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Richest man in the world opens art museum in Mexico City
According to the AP, the Soumaya is named after Slim's late wife and designed by his son-in-law, architect Fernando Romero. The curvy structure's exterior is covered with over 16,000 hexagon shaped aluminum panels that glimmer radically in the Mexican sun. The massive interior is 183,000 square feet, providing plenty of space to peruse Slim's collection. The art housed within the Soumaya will be a rotation of the billionaire's personal art collection, which includes over 66,000 (!) pieces. The Soumaya opens to the public on March 29.
Carlos Slim is the son of a Lebanese merchant and accumulated his wealth in the telecom industry. He owns the leading Internet service and cell phone providers in Mexico as well as over 80% of Mexican land lines. His wealth is about 4% of Mexico's gross domestic product. The opening of the Soumaya to the Mexican public underlies his philosophy that culture and art should be accessible to all:
"I believe that we have to find means for all desirable things to be universally accessible. Culture. Entertainment. Sport. Communication. Health. Food. Housing. The fundamental things."
The avant-garde Soumaya is located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City. Tuesday night was a soft opening media event and included guests such as Larry King, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Nobel Laureate Garcia Marquez.
flickr image via vladimixFiled under: Arts and Culture, History, North America, Mexico, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
msduke Mar 3rd 2011 2:44AM
How many people from other countries would go to Mexico to see anything with all the gang /drug killings. Not me for sure . I chose to stay in the United States of American
ajschrod Mar 6th 2011 2:28PM
With all that money, why can't he see the need for training and equipping an underground "army" of Mexicans to infiltrate every possible dope/guns/human traffic gangs? The money would be well-spent, because federales seem unable to handle them"up front", so undercover is the only way to go. These recruits should have absolutely NO qualms about "eliminating" the gang members whenever possible, because it's expensive and almost impossible to "bring them to trial"!!
Gary Arseneau Mar 4th 2011 12:08AM
March 3, 2011
The Soumaya Museum is riddled with non-disclosed Rodin, Daumier, Renoir and Degas forgeries.
Degas never cast in bronze (much less brass), Renoir was a paralytic who did not sculpt after 1910, Daumier never cast in bronze and Georges Rudier, listed as the foundry for many of the Soumaya Museum's so-called Rodin(s) went into business in 1952 some 35 years after Rodin's death in 1917.
The dead don't sculpt.
At best, Carlos Slim was misled into purchasing these non-disclosed forgeries.
Unfortunately, the news media, the majority of the time because of time constraints, uses the press releases they receive to write their articles, repeating the same misinformation as if they were facts.
The academia, with or without intent, indoctrinate under the guise of education and perpetuate these same misrepresentations as if they were facts.
The museum industry, on more occasions than not, display forgeries, in their collection and/or exhibitions, that violate their own endorsed ethical guidelines.
To learn more about these contentious issues of authenticity, link to: http://garyarseneau.blogspot.c...
Caveat Emptor!
Gary Arseneau
artist, creator of original lithographs & scholar
Fernandina Beach, Florida USA