'Modern Mexican Painting from the Andrés Blaisten Collection'
comes to the Meadows Museum April 29 – August 12, 2012

DALLAS – Assembled over a period of 30 years, the Andrés Blaisten Collection has become a reference and one of the most complete readings of early 20th-century art in Mexico.

From April 29 through August 12, the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University is delighted to host “Modern Mexican Painting from the Andrés Blaisten Collection,” an exhibition of 80 fundamental works from this esteemed collection by more than 40 outstanding Mexican artists of the early 20th century.

Traditionally, Mexican art of the early 20th century has been regarded as insular, its artists working for the most part without an awareness of avant-garde European art. This exhibition disproves that notion, with a diversity of offerings that clearly demonstrate the influence of the various “-isms” of the modern era on Mexican artists and their work of this period.

Additionally the fame of the latter has been restricted to a handful of titans such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo. Though the exhibition contains fine examples from these masters, its real triumph is bringing to light their many talented, but lesser-known colleagues such as María Izquierdo, Roberto Montenegro, Fernandez Ledesma and Ramos Martínez.

The dazzling variety of talent on display offers the viewer a rich and complex view of this “golden age” of Mexican art. This was a period of great creativity, intense experimentation, and cultural exploration driven by the need to create an aesthetic identity that would represent Mexico as a nation-state. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the cultural and artistic riches of a country whose contributions to art not only have enriched the most important international artistic movements, but also have influenced the currents of the modern age through a vision that incorporated inherently Mexican elements.

Andrés Blaisten, whose collection is comprised of more than 8,000 works of art – including paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints – first began collecting while studying painting at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City in the late 1960s. At first casually buying paintings from his artist friends, Blaisten soon dropped out of the academy and alongside his business ventures, devoted himself to selecting art that reflected his own relationship with Mexico. Although Blaisten has acquired works from various periods, this exhibition focuses on a predominant interest of his: paintings created in Mexico in the first half of the last century.

“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,” says Meadows Museum Director Mark A. Roglán. “Through his eyes, one can truly see the evolution of modern art within Mexico.”

Several of the artists represented in the exhibition studied and/or worked in Spain, or were influenced by Spanish art in other ways; seeing their paintings in the context of the Meadows’ collection of Spanish art, especially those works from the same period, will enable visitors to detect early European influences, and understand how many of these Mexican artists later began to forge their own artistic path distinct from their European contemporaries.

This exhibition was previously on display at the following venues:

• July 1, 2011 – September 25, 2011 | Phoenix Museum of Art
• November 5, 2011 – February 19, 2012  | San Diego Museum of Art

About Colección Blaisten

Colección Blaisten is an exhibition space built for the public to physically appreciate works that form part of the personal collection of Andrés Blaisten. Since 2007 it has been located within the Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco (CCUT), an institution under the auspices of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

Paintings exhibited at Colección Blaisten date from the first half of the 20th century and demonstrate many of the most important art movements of the last century such as modernism, surrealism, cubism, and symbolism. The collection includes works by some of Mexico’s most important artists, including Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, María Izquierdo and José Clemente Orozco, with an emphasis on works from the Open-Air Painting Schools. Visit http://www.museoblaisten.com for more information and to view the entire collection.

About Meadows Museum

The Meadows Museum is one of the leading art institutions of the Southwest.  Established in 1965 by oilman Algur H. Meadows, it is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University in central Dallas.  Its permanent collection of Spanish art, one of the largest and most comprehensive outside of Spain, contains works from the 10th through the 21st centuries by such masters as Velázquez, Goya, Miró and Picasso. Its holdings also include a significant collection of 20th-century sculpture, much of it on display in its outdoor plaza, as well as the University Art Collection, which features works by a number of noted Texas artists.  

In accordance with its mission to advance knowledge and understanding of art, the Meadows Museum collaborates with institutions and collectors around the world to serve its broad audience by mounting exhibitions of works of the greatest aesthetic and historical importance, as well as offering a range of educational programs.  Visit www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org for more information.

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