The Museum Grounds

As I said previously, it will take several posts to cover the Dolores Olmedo Museum.  

Dolores Olmedo (1908 - 2002) was a wealthy, self-made businesswoman, something of an rarity in that era in Mexico.  She was passionate about Mexican culture and socialized with many Mexico City intellectuals and artists.  She was good friends with the Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo and collected their paintings.

A photograph of Dolores Olmedo at the entrance to the museum

A statue of Olmedo, based on a portrait that Rivera did of her

She is dressed in the traditional attire of a Tehuana, a woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

A statue of Diego Rivera on the museum grounds

The museum is housed in a late 16th century hacienda called "La Noria" in the Mexico City district of Xochimilco.  In 1962 Olmedo purchased the property, restored it and made it her home.  In 1994 she donated the hacienda and her collection of art as a museum.

The hacienda buildings and the surrounding gardens are beautiful.

Roaming the grounds there are many peacocks.

Olmedo was very fond of "xolos", the breed of dog also known as the Mexican hairless.  Throughout her life she kept "xolos" as pets.  After her death, the museum decided to honor her love of the breed by keeping six of the dogs in a spacious enclosure on the grounds.

The plaque reads -

"Following the example of my mother, teacher María Patiño Suárez widow of Olmedo, who always told me to share everything that you have with your fellow human beings, I leave this house with all my art collections, the product of the work of my entire life, for the enjoyment of the Mexican people."

In the following blog posts we will look at her art collections.