Pre-Hispanic and Folk Art

Although the Dolores Olmedo Museum is best known for its collection of paintings by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Olmedo was also an avid collector of pre-Hispanic and folk art.

Interspersed among the galleries of Rivera paintings are showcases filled with some of the more than 900 pieces of pre-Hispanic art that she collected.

As I mentioned before, she was very fond of "xolos", Mexican hairless dogs, and she collected earthenware figures of dogs from the ancient Colima culture of western Mexico.

Mayan incense burners

A monumental Mayan carving

A piece from the Zapotec culture

I assume that this was the kitchen in the original house.  It is decorated in a traditional style, and there are clay cooking pots.

A case filled with porcelain dinnerware

In the courtyard there were two "Trees of Life", large, elaborate clay pieces from the town of Metepec in the State of Mexico.

This one follows the original theme of "Trees of Life"... the Bible story of Adam and Eve.

Later artists created "Trees of Life" that have a wide variety of themes.  This one is a Day of the Dead tree with skeletons and skulls.

At the far end of the grounds is a building which I almost missed.  It contains some of Olmedo's extensive collection of Mexican handicrafts and folk art.  As I mentioned previously, Olmedo was an avid supporter of traditional Mexican culture, and she collected all things Mexican.

At the entrance, however, there was a grouping that I suspect was not a part of her collection, but something that was placed there to celebrate the World Cup games in Mexico.  It is a group of skeletons playing soccer.

Not all of the folk art is labeled.  I have seen enough Mexican handicrafts over the years that I could tell the origin of most of the pieces.

  Ceramic animal figures from the town of Tonalá in the state of Jalisco

The distinctive red glassware from Guadalajara, Jalisco

Masks from the state of Guerrero

"Cartonería" is the art of creating figures out of cardboard and papier mache.

A band of skeletal musicians of "cartonería"

Even though the eyebrows don't quite meet to form an unibrow, I think this skeleton is supposed to represent Frida Kahlo.

 Talavera pottery, a specialty of the city of Puebla

Two more "Trees of Life"

The famous black pottery from the town of San Bartolo de Coyotepec in the state of Oaxaca.

A clay jaguar figure from Amatenango del Valle in Chiapas.

Next we will begin to look at the museum's main claim to fame... its collection of paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, unsurpassed in the world.