The Diego Rivera of Pittsburgh

April 30, 2018 7:26 AM

During two periods in 1937 and 1941, Croatian artist Maxo Vanka was commissioned to provide murals for the inside of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale, PA, across the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh. These striking, affecting murals "pay tribute to faith while expressing his passionate beliefs about social justice, injustice, [and] the horrors of war."

The Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka: Background & Analysis
Dr. Barbara McCloskey, University of Pittsburgh Department of the History of Art and Architecture

The narrative core of Vanka’s Millvale commission appears in two murals in the series: The Croatian Mother Raises Her Son for War and The Immigrant Mother Raises Her Son for Industry. Likening labor exploitation to the human exploitation of war, Vanka calls into question unreflective notions of social progress by railing against the manner in which ethnic minorities, the poor, and the disenfranchised frequently bear the burden of–and pay the ultimate price for–such progress. In this regard, the sentiment of his murals contrasts pointedly with two other Pittsburgh monuments: the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland, which foregrounds the valor of war, and John White Alexander’s celebratory mural of the Pittsburgh steel industry (The Crowning of Labor, 1906-07) that graces the central stairwell of the Carnegie Museum of Art. Historians laud Vanka for his keen observation of and sensitivity to the dispossessed.

ST. NICHOLAS CROATIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH MURALS, 1937 AND 1941
Sylvia Rhor, Ph.D.

On the ceiling under the choir, and above your head as you enter the church, Vanka shows a terrified Christ on the cross being bayonetted by soldiers, as the Holy Mother intervenes between two soldiers on the battlefield. On the far left wall, Vanka painted one of the most striking images: A gas-masked and red-eyed female figure representing Injustice, who holds a bloodied sword and the scales of justice, which are dramatically off balance, a damning testament of the inequities in the world.

Occasionally the subject of news reports and documentaries, the murals remain little-known even to Pittsburghers.

• 360-degree view of the inside of the church
• The Capitalist is attended to by a Black servant reads a stock report while and angel weeps and a skeletal hand offers hellfire
• Opposite the Capitalist, Christ visits as Croatian immigrant family having a simple meal.
• The Crucifixion features Christ as modeled by a local African-American WPA worker

This small working-class church was not originally built to house significant, historic works of art, and they have sustained water and pollution damage over the years. A campaign to conserve and properly light the murals is ongoing.

posted by soren_lorensen (9 comments total)

What beautiful, awe-inspiring work. There are too many "bests" to call out, but particularly haunting are the Madonna and Pietà, the Croatian Mother Raises Her Son for War, and the big eye over the window in Justice.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:54 AM on April 30, 2018

Wow, you aren't kidded that these are little-known even in Pittsburgh, I'm from there and had no idea about any of these. They are amazingly striking.
posted by leesh at 8:21 AM on April 30, 2018

I heard about and saw images of these while I was living in Pittsburgh, but to my shame and sorrow I never made the trip to see them in person. And yet generations of devout Christians worshiped beside and below them for decades. What an impact that must have had.
posted by meinvt at 9:33 AM on April 30, 2018

Thank you so much for introducing me to this remarkable artist! I never heard of him before.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 9:38 AM on April 30, 2018

I have seen these in person and really recommend the experience. Docent-led tours are available Saturday mornings. The most striking thing is the size of the church vs. the scale of the murals. It's a really small church building (perched precariously on hillside directly above a major interstate highway) and the murals are just in your face, everywhere you look. You can't escape them, and, well, they're quite accusatory towards those of us reaping the rewards of capitalism and militarism. Pittsburgh's history of immigration has given us a huge number of significant houses of worship of various Roman and Orthodox congregations, but the Vanka murals really stand way, way apart.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:49 AM on April 30, 2018 [5 favorites]

Someone should show this to all the Catholics in the Trump administration. And maybe a biography of Dorothy Day.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 1:51 PM on April 30, 2018

I will have to make an effort to get to see these if I get anywhere near Pittsburgh in the future but I also need to put in a plug here.

Not to take away from Vanka's work, but if you want to see some real Rivera murals you all need to visit the DIA. the next time you're anywhere near Detroit because the Detroit Industry murals will take your breath away. (Save some time for the fantastic collection in the rest of the museum as well but the Rivera murals are a memorable experience in and of themselves.)
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:34 PM on April 30, 2018

Wow, these murals really do rival Diego Rivera's. I find it strange this guy isn't famous.
posted by andrewpcone at 3:57 PM on April 30, 2018

If only I had known about this when I was visiting Pittsburgh.
posted by acrasis at 4:46 PM on April 30, 2018