Museo Soumaya.Fundación Carlos Slim

Museo Soumaya Fundación Slim opened its doors in 1994 and for 25 years it has been a focal point for Latin American culture. Its three venues, Plaza Loreto, Plaza Carso, and the Home of Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, which are located in Mexico City, have welcomed over 11 million visitors. It is a project that aims to motivate dialogue and reflection through social commitment and action. Located in thriving areas of urban development, the Museo Soumaya Fundación Slim takes you on a journey through 30 centuries of art.

The collection of Ancient European Masters exhibit works from a wide array of schools, from Italian and French to Germanic, Flemish and Spanish, spanning from the 14th century to the 18th century.

The collection is continuously being studied and results have yielded interesting results that complement the knowledge surrounding some of the greatest artists of all time. The Madonna of the Yarnwinder by a follower of Leonardo da Vinci underwent Ultraviolet Fluorescence Photography (UVF), which revealed a series of superficial historical interventions the painting had undergone after it was finished. It also showed the age and state of the varnish, for example, the dark areas with barely any perceptible fluorescence meant they were retouched in the 19th century.

Infrared False Color Photography (IRFC) uncovered the presence of natural ultramarine blue on the mantle of the Virgin, a material used only in very important commissions since its price was very high, sometimes even surpassing gold.

Paintings, sculptures, estofados, and everyday domestic objects of the colonial period make up the art collection of the American Viceroyal period, as well as the mesoamerican traditions that were fully absorbed during the 16th and 18th centuries.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a source of inspiration for some of the most beautiful devotional pieces of art. The Company of Jesus, since its arrival to the New World in 1572, was one of the greatest promoters that wished to turn the Virgin into the official Patroness of New Spain. This religious endeavor reached the highest echelons of power in Rome until finally December 12 became the chosen day to celebrate this figure. Here we see a beautiful oil painting with a copper frame by Juan de Sáenz.

The numismatic, medals, and notaphilic fund of the Museo Soumaya offers a complete panorama of Mexico's history and all through one of the most collectible objects par excellence.

The collection begins with the reign of Emperor Charles V in America and it spans various Viceroy periods in America. It also shows the change of currency during the Second Empire of Maximilian and the insurgent period in Mexico. The collection spans the Porfiriato and Revolutionary periods right up to the 20th century.

The collection also showcases emblematic pieces from the French Impressionist and European Avant Garde movements alongside their Mexican reconfigurations.

The collection of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin is one of the largest and most important outside of France and many of these pieces heralded the arrival of Modernity. While Rodin is at the creative epicenter, the gliptoteka also houses his teachers, contemporary artists, and his alumni.

In the 19th century we find the roots that make up Mexico’s national identity. The genre of traveling art houses great artists, including Linati, Icaza, Rugendas, Egerton, Löhr, Chapman, Landesio, Velasco, among others.

José Agustin Arrieta, renowned still life artist of the 19th century is known for his cluttered kitchen tables, cupboards, tables, and dead game. His earliest known work dates back to 1843, and in 1851 and 1855 he sent several pieces to the Bellas Artes gallery in Puebla.