Diego Rivera's Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City

Friday, 26 May 2006 10:00

Mexico City - Not to be confused with the Museo Estudio Diego Rivera near the San Angel Inn, this is probably the most unusual museum in the city.  Designed by Rivera before his death in 1957, it's devoted to his works as well as his extensive collection of pre-Columbian art.  With over 52,000 pieces, it is the largest private collection displayed in Mexico.  Constructed of pedregal (the lava rock in which the area abounds), it resembles Maya and Aztec architecture. Anahuacalli means "House of Mexico"; Anahuac was the old name for the ancient Valley of Mexico.

In front of the museum is a reproduction of a Toltec ball court, and the entrance to the museum is a coffin-shaped door.  Twenty-three display rooms are arranged in chronological order, with thousands of pieces stashed on the shelves, tucked away in corners, and peeking out of glass cases.

Upstairs, in a replica of Rivera's studio, you'll find the original sketches for some of his murals and two in-progress canvases.  There's a photo of his first sketch (of a train), done at the age of 3, plus a color photograph of him at work later in life.  Rivera (1886-1957) studied in Europe for 15 years and spent much of his life as a devoted Marxist.  Yet he came through political scrapes and personal tragedies with no apparent diminution of creative energy.  A plaque in the museum proclaims him "a man of genius who is among the greatest painters of all time."