Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and More: Visiting Mexico City’s House Museums
This is a guest post by my friend, Carlos Montoya. Carlos worked for the Bureau of Mexican Fine Arts for nine years, beginning in 1990 as a production clerk, and later as a conservator. He also worked as the office manager and later as a production office assistant, and worked with visiting arts, cultural and museum professionals. In 2005, he was selected to be the Head of Department in the Cultural Arts Department, and he is now a member of the Mexico-Cura Foundation Board. Carlos is an avid traveler and enthusiast.
By Carlos Montoya
I love Mexico City, the people and their culture. In this blog post, I’d like to talk about two of my very favorite places in Mexico City, the Museo de Arte Moderno and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.
The Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) is housed in one of the most remarkable historical buildings, it was constructed in the 1930’s by architect Ricardo Legorreta on the site of one of the oldest churches in Mexico City. It is an impressive structure that was recently renovated and now serves as a center for modern art for its area of 3.95 acres.
The Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MAC) is housed in another stunning historical building. It was designed by architect Mariano Azuela and designed in his style of Art Deco. It also is located on the site of a former church, and now offers contemporary art exhibitions.
The two museums are very different in terms of aesthetic. The historic MAM is more in a gallery environment that is more reminiscent of a contemporary setting. The MAC is more of a museum that contains more of a contemporary setting. One can walk from one to the other, and yet it’s always an interesting experience.
To begin our tour of MAM, we walked around and took a look in the Museo’s main rooms. There are many small rooms where one could sit, study or even work.
One of the rooms in the museum contains artifacts that date from various times of the 20th century. The rooms were dedicated to the different periods of art of the 20th century, and many of the artists themselves were present to sign the documents. Each artist had his/
