Art in "El Centro"

I had been in Mexico City for nearly two weeks, and I had not ventured into "el Centro Histórico", the colonial heart of the city.  Finally on Thursday I took the metro into "el Centro".  There were no signs of protests, until, as I was walking down pedestrianized Madero Street, I saw this "mini-march" of less than a dozen people with banners calling for the resignation of President Peña Nieto. (Fuera Peña - Peña out)

Along Madrero Street, I went into the eighteenth century mansion known as Iturbide's Palace. It was the residence of Agustín Iturbide during his short reign (1822-1823) as Emperor of Mexico.  

Today the building is owned by Banamex (the Bank of Mexico), and is used as a site for cultural exhibits.  I have been to several exhibits there, and they are always worth seeing.  I have seen shows of Latin American handicrafts, the works of Mexican silversmiths, and architectural drawings and photographs of Mexico City architecture.  Presently, to celebrate Banamex's 130th anniversary, they are displaying 130 paintings from the bank's private collection.  Unfortunately, photography is never allowed at these shows, so I can't show you any pictures.  The exhibit was excellent with artwork dating from Mexico's colonial era all the way to the present day.

From Iturbide's Palace, I walked a couple blocks to the Palace of Fine Arts.  This opulent building of white marble was constructed between 1904 and 1934 to replace the National Theater which stood on the same site.  

 

Posing in front of the Palace of Fine Arts there were some dancers from the Ballet Folklórico de México which performs regularly in the main theater of the palace.  The Ballet Folklórico is a "must-see" for visitors to Mexico City.

Entering the palace you come into the main hall which is four stories high.  It is designed in art-deco style

 

Pre-Hispanic motifs are incorporated into the art-deco style.  Here you see the image of Chac, the Mayan rain god, with his curling, elephant-like nose.

 

The main hall contains paintings by a some of Mexico's most famous 20th century muralists.

"Catharsis" by José Clemente Orozco

"The Torment of Cuauhtemoc" by David Siqueiros

portrays the torture of the last Aztec emperor

by the Spanish.

The most famous mural in the Palace of Fine Arts is "Man at the Crossroads" by Diego Rivera. In 1933 Rivera, who had gained an international reputation, was commissioned by John D. Rockefeller to paint a mural for the lobby of the newly built Rockefeller Center.  

 A painter, who was an avowed Communist, was going to paint for the world's richest capitalist.  It's not really surprising that a conflict was going to arise between the two men.

At one side of the painting, the wealthy, including J.D. Rockefeller himself, are drinking, dancing and playing cards...

...while the hungry unemployed are beaten down by the police.

 

To the other side of the mural, the proletariat unites under Marx, Engels and Trotsky...

 

...and Lenin leads the way to a better society.

Obviously, the Rockefellers were not at all happy with Rivera's mural.  They had it painted over.  The next year, Rivera did the mural over again in Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts.