Mexico City - The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Post

Any visit to Mexico City would not be complete without seeing the works of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Especially if your mother is a fan (mine is) and wouldn't forgive you if you didn't (she wouldn't).

First stop on our agenda was the Palacio Nacional, where huge murals by Rivera line several of the second-floor courtyard walls.



A closer view of a section of one of the murals:



Bellas Artes also houses some great works by Rivera. Below is a section of "Man, Controller of the Universe":



Another mural from Bellas Artes - "Carnival of Mexican Life. Dictatorship":



The Museo Mural Diego Rivera is a must stop on the edge of the Alameda opposite Bellas Artes. It houses a single, huge mural - "Sueño de una tarde de Domingo en la Alameda" ("Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park"), part of which is shown below:



But the absolute best place to see Rivera murals in Mexico City is the Secretaria de Educación Publica, a public building just behind the Catedral Metropolitana. It took us well over an hour just to see everything. I tooks tons of photos, but I'll limit myself to just a few here.

"The Capitalist Dinner":



"Entry into the Mine":



"The Embrace":



Ok, so this is mostly a Diego Rivera post, but we did see some Kahlo as well. While visiting Coyoacán, we stopped at the the Museo Frida Kahlo, located in the house where Kahlo was born and lived with Rivera until her death. While it doesn't house any works by the pair, it is filled with many of their personal belongings. Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed inside the museum.



When we were in Oaxaca, the Oaxacan Cultural museum had a fascinating exhibition of photographic portraits by Juan Guzman of famous artists in Mexico, including Rivera and Kahlo.



We saw a nice collection of works by both Rivera and Kahlo at the Dolores Olmeda musuem in Xochimilco, but again, no photographs were allowed. We also tried to see the famous "Las Dos Fridas" at the Museum of Modern Art in Chapultepec Parque, but it was not currently on display (the museum was well worth a visit, though).