Touristic Mexico (Part 2)

More from the National Museum of Art's special exhibit "Mexico - Route and Destination" which deals with the rise of tourism in Mexico in the 20th century...

A portion of the exhibit deals with some of the Mexican cities that became popular tourist draws.

Of course, Mexico City, the nation's capital and largest city is a major destination.

Travel poster for Mexico City from the Mexican Tourism Department, 1945

 Vintage postages of Mexico City

I'm pretty sure that I had that second card from one of my early trips to Mexico.

"From My Window", oil painting by Angelina Beloff, 1965  (Beloff was Diego Rivera's first wife.)

"Hidalgo Avenue", oil painting by Angelina Beloff, 1949

Poolside at the Hotel Alameda, 1964

When it opened in 1961, the Hotel Alameda was one of the most luxurious hotels in the city.  During the earthquake of 1985, all of the guests were safely evacuated.  However the building suffered serious structural damage.  The swimming pool cracked, and the rooms in the floors below suffered water damage.  Demolition began in 1994 but was not completed until 2004.

The Hotel Regis, 1930

Opened in 1918, the Hotel Regis was one of the city's first luxury hotels.  The hotel collapsed in the 1985 earthquake, and 136 corpses were found in the wreckage.  Today the site is a park called the Plaza of Solidarity which honors the victims of the quake.

Another town which became a popular tourist destination was Taxco.  Taxco was an important silver mining town during the colonial period, but by the beginning of the 20th century, mining had decreased, and the town became a picturesque backwater.  Then in the 1920s, William Spratling, an architect and silversmith from the U.S., moved here.  He opened a silver shop and trained Mexicans in the art of silversmithing.  His students went on to open their own shops, and Taxco emerged as an important tourist destination, not just for its colonial atmosphere, but for its high quality silver work.  (I still own a few sterling silver rings that I bought in Taxco on early trips to Mexico.)

"View of Taxco and of the Church of Santa Prisca" by Guillermo Gómez Mayorga

The Spratling silver shop, 1944

Vintage silver jewelry from Taxco

In between Mexico City and Taxco, is the city of Cuernavaca.  Because it is several thousand feet lower in elevation than Mexico City, its climate is warmer.  It is called the "City of Eternal Spring".  It became a popular place for wealthy Mexico City families to build weekend homes.  Then, investors built hotels.  (I have to say, that today Cuernavaca is a big city that has lost much of its charm.)

 "Souvenir of Cuernavaca" by Juan O'Gorman

 Tourist map of Cuernavaca from the mid 20th century

Long before there was a Cancún, Acapulco was the "in" beach resort with jet setters.  Hollywood movie stars built homes along its bays.  Although today, its reputation has been tarnished by cartel violence and the devastation of Hurricane Otis in 2023, it remains an important vacation destination.

"On Vacation"  oil painting for a calendar illustration by Luis Améndolla

  

Club de Pesca Hotel in 1953

Hotel Presidente in 1958

Vintage postcard of one of the famous cliff divers

(I think I once had this postcard also.)

The exhibit ends with a large mural that was saved from the Hotel del Prado in Mexico City.  It was yet another hotel that was seriously damaged in the 1985 earthquake. (Today the Hilton Hotel stands on the site.)

Hotel del Prado in 1950

The hotel contained one of Diego Rivera's most famous murals, "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central".  The mural survived the quake, and a small museum was built nearby to house the painting.  However, I did not know that the hotel also had two murals by Miguel Covarrubias.  One of them, a cultural map of Mexico, is now in the Museum of Popular Arts.  I have seen that mural many times without realizing where is was originally located.  The other work by Covarrubias was an illustrated map, measuring over 450 square feet, showing Mexico's natural resources and lines of communication.  It suffered serious damage and has been in storage for 41 years.  In a laborious process that took two years, it was restored and presented to the National Museum of Art.  This exhibit is the first time the mural has been on public display since 1985.

A detail of the mural