In Fine Arts, four centuries of Mexican plastic arts

Havana, January 20 (ACN) "Four hundred years of Mexican art in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA)" are collected, starting this January 19, on the walls of the Universal Art Building of the centenary and prestigious institution of this capital.

The exhibition, which is located in the transitional room of the MNBA, brings together paintings, engravings and drawings that trace the evolution of the plastic arts in the Aztec nation from the 17th to the 19th centuries, to refer to the collection of Latin American Art, while the Pieces from the 20th century correspond to the section of International Contemporary Art that the museum treasures.

Margarita González, one of the curators of the exhibition, explained to the Cuban News Agency that it is a comprehensive project, because she tries to contemplate four centuries of a heritage such as that of Mexican plastic arts.

It was impossible, given the finitude of the physical space, to show all the works, so exponents, genres and themes will always be left out after the curatorial process, she commented.

González shares this task with Yanet Berto, who was in charge of the period from the 17th to the 19th century, a historical moment where pieces of New Spain and Republican painting appear.

The works allude to the religiosity of the time that, through baroque art, reiterated the image of Jesus and the Virgin Mary as protagonists of narrative representations in which other figures appeared.

Religion is precisely one of the guiding threads of "Four hundred years of Mexican art in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts," said the specialist.

According to González, who was in charge of the 20th century pieces, the exhibition focuses on a genre such as portraiture, especially of an author of the stature of Diego Rivera (1886-1957).

We are lucky to be able to enjoy the work of the great muralists of Mexico in Cuba, as well as exceptional draftsmen such as José Luis Cuevas (1931-2017), the engraver Leopoldo Méndez (1902-1969) and the artist and researcher Miguel Covarrubias ( 1904-1957), whose imprint on the art of his country is indisputable, he asserted.
She said that pieces by José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) and Antonio Vanegas Arroyo (1852-1917) also appear, who in their joint work left pieces with touches of satire and irony.

They are paintings that arrived at the museum through different means, such as gifts, purchases, donations from the artists themselves and from various institutions, and many of them underwent restoration to display them with the highest possible quality, she said.

Although some names were excluded, González considered that this exhibition may be the first approach to a continued investigation of Mexican art in the museum's collections.

Jorge Fernández, director of the MNBA, pointed out that "Four hundred years of Mexican art in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts" was a dream exhibition that encompasses the contributions of an immense culture.
He considered that to understand a style like the baroque one must necessarily refer to Mexico and its pictorial legacy to humanity.

In Mexican painting it is possible to find the mythology of pre-Columbian cultures, with which the dismantling of the American dream and colonizing ideologies is achieved, he assured.

The impressionism and drama are palpable in the images that the collection proposes, and also the color of the composition of many of the works that comprise it, Fernández stressed.

The director of the MNBA exalted the realism of Diego Rivera, the mysticism and expressionism of José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), whose influence on Cuban art is undeniable.

The contributions of Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) were highlighted with "The new day of democracies", prepared during their visit to Cuba in 1943.

"Four hundred years of Mexican art in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts" will remain open to the public until March 30 of this year.