Programs at the Museum

New York University’s Edward J. Sullivan, Ph.D., examines the stunning paintings on view in Modern Mexican Painting from the Andrés Blaisten Collection. He discusses how the exhibition presents an alternate take on the rise of Mexican art in the first half of the 20th century, independent of international stars like Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

The amazing life story of painter Frida Kahlo is explored in this acclaimed biopic. This film follows her marriage to famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera, their journeys to America and showcases the outrageous personalities that made them legends. Frida was nominated for 6 Academy Awards (including one for Hayek) and won 2. Runtime: 123 minutes. Rated R for sexual content and intense and violent depiction of a bus crash.

Join us to celebrate Modern Mexican Painting with a day of Latin American arts! See traditional performances by Ballet Folklorico Esperanza, visit galleries for looking activities and docent-led tours, and then discover interactive art-making for the whole familia with Lalo Cota!

The art and theater world of 1930's New York City serves as the backdrop for this film, directed by Tim Robbins. Cradle Will Rock is a tapestry of several different interwoven stories. In one of the stories Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) commissions Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to paint the lobby of Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller gets more than he bargained for as Rivera decides to use the mural to advance his personal progressive political and social agenda. Runtime: 132 minutes. Rated R for brief nudity.

Que Viva Mexico! was a film project begun during the Great Depression by Russian avant-garde filmmaker Segei Eisenstein. It was meant to be a filmic journey from Mexico's indigenous past, through colonial rule to the Mexican Revolution. The film was to highlight the culture, heritage, history and politics that defined Mexico's past and shape her future. Muralists Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueros initially served as guides for Eisenstein and his crew. Financial and logistical issues forced Eisenstein to abandon the film during production. It wasn’t until 1970 that Eisenstein’s longtime editor and collaborator was allowed to construct a film following Eisenstein’s original notes and storyboards. In Spanish with English subtitles. Runtime: 90 minutes.

Guillermo Del Toro draws upon the ideas of Magic Realism to create a chilling fairytale that is set against the backdrop of the fascist regime in 1944 Spain. Ofelia is a lonely and dreamy child who finds a magical world inside a stone labyrinth, where she encounters the legendary faun Pan, who tells her she must complete three dangerous tasks to return to her underground home. Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won 3. In Spanish with English subtitles. Runtime: 112 minutes. Rated R for scenes of violence and intensity.

The 1898 Pierre Louys novel La Femme Et Le Pantin served not only as inspiration for this film but for many of the works featured in the Blaisten Collection. Master of light and dark Josef Von Sternberg directs Marlene Dietrich as a femme fatale who can belong to no man yet frustrates all men that fall under her spell. Runtime: 83 minutes.

What does a portrait really say about a person? How do you read abstract portraits? View Modern Mexican Painting to discover unconventional ways to make your own modern portrait.

Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double life: on one hand they are musicians and humble farmers, on the other they support the campesina peasant guerilla movement's armed efforts against the oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels flee to the sierra hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counter-attack, old Plutarco executes his own plan. El Violin premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard (Best Actor). It also won 3 Ariel Awards (Mexico's version of the Oscars). In Spanish with English subtitles. Runtime: 98 minutes.

Maria Candelaria tells the story of a young indigenous woman and her lover living in a small village before the Revolution. Despite being hardworking and honest they are constantly harassed by the villagers for being the daughter of a prostitute. Eventually Maria is forced to model for a nude painting to raise the money necessary for her wedding. When the villagers see the painting they decide to stone Maria in anger. Dolores Del Rio and Pedro Armendariz star in this classic film from the Golden Age of Mexico. Maria Candelaria was the first Mexican film to play the Cannes Film Festival, where it went on to win the Grand Prix and Silver Ariel (for Best Cinematography). In Spanish with English subtitles. Runtime: 76 minutes.

Jorge has only a few weeks with his five-year-old son Natan before he leaves to live with his mother in Rome. Intent on teaching Natan about their Mayan heritage, Jorge takes him to the pristine Chinchorro reef, and eases him into the rhythms of a fisherman's life. As the bond between father and son grows stronger, Natan learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface of the sea. In Spanish and Italian with English subtitles. Runtime: 73 minutes.

Set the images on view in Modern Mexican Painting in the political context of the time with this informal gallery discussion led by William Beezley, Professor of History and specialist in Mexican history at the University of Arizona

Teenage Juan crashes his family's car into a telegraph pole on the outskirts of town, and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. His quest will bring him to Don Heber, an old paranoid mechanic whose only companion is Sica, his almost human boxer dog; to Lucía, a young mother who is convinced that her real place in life is as a lead singer in a punk band, and to "The One who Knows", a teenage mechanic obsessed with martial arts and Kung Fu philosophy. Lake Tahoe was an official selection of both the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. It was nominated for 7 Ariel Awards (Mexico's version of the Oscars) and won 3 including best Director and Best film. In Spanish with English subtitles. Runtime: 81 minutes.

Jose Bernardi of ASU’s Design School discusses architect Luis Barragan's ideological struggle: the reconciliation of being a Mexican architect in the Modern age, one whose work evolved in a time and context of the revolution that embraced a rational and secular oriented world, obsessed by the notion of progress; and the spiritual debt he owed to the powerful religious faith of his upbringing.