The Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City ~ One Of The World’s Leading Collections of Mexican Art

Written by Arturo Calderon Thursday, 05 April 2012 22:19

The Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) is the Mexican national art museum, located in the historical center of Mexico City. The museum was founded in 1982 as the Museo Nacional de Arte, and after being closed for an intense program of remodeling and technological upgrades, reopened in 2000, when it also took its current name. MUNAL is a subdivision of the ‘Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes’ and as part of this organization is involved in projects concerning the conservation, exhibition and study of the fine arts of Mexico, MUNAL specializing in Mexican and international art from the 16th century to the first half of the 20th century. MUNAL is located in the old ‘Palace of Communications’. In the early part of the 20th century, the government hired Italian architect Silvio Contri to design and build this “palace” to house the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works, with the intention of showing Mexico's commitment to modernization. The Palace was constructed on the former site of the hospitals of San Andres and of Gonzalez Echeverria. The architectural design is eclectic, characteristic of that time period, and mixes elements of various past architectural styles. The decorative elements of the building were done by the Coppedé family of Florence, who designed the door knockers, window frames, leaded crystal, stonework, furniture, lamps and ironwork among many other elements. Over the years, much of the Palace deteriorated, until around 2000, when the MUNAL project restored the palace to its original look while adding the latest technology for the preservation of artistic works. Two rooms that stand out are the Reception Hall and the sculptures in the Patio de los Leones. The Reception Hall is on the second floor and designed to imitate the splendor of similar halls in Europe. It is profusely decorated with precious metal and crystal ornaments as well as allegorical murals dedicated to themes such as science, the arts, liberty, history, work and progress. The work devoted to the concept of progress subdivides into four themes of force, justice, wisdom and wealth. This hall became the preferred place for President Porfirio Diaz to perform public declarations and receive dignitaries from abroad. Like the rest of the building the Patio of the Liones synthesizes a number of different architectural styles. The two primary styles seen here are Classic and Gothic with other styles introduced in the forms of sculptures, lighting and sculpted stonework. In the center is a large semicircular staircase to the upper floors. Later in the 20th century, the building served as the Archivo General de la Nación and from 1982 as the Museo Nacional de Arte. The plaza in front of the building is named after Manuel Tolsá, who created the statue of Carlos IV there, also known as ‘El Caballito’. Today almost all of the building is used to house the permanent collection of MUNAL with the Reception Hall and the Patio de los Leones used for events such as concerts, book-signings and press conferences. MUNAL’s permanent collection contains more than 3,600 pieces displayed in more than 5,800 square meters of exhibition space and the museum also has a museum shop and very good café. Visit the MUNAL’s website at … http://www.munal.com.mx

The museum’s permanent collection is designed to give a panoramic view of the development of the fine arts in Mexico from the early colonial period to the mid-twentieth century. The artwork is subdivided into three distinct periods. The first covers the colonial period from 1550 to 1821. The second covers the first century after Independence and the third covers the period after the Mexican Revolution to the 1950s. Works created after that time period are on display at a number of museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in Chapultepec Park. The collection of art from the colonial period is entitled “Asimilación de occidente” (Assimilation of the West) and is contained within Salons 1-14 on the second floor. This collection shows how western-style painting transferred over and synthesized in Mexico, eventually leading to the establishment of Mexico’s own fine arts institution, the Academy of San Carlos, the first of its kind in the Americas, and from which many of the works in the MUNAL collection came. Works from this period include noted paintings by Juan Correa, Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, Miguel Cabrera, Cristóbal de Villalpando, the brothers Rodríguez Juárez and Tolsá Valencia. Art from the first century of Mexican Independence (1810–1910) is entitled “La construcción de la Nación” (Construction of a Nation) and housed in Salons 19-26 of the second floor. Coinciding with the Romanticism period, most paintings have themes such as Mexican customs and landscapes and attempt to present a distinct Mexican identity. Among the artists represented are major works by Eugenio Landesio, José María Velasco Gómez, Leandro Izaguirre, Luis Monroy, José Guadalupe Posada and Julio Ruelas and a collection of early Mexican photography. The last time period in the collection is titled “Estrategías plásticas para un México moderno” (Strategies for the fine arts in modern Mexico) and housed in Salons 27-33 on the first floor. Historically, this period is from the end of the Mexican Revolution when questions of modernity and nationalism were foremost. It also coincides with the development of the Mexican muralist movement. Artists featured in this section of the museum include, Ramón Cano Manilla, Saturnino Herrán, Gerardo Murillo, Francisco Goitia, Rufino Tamayo, Juan O’Gorman and Diego Rivera.

Among the artists represented in the MUNAL's collection of post-Mexican Revolution, Diego Rivera is perhaps the most well known. Born on December 8, 1886, in Guanajuato, Mexico, Rivera became famous for his expansive and politically-charged murals, and for his love affair with artist Frida Kahlo. Rivera was born a twin, but his brother, Carlos María, died before he turned two. Rivera studied painting in Mexico before going to Europe in 1907. While in Europe he took up cubism and had exhibitions in Paris and Madrid in 1913 before showing in New York City in 1916. In 1921 he returned to Mexico, where he undertook government-sponsored murals that reflected his communist politics in historical contexts. He married Kahlo in 1929, and their tempestuous marriage got to be as famous as their art. In the 1930s and '40s Rivera worked in the United States and Mexico, and many of his paintings drew controversy. His 1933 mural for the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan featured a portrait of Communist Party leader V.I. Lenin; the resulting uproar led to his dismissal and to the mural's official destruction in 1934. Similarly, a 1948 mural for the Hotel de Prado in Mexico that included the words "God does not exist" was covered and held from public view for nine years. Even so, Rivera's talent for historical murals and his tributes to earthy folk traditions made him one of the most influential artists in the Americas and one of Mexico's most beloved painters. One of his most famous works is a tribute to workers in Detroit, Michigan, commissioned in 1932 by Henry Ford. Never very faithful romantically, Rivera was married four times to three different women, Guadalupe Marin (1922-27), to Kahlo (1929-39, then again from 1940 until her death in 1954), and to art dealer Emma Hurtado (from 1955 until his death in 1957). He also lived with the artist Angelina Beloff for many years in Paris, and she is sometimes counted among his spouses as a common-law wife.

Currently the Museo Nacional de Arte is showing, ”Image, Rhythm and Movement: Fine Art, Music and Dance”, including a careful selection of pieces with themes of dance and music produced by Mexican and foreign artists working in Mexico. Mexican paintings from the last 160 years have been selected from the collections of the Museo del Pueblo, Guanajuato and the Museo Nacional de Arte, which show the cultural importance of music and dance to the Mexican people. Featured artists include Casimiro Castro, José Guadalupe Posada, Edouard Pingret, Pablo O'Higgins, Ernesto Garcia Cabral, Miguel Covarrubias, Maria Izquierdo, Raul Anguiano, Fermin Revueltas and Federico Cantú. The exhibition is curated in collaboration the José Limón National Center for Dance Research, Documentation and Information, and was presented first at the Museo del Pueblo, Guanajuato before moving to MUNAL. The exhibition runs from 17 February to 15 May 2011. The next temporary exhibition to be hosted by MUNAL will be “The Image of Flight of Images: Feather art in Mexico and Europe“, starting in April 2011. This exhibitions will together more than 250 objects that reflect the symbolism and ritual use of feathers and birds among indigenous Mexican cultures, both ancient and contemporary. It will showcase works from 1400 to 1800 AD, such as paintings, sculptures, medieval manuscripts, Mesoamerican manuscripts, works of gold and precious stones, from collections in Italy, England, Germany, United States U.S., Canada, Austria and Mexico. In addition, the exhibition will include a selection of contemporary feather art from Mexico.