See the first UK exhibition of Mexico’s much-loved artist, José María Velasco.
Velasco, working in Mexico in the 19th century, was a man of many interests. He was fascinated by advances in geology, the archaeology of his home country, the study of local flora, and the increasing presence of industrialisation.
He painted the sweeping landscapes of the Valley of Mexico, the home of modern-day Mexico City, with exquisite detail. A closer look at ‘Valle de México desde el cerro de Santa Isabel’ (1877, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City), an impressive panoramic view of the valley, reveals allusions to Mexico's historic past and its rapidly modernising present.
Velasco was keenly aware of his country’s industrialisation, capturing expanding train lines and factories alongside botanically accurate studies of plants. His scientific eye inspired his art, and his love of geology is clear to see in his unusual portrait of a rock, ‘Rocas’ (1894, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City).
This exhibition, the first-ever dedicated to a Latin American artist at the National Gallery, marks the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the UK. And it celebrates Velasco’s place among the great 19th-century landscape painters.
