It’s been almost two years since Frida and Diego went away. During this travel, they have been to Germany, Canada, the United States and France. Finally, they are back to Mexico, to their home, the place that keeps the largest collection of artworks by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: the Dolores Olmedo Museum.
As part of the events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Museum, that will be next September 17, the visitors will be able to rediscover the works by this couple of artists, thanks to the new look that our museography in the main rooms offer. “We are very glad to have Frida and Diego back in the Museum, after their successful trip around the world. We trust that the national and international visitors will have a renewed interest in getting close to the artworks and that they get as amazed and surprised as many other admirors of Mexican art from abroad have been”, says Carlos Phillips Olmedo, director of Dolores Olmedo Museum.
The new museography features the works of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in a thematic-chronological way. The walls were painted in different colors, chosen after several tests, in order to enhance the plastic characteristics of the oils and watercolors we have. The selection of Prehispanic art pieces from our collection also changed. “Now we show them by cultures and we chose extraordinary pieces by their manufacture and by what they represent”, says Josefina García, director of Collections and Educational Services.
The artworks by Diego Rivera in our collection are exhibited as follows:
– Influence of Europe: artworks from the Cubist period and inspired from the artistic movements, dating from 1907 to 1914, time on which Rivera lived in France and Spain. It includes the Self-portrait with broad brimmed hat; Young man with a fountain pen and the many cubists still life paintings and Spanish landscapes, which have a strong influence of Cézanne.
– Mural artwork: collection of lithographs for the series of murals Rivera painted at the Secretary of Public Education; sketches for the murals he did at the University of Chapingo; sketches for the portable murals and the artwork Frozen Assets, which Rivera did for the MoMA in 1931. The visitors might be able to understand the creative process to create a mural, since the first drawing until the final artwork.
– Nudes: The Afroamerican dancer Maudelle Bass was portraited by Diego Rivera in 3 paintings that are showed here. We also include the lithography Nude portrait of Frida and the sketch Nude with calla lilies, paintings that have been displayed rarely.
– Portraits: The portrait of Dolores Olmedo dress as a Tehuana changes places for the first time. In this room, this painting is showed along with the portraits of the children of Dolores Olmedo, as well as some other characters, such as Pita Amor, José Pomar, Angelina Beloff and Alberto J. Pani.
– Mexican life: Rivera was one of the most important characters from the Mexican School of Painting. We show some watercolor and oil paintings, which feature daily life scenes in Mexico.
– Russia: After being diagnosed with cancer, Diego Rivera traveled to Russia, with the idea of finding the cure to his illness. There he saw children playing outside the hospital, and also painted them in works as Children with Sputnik. Snowy landscapes are displayed here as well.
– Last years: Dolores Olmedo offered her house in Acapulco to Diego Rivera, so he could convalesce and rest from the illness. There, he painted a series of sunsets, from which he have 20. One of the last paintings Rivera did was Watermelons, a motif that matches the last painting that Frida Kahlo did (Viva la vida).
Regarding Frida Kahlo, her artworks are displayed in two rooms, one for the color and fiesta environment that she enjoyed, and the other with some of the hardest of her paintings, that talk about the psychology of the character.
– Color: The room evokes the so called Blue House, with some folk art from our collection. It also presents some of the still life paintings she did.
– Pain: The collection of Dolores Olmedo Museum has some of the most dramatic artworks of Frida Kahlo, which talk about her physical and emotional pains, such as Broken column and Henry Ford Hospital.
We also have an audioguide available, in English and in Spanish.
Museo Dolores Olmedo
Open: Tuesday to Sunday de 10 a 18 hrs.
Entrance: National visitors: $10.00
Foreign visitors: $65.00
Children under 6 years old and Seniors: Free
Free every Tuesday.
www.museodoloresolmedo.org.mx
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More information, images or interviews:
Patricia Cordero
Communications and Digital Contents Coordinator
Museo Dolores Olmedo
Office: + (52) 5555-0891 ext. 127
Mobile: +(521) 55-1451-5850
pcordero@mdop.org.mx
