Esoteric Survey

Abelardo Rodriguez Market (1934), Mexico City The market in 1934. It was a post-revolutionary progressive model which included social areas, day care and had a goal to bring art to the people. Source:   Portal Academico Diego Rivera curated the art program. Murals were painted by his students and visiting artists. A wood sculpture in the lobby. Unfortunately, I have no idea who the artist is. Fresco murals by American artist,   Marion Greenwood , 1935 Marion working on the mural Source: Archives of American Art Her mural leads upstairs. At this time Isamu Noguchi came to Mexico City, apparently in  a car (a Hudson) lent to him by his friend, Buckminster Fuller.  Marion and her  sister helped Noguchi get a wall commission in the market by convincing Diego Rivera to let him join the project.  More information on this is included in Marion's interview at the  Archives of American Art Noguchi and Marion...

Tapio Wirkkala, Fornasetti, and fiber Pipsan Saarinen Swanson Bauhaus/Hippie

Eames with Girard Smalls

The Central Library (1952) at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) by Juan O’ Gorman, with Gustavo Saavedra amd Juan Martínez de Velasco. Mario Pani and Enrique del Moral created the UNAM campus  master plan . Over 60 architects were involved in designing the campus.    UNAM was built  on the site of the Xitle volcano, which erupted around 100 AD. Lava rocks from the volcano were used in in the construction. The sprawling campus is monumental in scale--in that cold modernist sort of way. The Rectorate Tower (1952) by Mario Pani, with  Enrique del Moral and Salvador Ortega Mural by   David Alfaro Siqueiros El Pabellón de Rayos Cósmicos (1951) by Félix Candela, with  Jorge González Reyna It was built as a Neutron measurement laboratory. Now it seems more like a hangout. Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) (2008) by Teodoro González de León ...

From a 2011 LAMA sale

Casa Luis Barragán is the former house and studio of architect Luis Barragán in Mexico City. It was completed in 1948 and Barragán lived there until he died in 1988. This is the front hall to the house. A Mathias Goeritz painting hangs at the top of the stairs. Soledad  Barragán lived alone The garden The stairs lead to a private office. That's another Mathias Goeritz painting. Vision In Motion by  László Moholy-Nagy One of two reproduction Josef Albers paintings owned by  Barragán . Albers and  Barragán met on a number occasions and had mutal admiration for each other's work. Apparently, Albers even knew of the reproductions. The Henry Moore sculpture (limited edition) is a Pritzker Prize, which was awarded to  Barragán in 1980. There's the other one. Barragán designed most of the furnishings, including this Butaque chair, which was a collaboration...