Museo Nacional de Arte

Exhibitions

Homenaje Nacional José María Velasco (1840-1912)

01 de Jul 1993 - 30 de Nov 1993

In his time, Velasco was the most important artist to consolidate the arising of the landscape inside the hierarchy of the concerns addressed by painters of the 19th century. The pictorial genre that he managed with great skills, lacked lineage in our country and it is not a coincidence that his work was received with approval since he affirmed the values of the nation and the essence of what’s Mexican. His landscapes were essential for the development of a national art and an own aesthetic. Velasco merged his activities as a teacher and as an artist with a deep aesthetic-scientific analysis and an especial interest for the “progress”.

He not only was student and teacher of the Academy, but he was also a drawer of the Museo Nacional and member of the Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural of which, eventually, he became the president. Thus, Homenaje Nacional José María Velasco (1840-1912) that the Mexican Estate pays to José María Velasco, through the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes and the National Institute of Fine Artes (INBA), set as the main goal to foster an updated review and interpretation of the landscapes of Velasco. The exhibition was opened from July to October 1993.

Undoubtedly, offering to the public an outstanding selection of oils, watercolors, and drawings of José María Velasco showed the generosity of private collectors that lent temporarily his artworks to the museum in order to enable an overview of the work of the artist. The museum is grateful to them, the national and foreign institutions who contributed to the gathering the exhibition.