Latin American Art, Artists, Artworks, Art Galleries, Museums, Art Community and Art Resources.

The New Soumaya Museum is Inaugurated

Replacing a smaller museum located in the south part of Mexico city and with works by great masters like Diego Rivera, Auguste Rodin and Leonardo Da Vinci amongst what will be a rotating exhibition of close to 66,000 artworks so far – and counting, the Soumaya Museum was inaugurated last Tuesday in the northwest part of Mexico City. The museum will open to the public on March 28, 2011 and will be closed on Tuesdays. Admission will be free.

The Soumaya will display one of the vastest collections of European and Latin American Art in Mexico. The collection is owned by the world’s richest man, telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and its name comes after Slim’s late wife Soumaya Domit Slim. The six-story modern building, beautifully designed by Slim’s son-in-law architect Fernando Romero is covered by 16,000 aluminum panels with a curvy landmark design on the outside, and the spectacular 183,000 feet of interior halls interconnected by stairs, ramps and elevators.

The inaugural exhibition will display some 6,200 artworks, which account for about 10% of the complete collection. The 800 million dollar building has a steel structure and it is armed with the latest technology such as controlled temperature and humidity to hold its artworks in the best of conditions.

The first and second floors hold gold and silver pieces, viceroyalty coins, Mesoamerican ceramic, stone and shell pieces. The third and fourth floors exhibit old European masters, New Spain masters, landscapes, portraits and various other art objects. The fifth floor exhibits an impressive collection of what refers to “The Mexican School of Painting” lead by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, amongst many more such as the initiators of the called “The Rupture Movement”; a group of artists from the 1950’s heralding a huge change in Mexican aesthetic expression and it is known to be responsible for the cosmopolitan direction in which art in Mexico has been developed since. With Auguste Rodin as the main theme, the sixth floor holds “The Rodin Era”, also with works by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, Camille Claudel, and one of his pupils Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux; it is said to be the most spectacular of all halls and the second most important Rodin collection in the world.

The Soumaya Museum has the most important collection of European art and Latin American art in all Latin America and it is the fastest growing private art collection in the world. Are Mexicans proud of getting a museum from their fellow citizen named the richest man in the world? At least Slim is not keeping his collection to himself. I am proud to have a country inundated with art wherever you go, rich areas, poor areas, parks, corners, circles; art is abundant and it is one of our biggest assets. Mexico is one of the most cultural cities in the world where people, rich and poor, identify themselves with culture in general; it is part of who we are. Mexico City is located on what was the capital of the Aztec Empire in pre-Columbian times and you may feel the power of the Aztecs in areas such as at the Templo Mayor. It is common to see old people, young people, families or groups of friends gather together to go to the museum for the newest exhibition or to check the permanent exhibition once again.

The Soumaya Museum just adds to that. And I am also excited for the upcoming museum that will hold the Jumex Collection, which will be the most important collection of Contemporary art, and it is being built right by the Soumaya and flanked by a new theatre as well.

Until next time,

Laura Cunningham
Director

Artistas, Collections, Exhibitions, Bellas Artes, General, Museum Auguste Rodin, Aztec Empire, Camille Claudel, Carlos Slim, ceramic, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, European art, Fernando Romero, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, José Clemente Orozco, Jumex Collection, arte latinoamericano, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mesoamerican, Mexico city, Museum, pre-Columbian, Soumaya, Soumaya Domit

When we launched latinamericanart.com we had the daunting task of selecting a competent dedicated server provider and we chose 800hosting. Since our inception we knew that eventually we had to chose a provider that would be able to hold our hand, help us when needed and most of all, keep the web sites up.  Art and technology are much more compatible now than back in the day, but it’s rare to find an art nut who is also a full blown technical wizard. So we oftens time find ourselves able to handle the front end (updating our sites) but with little or no comprehension of how the backend works. Things like data backup in case our system fails or keeping our servers free of viruses have become very important to us. Read a few blogs and you will quickly learn that not so nice things happen to nice web sites far too frequently.

The only time we had an issue was when one of our dedicated servers started to have a slowness issue but that was quickly resolved with a simple phone call. 800hosting has been helpful when needed and has always been prompt to reply by phone or email so we have been very satisfied with our choice and while they are not the least expensive, we sleep better at night knowing that they are keeping a watchful eye on our servers.

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Lucio Fontana “Concetto Spaziale”

Sotheby’s did not expect this sale to be as successful as it was. They anticipated a good auction but this exceeded their expectations by more than ten million pounds. Not only the room had a great number of determined bidders but also the presence of the phone bidders was felt at the sale non stop.

Sotheby’s blames the success to having the right collection with the right marketing at the right time. The total sales for this auction were in excess of 54 million pounds making it the second highest ever Contemporary Sale in London. In this sale only, 24 world records were set.

They had many works new to the market and also many unknown artists that bidders were eager to experiment on. Phenomenal results as well for Latin American Artists demonstrated the strength that Latin American Art has. A Jesus Rafael Soto fetched almost £300,000; a Victor Vasarely brought more than £500,000; an Eduardo Chillida brought more than £1 million while a Lucio Fontana work called “Concetto Spaziale” fetched more than £3 million.

Sotheby’s is anticipating their upcoming Contemporary sales on May and June 2010.

Until next time,

Laura Cunningham
Director

General Auction, auction bidders, arte contemporaneo, Contemporary Sale, Eduardo Chillida, Jesus Rafael Soto, Latin American, arte latinoamericano, Latin American Artists, Lucio Fontana, Sotheby’s, Victor Vasarely

The Dallas Art Fair has been even greater than expected and I have met the nicest people. Many of whom are responsible for shaping the art world; others who are responsible for shaping the Latin American Art world and still others who are art enthusiasts and complete the ensemble. After hours of walking and talking to numerous gallery owners, getting to know them and getting the information I was looking for, I walked into the familiar warmth of a colleague who welcomed me into her booth.

Patricia Ruiz-Healey is owner and director of Ruiz-Healey Fine Art in San Antonio, TX. Patricia Ruiz-Healy holds a Masters Degree in Art History from the University of Texas in San Antonio. She also did Post-Graduate work in London at the Sotheby’s Institute and at the Coartauld Institute of Art. She is a PhD student at UT Austin working towards a Doctorate in Latin American Studies and clearly knows what she is all about. With a finicky attitude, she welcomes clients into her space and with visible pride, shows them what her gallery has to offer. Often taking works from the back to pull their interest and educating them further about the works.

In addition to Carlos Betancourt and Rodolfo Choperena, Ruiz-Healey Fine Art is also showcasing the artworks of Cecilia Paredes, Pedro Friedeberg and Cecilia Biagini among others. Patricia talked to me briefly about the artists she represents and their artwork so I could gather information about them for my articles. It was hard to hold a conversation with so many clients constantly walking in. She then informed me that one of the artists she represents: Carlos Betancourt was at the Fair and tried to locate him for me but he was gone. We then set up an interview for Saturday with Betancourt and also with Rodolfo Choperena which I will share with you once I am done with the transcripts.

Until then,  

Laura Cunningham

Director

Ferias de Arte, Artistas, Exhibitions, Bellas Artes, Galleries, General art enthusiasts, art world, Atists interviews, Carlos Betancourt, Cecilia Biagini, Cecilia Paredes, Coartauld Institute of Art, Dallas Art Fair, Exhibitions, Bellas Artes, gallery owners, arte latinoamericano, Latin American Studies, Laura Cunningham is owner and Director of LatinAmericanArt.com, Patricia Ruiz-Healey, Pedro Friedeberg, Rodolfo Choperena, Ruiz-Healey Fine Art, San Antonio Galleries, Sotheby’s Institute, University of Texas in San Antonio, UT Austin