iMuseo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL)Centro Histórico
México: ruta y destino
"Mexico: Route and Destination" traces how painters, photographers, maps and tourist posters built Mexico's image as a travel destination in the early 20th century.
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The final room holds one work in several panels: Miguel Covarrubias's 1947 map of Mexico's production and sea routes, painted for the Hotel del Prado and pulled from its ruins after the 1985 earthquake. Restorers rebuilt the lost paint from old photographs, and this is its first public showing.
You reach it through about 380 pieces from 40 collections: 19th-century travelling painters, Guillermo Kahlo's photographs of colonial churches, Dr. Atl's only mural, 1940s tourist posters, artists' road maps for the 1927 highway to Acapulco, and Carlos Mérida's maps of regional dress. Every Pueblo Mágico weekend trip out of the city has its origin story here: the curator traces the label back to the 19th-century "pueblo pintoresco".
Time Out Mexico called it an invitation to the tourist who loves Mexican art, fitting for a show about how Mexico was sold to tourists. Entry is MXN 95, free on Sundays for Mexican nationals and residents. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:30.
Editor's pick
The last room holds Miguel Covarrubias's 1947 map of Mexico's products and sea routes, pulled from the Hotel del Prado's ruins after the 1985 earthquake and restored for its first public showing. Around 380 pieces chart how Mexico was sold to tourists.
Look for
Covarrubias's production map
Look for the multi-panel 1947 map of Mexico's products and sea routes, rescued from the Hotel del Prado after the 1985 earthquake and restored for this show.
Dr. Atl's view of Puebla
The only mural Dr. Atl ever made, a panorama of Puebla on loan from Chapultepec Castle.
Guillermo Kahlo's colonial churches
Early photographs of churches and monuments that, the curator says, set the standard angles people still use to photograph them.
1940s tourist posters and magazines
Posters from the government's early tourism bodies, travel guides and Anita Brenner's magazine Mexico This Month, all made to sell the country abroad.
Carlos Mérida's costume maps
Maps and screenprints that chart Mexico through regional dress, in the last section on how tourism leaned on images of women.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
With kids
Under-13s get in free.
Also at Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL)
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- México: ruta y destinoCourtesy of Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL)
- Mockups before fuckups. Maquetas, prototipos y el oficio del diseñoCourtesy of Museo Franz Mayer
- Alemania en la Colección Franz MayerCourtesy of Museo Franz Mayer
- Durero: El primer artista viralCourtesy of Museo Franz Mayer
- Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL)Luisalvaz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museo del Palacio de Bellas ArtesXavier Quetzalcoatl Contreras Castillo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo Franz MayerGAED / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo del EstanquilloLuisalvaz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museo Memoria y ToleranciaMuseo Memoria y Tolerancia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0