Back to the Museum

I will take a break... at least for this morning... from political posts, and get back to the local excursions that I have been taking during the pandemic.  

The Cleveland Museum of Art reopened some time ago, and last week when the weather was chilly and rainy I made two visits there.  Admission to the museum is limited at this time, and it is necessary to go online and get a ticket in advance.  (The ticket is free... our art museum is one of the few major museums in the country which has never charged for admission.)  Of course, masks are required, and everyone's temperature is taken upon entering the building. 

My first visit was last Tuesday, and my cousin Gail met me at the museum.  Even though we were both wearing masks, we maintained our distance from each other.

As with most museums, only a portion of their collection is on permanent display.  At this time they have a special exhibit of Latin American prints which have been brought out of storage.  Many of the famous Mexican artists of the 20th century were represented.

This print by José Clemente Orozco was a study for a mural and is entitled "Grief".

Unlike most of his artist colleagues, Orozco often cast a critical eye on the Mexican Revolution.  This print, entitled "Loot" shows a group of revolutionaries carrying off their plunder.

This lithograph by Orozco is called "Three Generations".

Diego Rivera was perhaps the most famous of Mexico's muralists, and several of his prints were in the exhibit.

"The Fruits of Labor"

"Boy and Dog"

"The Open Air School"

These drawings were all studies which Rivera did for the murals which he painted in the Secretariat of Education in Mexico City.

Grouped together were these three prints which represent the "Big Three" of Mexican mural painting... David Alfaro Siqueiros, in addition to Orozco and Rivera.  The subject of all three  was the Mexican revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata.

"Zapata" by Siquieros

"Zapatistas" (Zapata's soldiers) by Orozco

"Zapata" by Rivera

This drawing was a study for one of Rivera's murals, and is the most famous image of the hero of the Mexican Revolution.

Another Latin American artist represented in the exhibit was Carlos Mérida from Guatemala.  I am familiar with Mérida because a year ago I saw an exhibit of his work at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City.

"Guatemalan Women"

An illustration for the "Popol Vuh", the sacred book of the Mayas

I will write more about my visits to the museum in future posts.