1949: Mexico City Interpreted

Abstract

In 1949, two events concerning Mexico City and its artistic representation occurred. The first was a contest/exhibition organized by the newspaper Excélsior that called for painters to depict the contemporary city, the second was the publication of a catalog of the exhibition edited by the art critic Jorge Juan Crespo de la Serna that included works by five painters who participated in the contest. This article aims to analyze how these events, which brought together over 250 paintings, addressed all aspects of the city in the mid-20th Century.