Death of Rubén Salazar

Frank Romero, Death of Rubén Salazar, 1986, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1993.19, © 1986, Frank Romero
Frank Romero, Death of Rubén Salazar, 1986, oil on canvas, 72 1⁄4 x 120 3⁄8 in. (183.5 x 305.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1993.19, © 1986, Frank Romero

Artwork Details

Title
Death of Rubén Salazar
Artist
Date
1986
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
72 1⁄4 x 120 3⁄8 in. (183.5 x 305.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1986, Frank Romero
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture — vehicle — automobile
  • Cityscape
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — theater
  • Architecture Exterior — commercial — tavern
  • Occupation — service — policeman
  • State of being — death — murder
Object Number
1993.19
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.19

Artwork Description

In this painting, Frank Romero interprets the death and legacy of Rubén Salazar, a civil rights activist and writer for the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s. In the aftermath of a major Chicano protest in East LA in 1970 against the Vietnam War, police fired tear-gas canisters into the Silver Dollar Bar and Café, where Salazar and two others were struck and killed.

Romero combined the large scale of Mexican Revolution murals with the bold colors of the barrio (the Spanish-speaking neighborhood). He depicts authoritarian force muscling in on lowrider culture, using symbols and hues that embody its vibrance and resilience.

To the left of the café, the Casa de Cambio, a money exchange, also suggests the idea of change in the community. To the right, a movie theater marquee announces a film based on Salazar's death, envisioning a world in which the event is enshrined in history.
Description in Spanish

Romero rinde homenaje à la memoria de Rubén Salazar, un periodista del Los Angeles Times y uno de los principales cronistas del movimiento chicano de derechos civiles. Después de cubrir los sucesos de la Moratoria Chicana de 1970, una manifestación contra la Guerra de Vietnam, Salazar fue al Silver Dollar Café, en East Los Angeles. Información sobre un altercado armado atrajo la presencia de la policía. Un proyectil de gas lacrimógeno disparado hacia el interior del bar mató a Salazar instantáneamente. Romero combinó las referencias a este trágico día con u tema de una película anunciada en la marquesina de un teatro. El gran formato y el sujeto heroico de la obra la vinculan con la gran tradición de la pintura de historia, un género artístico que conmemora los sucesos históricos.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Works by this artist (626 items)

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Werner Drewes, Central Density, 1973, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.116
Central Density
Artist
Date1973
oil on canvas
On view
Werner Drewes, Pointed Brown and Floating Circles, 1933, oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.17
Pointed Brown and Floating Circles
Artist
Date1933
oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel
On view
Werner Drewes, Suspended Forms, woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1977.21.11
Suspended Forms
Artist
woodcut
Not on view
Werner Drewes, Summer Bouquet (no. 242), color woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.9.81
Summer Bouquet (no. 242)
Artist
color woodcut
Not on view

Audio

Stop 100: Death of Rubén Salazar

Death of Rubén Salazar
1986, oil on canvas

FRANK ROMERO
Born: East Los Angeles, California 1941

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      Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
      October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014
      Smithsonian American Art Museum
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.

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