PALACIO DE BELLAS ARTES

The construction of this building began during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, who called upon the Italian architect Adamo Boari to build the National Theater in anticipation of the centennial of the country's independence. The first phase of the work took place from 1904 to 1912, following the canons of Art Nouveau; the steel skeleton of the building is covered with Carrara marble. The sculptures on the façade, representing the fine arts, were commissioned from foreign artists. The construction was delayed by the instability of the ground and had to be interrupted because of the Revolution. It was nevertheless restarted in 1928 under the direction of the Mexican architect Federico Mariscal, following the evolution towards the Art Deco style, which characterizes the interior of the building. The complex was inaugurated in 1934 as a forum for the performing and visual arts. Originally, its collection included religious works from the 16th century, pre-Hispanic sculptures, prints and pieces from the Montenegro collection assembled in a Museum of Popular Art, complemented by frescoes by Rivera(El Hombre Controlador del Universo), Orozco(La Lucha, la Guerra y la Desintegración) and Siqueiros(La Nueva Democracia). From the original collection, now dispersed to different institutions, the museum now holds 17 frescoes by seven Mexican artists between 1928 and 1963. Temporary exhibitions and concerts of classical and contemporary music complete the picture.