New Exhibition
From February 13 to May 18, 2020
QUÉBEC CITY, Feb. 12, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) is honoured to present a selection of outstanding works by art history's most celebrated painter couple, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. She was a committed artist and female role model. He was Mexico's foremost muralist painter. Together, they forged a romantic saga in which art and love combined to produce an unforgettable heritage.
From February 13 to May 18, 2020 the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion will take on a Mexican air and transport visitors to the incredible universe of two legendary artists who continue to shape the imaginative universe with their extraordinary destiny, more than 50 years after their deaths. They are recognized for their invaluable contribution to modern art. Their tumultuous love affair and their works are sure to charm visitors. The exhibition affords an ideal opportunity to present other masters of modern Mexican painting. This winter, discover Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism. The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, one of the biggest private collections of 20th-century Mexican art.
The exhibition, presented by La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services, is organized by the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre, in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) in Mexico. It will not only assemble works by the artist couple but also numerous photographs that situate the artists in their period.
"We are indeed pleased to join forces with the MNBAQ, an influential Québec cultural institution, in conjunction with this major exhibition. In our capacity as a leading socioeconomic stakeholder in the community, La Capitale seeks to participate actively in cultural life, a vital mainstay of Québec society. I encourage the public to visit this major exhibition," noted Jean St-Gelais, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services.
The masterpieces presented include 20 works by Frida Kahlo, including the famous Self-Portrait with Necklace (1933), Self-Portrait with Braid (1941) and Diego on My Mind (1943), and the celebrated Flower Vendor (1943) by Rivera.
This fascinating exhibition will comprise more than 150 items, including 20 works by other Mexican painters, including Miguel Covarrubias, Carlos Orozco Romero and Juan Soriano, and 85 photographs by photographers of the period, including a superb selection of works by Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, a couple who rank among the foremost Latin American photographers of the 20th century.
The MNBAQ is proud to be part of the prestigious circuit of the exhibition, which has enjoyed enormous success in all the cities in which it has been presented in recent years, notably in Bologna, Istanbul, Sydney, and Nashville.
The remarkable destinies of Kahlo and Rivera
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was seriously injured in her youth in a bus accident and learned to paint during her convalescence. A feminist, socialist and fundamentally a nonconformist, the artist, who produced fewer than 150 paintings throughout her career, was also keenly interested in popular and aboriginal culture. Kahlo often made her own life the subject of her paintings and produced self-portraits of great emotional intensity that reflect her physical and psychological suffering.
Diego Rivera (1886-1957) lived in Europe from 1907 to 1921, where he developed a style inspired by the avant-gardists. He returned to Mexico in 1921 after the Revolution and sought to create painting that spoke to the masses. He is regarded as a major figure of Mexican muralism. He received numerous official commissions and created art that is at once original and universal combining modernist influences with Mexican cultural heritage.
Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera in 1929. A tumultuous, passionate relationship ensued that lasted a quarter century. The MNBAQ is delighted to tell this story.
The exhibition combines art, love and revolution. It proposes a fascinating dialogue between two legendary figures of modern art and highlights the remarkable vitality of Mexico's artistic and cultural life in the first half of the 20th century.
Jacques and Natasha Gelman
Jacques Gelman (1909-1986) was born in St. Petersburg and settled in Mexico at the outset of World War II. He became one of the leading film producers of his time and discovered the brilliant film actor and comedian Mario Moreno, nicknamed "Cantinflas." Natasha Zahalka (1912-1998), a native of Moravia (now the Czech Republic), met Jacques Gelman in Mexico City. They married in 1941 and began to assemble a large modern art collection.
The Gelman Collection highlights a remarkably prolific period in Mexican art at a time when the arts community was flourishing. It comprises numerous artists, thereby offering an outstanding overview of different facets of art from this period. In addition to celebrated works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the exhibition presents major works by several of their contemporaries, such as María Izquierdo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo. All these artists are well-known in Mexico and several have acquired over time great renown on the international scene.
Credits
The exposition Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism. The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection is presented by La Capitale, Insurance and Financial Services, from February 13 to May 18, 2020. It is organized by the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) in Mexico.
Project Director
Annie GAUTHIER
Director of Collections and Exhibitions, MNBAQ
Curator
André GILBERT
Exhibition Curator, MNBAQ
For the Vergel Foundation
Robert LITTMAN
President and Director, Vergel Foundation
Magda CARRANZA DE AKLE
Curator, Vergel Foundation
For the MNBAQ
Operations Management
Yasmée FAUCHER
Museography Service Manager, MNBAQ
Scenography and graphic design
Jean HAZEL
Designer, MNBAQ
Mediation Coordinator
Marie-Hélène AUDET
Mediation Service Manager, MNBAQ
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is a government corporation subsidized by the Québec government.
Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism.
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection
Pierre Lassonde Pavilion of the MNBAQ
From February 13 to May 18, 2020
mnbaq.org / #fridamnbaq
SOURCE Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
For further information: 418 643-2150 or 1 866 220-2150
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