DAY 5, SEP 27, MONDAY
Museo Soumaya FREE, daily, 10.30-6.30.
On Mondays most attractions are closed.
This museum is under 2 km from our hotel. We ubered and got in.
This futuristic, architectural mind-meld was founded by Carlos Slim, one of the wealthiest men in the world, who named it for his deceased wife, Soumaya. Inside is more than 66,000 pieces of art that spans 3,000 years, from sculptures from Mesoamerica right up to works from Tintoretto and Salvador Dali.
The silver, reflective building spans 170,000 square feet of space and is a design feat in itself, pinched at the center like an hourglass, but angular like the hull of a ship.
The non-profit cultural icon originally was housed in the Plaza Loreto of San Angel until 2011. It was moved to a new building in Plaza Carso in Nuevo Polanco, designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero, son in law of the founder.
It has an awesome collection. We saw the ground floor exhibits 1
st . This is Rodin's Gates of Hell.
We then went to the top floor and worked our way down.
The majority of art is from the 15th to 20th centuries,
though there is a substantial collection of indigenous Mexican art.
Slim is the owner of the world's largest private collection of
Auguste Rodin's art, as well, and the museum has the largest
collection of casts of his sculptures outside of France.
SCULPTURES
Rodin's own face sculpted...
The manner in which the drapes cling transparently ....
Contours of the human body...
Dynamic movement
THE KISS...
Busts were amazing... so life like
MOTHER OF PEARL in paintings
SILLAR [Volcanic rock] /carvings
INDIGENOUS
PAINTINGS
There were plenty of religious stuff
Nativity Diorama with shells
FURNITURE[Ebony inlaid with MOTHER OF PEARL]
IVORY
A whole floor has objects carved exquisitely in ivory.
THE BEST AND MOST EXTENSIVE WE HAVE EVER SEEN
I'll be uploading videos to do them a bit of justice.
These were recurring objects... the Bodhisttvas carved along the natural curve of the elephant tusk. They usually hold a flower in the left hand and a basket in the right hand. The face is calm, no moustache.
Here are close up shots
There is a variation in this design with the moustached figures
There are these laughing guys and common scenes
There are carvings done holding the tusk horizontally, instead of vertically as done above.
The 9 dragon wall in Beijing here: [we saw it in Beijing, pic, video in our blog post on China]
Two awesome chariots:
Figures
This is a lovely ivory inlaid screen.. closeups of each portion follows to see the birds, celestial beauties etc
ANTIQUES , MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ETC
There was a whole floor with antiques
It was a huge treat enjoying this museum.
We ubered back to our hotel, very happy.
Report of day 6 is here:
No comments:
Post a Comment