We spent the holiday season with good friends in Cuernavaca, Mexico. On our way to their house, we spent a jam-packed day in Mexico City. I can’t wait to go back, there’s so much to see. I’m including one or two images from each of our stops in the city.
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City, by Fernando Romero
Sculpture by Salvador Dali in the Museo Soumaya
We started at the Museo Soumaya, which is owned by the Carlos Slim Foundation and contains an extensive art collection—there are sculptures by Auguste Rodin and Salvador Dali that I’d never seen—religious relics, historical documents, and coin collection of Carlos Slim and his late wife Soumaya, after whom the museum is named. The new building, a wild shiny structure, was designed by architect Fernando Romero, who is Slim’s son-in-law.
Library, Luis Barragán House and Studio, Mexico City
Foyer, Luis Barragán House
Our next stop was the Luis Barragán House and Studio. Barragán is one of my favorite architects. His work is so restrained, poetic, and steeped in the culture of his country.
The courtyard at Casa Azul, the house Frida Kahlo shared with her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera, in Mexico City.
An exhibition of Frida Kahlo's clothes at Casa Azul sponsored by Vogue.
We then visited Casa Azul, the house that Frida Kahlo shared with her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera. Not only is the house-turned-museum filled with Kahlo’s art, the story of the couple’s lives, and a palpable sense of history (including the time that Trotsky spent living there), but there is currently a great exhibition, sponsored by Vogue, featuring Kahlo’s personal effects and clothing.
The courtyard at the San Angel Inn, a 17th-century hacienda that's now a restaurant in Mexico City.
We had lunch at the San Angel Inn, a 17th-century hacienda that was converted into a beautiful restaurant exactly 50 years ago. It’s very elegant and the food is terrific.
A spiral stair at the Diego Rivera Studio Museum, Mexico City
The blue exterior of the Diego Rivera Studio Museum
Drawings by Xavier Guerrero at the Diego Rivera Studio Museum
Our last stop was the Diego Rivera Studio Museum. The building itself is mostly a beautiful blue, and it was fascinating to see where the great muralist worked. There is currently an exhibit by Xavier Guerrero, one of Rivera’s contemporaries.
Cuernavaca was beautiful too, so stayed tuned for “South of the Border: Part Dos.”