Mexico City.The Art Museums. Third Installment.

Don and I on the hop on hop off bus in Mexico City

(This is the third installment of our trip to Mexico. Links at the bottom of the page.)

The Soumaya Art Museum

The Soumaya Musem is simply amazing. From the architecture (engineering assistance from Frank Gehry) to the interior (ultra modern with spiral ramps ala the NY Guggenheim.) The museum was financed by and holds the one time richest man in the world, Carlos Slim's collection. Second largest collection of Rodin's (to Paris) and with numerous works by the likes of Monet, Picasso and Degas. Plus fantastic Mexican artists a collection of Asian art, and paintings of Venice. 

Yoga Poses in Public Places (Soumaya Museum)

Some of the work that caught my eye, at the Soumaya:

Modigliani's Nude with a Cat (1911)

Botero's Walking Man (2007)

Ramos Martinez (on a page of the Los Angeles Times newspaper (1930)

And then, there's the Museum of Anthropology. A massive structure, built in the 1960s. You'll need to spend the whole day there, and have lunch at the outdoor cafeteria.

Some artifacts that caught my eye:

Haunting face

In the garden of the museum

so contemporary looking

Resist!

hundreds of stone figures

It used to be believe this was the Aztec Calendar. It's not. It's the Stone Stone, a schedule of ritual human sacrifice.

huge!

So many fascinating design elements

See installment one and installment two of my trip to Mexico City.I'll share more of our trip in my next post. But meanwhile, here are the links so you can plan your trip!

Mexico City
The Red Tree House B&B, Condesa (FANTASTIC)
Merotoro restaurant, Condesa (very good)
Museo del Palacia de Bellas Artes (murals. amazing. do not miss)
Soumaya Museum (incredible collection. do not miss)
La Capital restaurant, Condesa (we ate there twice)
Museo National de Antopologia  (all day venture, with lunch on the patio. do not miss)
Museo Frida Kahlo Casa Azul (Frida and Diego's house. duh, do not miss. make advance reservations)
Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli (amazing building. architect: Rivera)
Murals de Diego Rivera Secretary of Education Building (Diego fans do not miss)

Netouring with guide Kuny. (Private tour and bus)

Puebla

Mesones Sacristia  (small hotel, perfect location, with excellent food)

Talavera de la Reyna (gorgeous quality talavera pottery-there's a factory nearby, but it's closed on Sundays)

Museo Amparo (ultra-modern museum with great upstairs cafe view)

Hotel Royale (Azotea ~3rd floor for drinks and the view)

St Maria Tonatzintla cathedral (like no other you've ever seen!)

Manos de la Tierra (jewelry store)

Carlos Rivero Tours (tour guide and transportation)

Mexico City. Second Installment. Frida and Diego's

Museo Frida Kahlo

We couldn't visit Mexico City without a visit to Frida Kaho's Blue House. She grew up in this house, and then later, lived their with Diego Rivera. It's in a beautiful old neighborhood.

(The second installment on our trip to Mexico City. Links are at the bottom of this post.)

The Amigos. We are friends and all traveled to Mexico City together

a photograph of Frida, hangs in her home.

Oh how that blue sets off the greens in the inner courtyard!

Diego's bedroom. 

 Also, Leon Troksy's room, when he was in exile. (Not at the same time!) Diego died here, a few years after Frida's death.

Their kitchen

Frida's studio

Frida's Studio

Frida's Studio

And her self portrait mirror and her wheel chair....

Frida's day bedroom. Notice the mirror on the bed canopy.
And her death mask on the bed.

Frida wore this body cast.

Frida's shoe.She had polio as a child and needed leg support

Frida's shoe

One of Frida's necklaces. amazing!

Another view of the Blue House

Me and my husband, Don, in Frida and Diego's courtyard.

See the first installment of our trip to Mexico here. I'll share more of our trip in my next post. But meanwhile, here are the links so you can plan your trip!

Mexico City
The Red Tree House B&B, Condesa (FANTASTIC)
Merotoro restaurant, Condesa (very good)
Museo del Palacia de Bellas Artes (murals. amazing. do not miss)
Soumaya Museum (incredible collection. do not miss)
La Capital restaurant, Condesa (we ate there twice)
Museo National de Antopologia  (all day venture, with lunch on the patio. do not miss)
Museo Frida Kahlo Casa Azul (Frida and Diego's house. duh, do not miss. make advance reservations)
Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli (amazing building. architect: Rivera)
Murals de Diego Rivera Secretary of Education Building (Diego fans do not miss)

Netouring with guide Kuny. (Private tour and bus)

Puebla

Mesones Sacristia  (small hotel, perfect location, with excellent food)

Talavera de la Reyna (gorgeous quality talavera pottery-there's a factory nearby, but it's closed on Sundays)

Museo Amparo (ultra-modern museum with great upstairs cafe view)

Hotel Royale (Azotea ~3rd floor for drinks and the view)

St Maria Tonatzintla cathedral (like no other you've ever seen!)

Manos de la Tierra (jewelry store)

Carlos Rivero Tours (tour guide and transportation)

Visit to Mexico! Mexico City. first installment.

And we're off! Breakfast at the Tijuana, Mexico airport. 

Our group of nine friends traveled to Mexico City and Puebla. No tour guide, just on our own. We left from San Diego via the new Cross Border Express from Tijuana, Mexico. (Easy and inexpensive flights.)

I'd been hearing that Mexico City had changed and was much safer than it used to be, say 10 years ago. TRUE. We felt very safe, people were extremely helpful and friendly. We took Uber most everywhere. Easy. Well, Mexico City does have a population of 21 million people and it is 7500 feet elevation.

The Red Tree House (B&B in Mexico City)

We stayed at The Red Tree House, Bed and Breakfast in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City.(All the links are at the bottom of this post) I can't say enough about how incredibly nice, fun, informative and helpful the staff was! Best staff ever. And the hotel and art and food and rooms were all beautiful. Highly recommend this hotel!

Interior public areas  of The Red Tree House

Closeup of the coyote sculpture (seen above)

Gorgeous artwork and flowers in the entry hall of The Red Tree House

HUGE painting in our room

Breakfast with my amigos on the patio of The Red Tree House

Breakfast at The Red Tree House

Breakfast at The Red Tree House

I'll share more of our trip in my next post. But meanwhile, here are the links so you can plan your trip!

Mexico City
The Red Tree House B&B, Condesa (FANTASTIC)
Merotoro restaurant, Condesa (very good)
Museo del Palacia de Bellas Artes (murals. amazing. do not miss)
Soumaya Museum (incredible collection. do not miss)
La Capital restaurant, Condesa (we ate there twice)
Museo National de Antopologia  (all day venture, with lunch on the patio. do not miss)
Museo Frida Kahlo Casa Azul (Frida and Diego's house. duh, do not miss. make advance reservations)
Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli (amazing building. architect: Rivera)
Murals de Diego Rivera Secretary of Education Building (Diego fans do not miss)

Netouring with guide Kuny. (Private tour and bus)

Puebla

Mesones Sacristia  (small hotel, perfect location, with excellent food)

Talavera de la Reyna (gorgeous quality talavera pottery-there's a factory nearby, but it's closed on Sundays)

Museo Amparo (ultra-modern museum with great upstairs cafe view)

Hotel Royale (Azotea ~3rd floor for drinks and the view)

St Maria Tonatzintla cathedral (like no other you've ever seen!)

Manos de la Tierra (jewelry store)

Carlos Rivero Tours (tour guide and transportation)

Cover Girl. Well, my artwork is on the cover

That's my artwork on the cover of Edible San Diego magazine (March/April 2017 edtiion)

And do take 5 minutes to watch video interview of me! (Watch for BeBop, trying to steal the spotlight!)

Artichoke Family by Jane LaFazio (sold)

New York City! I'm teaching a one day workshop

New York City!
Saturday, May 20, 2017     10am-5:30pm

$145/members $125

Open Center 
22 East 30th Street 
New York, NY 10016

USING SKETCHING AND WATERCOLOR TO CREATE A BEAUTIFUL JOURNAL page OF YOUR LIFE

Today highly experienced artist and art-journaling teacher Jane LaFazio will create a relaxed, fun, supportive, non-judgmental environment to inspire us to create an authentic artistic record of how we see the world. Using a straightforward and intuitive approach to drawing and watercolor, she will equip us with the skills and confidence we need to create an incredible memory journal of our life. In this workshop, geared to beginners but open to all levels, Jane will show us how to: take the time to carefully observe an object before starting to draw it; pick and mix the right colors to capture the right shade or feeling; find our own drawing and painting unique style; and much more.

ONE day class     REGISTER HERE.