01 de May 1990 - 31 de Jul 1990
Even though he was a remarkable figure of the 19th-century Mexican art and the culture of its time, there is a little study of Contreras till nowadays. Thanks to the research done by Patricia Pérez Walters, the Museo Nacional de Arte proposed to gather the work of the sculptor, from May to July 1990, in order to offer an updated vision of his artistic personality and, at the same time, to publish the evaluation that he deserved from his contemporaries.
The content of the exhibition Jesús F. Contreras (1866-1902). Escultor finisecular was closely linked to the museum collection and Malgré tout, one of the fundamental works of Contreras that in 1900 earned him the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic. This sculpture welcomed the visitor in the museum's lobby.
In the rooms devoted to modernism, the artistic development of the period was presented, mirroring the profound spiritual crisis of the end of the century. The old Palace of Communications, today the Museo Nacional de Arte, allowed, without a doubt, an optimal conceptualization of the time.