achieving a stained effect as he applied pigment to wet plaster, and then added details and broad swaths of color to the dry surface, said Leslie Rainer, a wall paintings conservator and senior project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute.

Questions remain about his materials. Paint losses indicate that the top coats of paint didn’t effectively adhere to the fresco layer. The paint, including automotive materials, also faded quickly. In fact, the section that was whitewashed shortly after the mural was finished is better preserved than the rest. Metal doors covering two windows in the brick wall behind the mural were integrated into Siqueiros’ composition, but they now stand out as dark rectangles.

The next step in recovering “America Tropical” is protecting it during construction of the viewing platform, said Kevin Marshall, lead preparator at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Charged with designing a rigid, lightweight cover that would extend no more than 8 inches in front of the mural, he came up with an aluminum truss system that supports panels of Lexan -- a fluted thermal plastic sheeting used for greenhouses. The panels will be lined with foam, in case of impact during construction, while a space between the foam and the mural will allow air circulation and prevent heat buildup, he said.

When the new cover is in place, work on the viewing platform will begin. The plans call for visitors to enter the site through Sepulveda House, where an exhibition on the mural will be installed, just south of Italian Hall. Then they will take an elevator or stairs to the roof and cross a bridge onto the platform. Set back about 40 feet from the mural, the canopied platform will offer a full view of the painting while protecting it from those who might be tempted to touch.

“This is a mural where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts,” Kelly said. “The ability to see the whole thing really makes it.”

But is the mural likely to deteriorate further after it goes on view?

“We’ve taken every precaution to guard against that,” Rainer said.