Roberto Montenegro. The First Lady, 1942. Oil on cardboard. 10-3/4 x 14-1/8 in. Collection of Andrés Blaisten. Reproduced with the kind permission of Fundación Andrés Blaisten. (Photo Courtesy of Meadows Museum)
The Meadows Museum, known for its extensive peninsular Spanish art collection, is featuring a new Hispanic genre of art in its latest collection, “Modern Mexican Painting from the Andrés Blaisten Collection,” which opens Sunday.
“Mexico reigns at the Meadows Museum,” Mark A. Roglán, Meadows Museum director, said.
The collection exhibits 80 Mexican art pieces painted in the modern style and created in the first half of the 20th century.
This period is very important in the development of a Mexican art identity, which has traditionally been perceived as untouched by European influences.
But, set in the context of the Meadows Museum, it becomes clear to visitors that the modern works display many similar techniques to the classical European portraits and paintings.
Still, the works all have a distinctly Mexican feel, incorporating bright colors and indigenous themes.
“The depth and breadth of Blaisten’s collection is a unique experience, to understand the entire span of modernism in Mexican art in one single collection,” Roglán said. “Through his eyes, one can truly see the evolution of modern art within Mexico.”
The art in the exhibit is drawn from a grander collection of over 8,000 works of art in the possession of Mexican collector Andrés Blaisten.
It preciously appeared in exhibits in the Phoenix Musuem of Art and the San Diego Museum of Art.
The works are usually held by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and for the first time are on display in Texas.
“It is interesting to see the dialogue between the art of the exhibit and the artistic movements in Europe at the time,” Blaisten said.
There is no better place to conduct that dialogue than within the galleries of the Meadows Museum.
The exhibit is presented where the permanent collection is usually held, allowing visitors to meander through the newest Mexican exhibition into the distinctly Spanish collection.
In the adjacent gallery, the museum’s other exhibit, The “Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries,” also showcases the similarities and differences between the two styles.
The portion of Blaisten’s extensive collection on display in the Meadows exhibit features over 40 artists of the 20th century, including well-known Mexican artists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfonso Siquieros.
But, Roglán said, “viewers who think they know what Mexican art looks like will be pleasantly surprised.”
Though much of the art was painted by famous Mexican artists, many of the pieces were painted at open-air painting schools, a unique facet of Mexican art, and are labeled “unknown artist.”
The art is showcased chronologically and includes plaques describing the social and historical context of the paintings.
Blaisten’s collection is also supplemented with a free Gallery Talk on June 8 and a free lecture by Tufts professor Adriana Zavala.
SMU students receive free admission to the museum with their student ID.
The exhibit will be on display through August 12.
Diego Rivera. Irma Mendoza, 1950. Oil on canvas. 28 x 19-5/8 in. Reproduced with the kind permission of Fundación Andrés Blaisten. (Photo Courtesy of Meadows Museum)
