Museo de Bellas Artes a Must Visit Museum in Mexico City

My first solo trip to Mexico City I made a mental list of places I wanted to see, many of them art museums. I highly recommend Museo de Bellas Artes to anyone visiting Mexico City (CDMX).

Even if you do not want to venture inside the art museum you should pay a visit to the building Palacio de Bellas Artes and the plaza in front of the building.

Palacio de Bellas Artes is located next to Alameda Central Park, west of the Zocalo central historic district. It is easily accessible by metro which is a safe, clean, convenient, and affordable means of transportation in Mexico City. As of November 2023 the cost for a metro ticket in CDMX is 5 pesos which is about 29 cents US. In 2024 Mexico City metro is switching from paper tickets to rechargeable cards, known as Integrated Mobility (MI) cards.

I stayed in La Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City and found it an excellent neighborhood for a solo traveler because I felt safe walking around.

 

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I visited Mexico City in November during the USA Thanksgiving holiday and it turned out to be a great time to visit – not too busy with tourists and the weather was lovely with no rain and beautiful blue sky.

 

 

There are several sculptures on the plaza in front of this magnificent building, including four Pegasus sculptures by Catalan artist Agustí Querol Subirats.

 

 

When I visited Palacio de Bellas Artes the sculpture Reclining Figure – Arch Leg by Henry Moore was on display at the plaza – watch the delivery and unveiling of the sculpture at Palacio de Bellas Artes. The sculpture is on loan from the San Diego Museum of Art.

 

 

The exhibit during my visit to the Museo de Bellas Artes was dedicated to poet and writer Octavio Paz (recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature) – titled En Esto Ver Aquello Octavio Paz Y El Arte (In This – See That – Octavio Paz) featured over 200 works including pre-Hispanic work along with modern artists.

Diego Rivera is better known for his murals but he did dabble with cubism for a time as seen in this 1915 painting Portrait of Martin Luis Guzman.

 

 

Frida Kahlo was also featured in the exhibit. While in Mexico City you should also visit the Frida Kahlo Museum, known as the Blue House.

 

 

 

I was mesmerized by this whimsical painting by Remedio Varo – Creation of the Birds.

 

 

You need to see these painting in person to truly appreciate them – The Giantess by Leonora Carrington contains marvelous detail in the foreground and background. I spent several minutes admiring this art work.

 

 

Georges Braque’s painting – Woman with Paintbrush

 

 

Another work by Diego Rivera from later in his painting career – The Temptations of Saint Anthony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The admission fees at the museums in Mexico City sometimes require a separate ticket for photography – ask at the ticket office when visiting. For the Museo de Bellas Artes the admission price was $45 pesos and $30 pesos for the photographer pass.

 

 

There are several murals by prominent artists, such as Diego Rivera’s Man, Center of the Universe which I will feature in an upcoming post. You can catch a glimpse of the mural in the photo below – look in the top right corner.

 

 

Mexico City is a city filled with magnificent art work – a must visit city for any art lover!

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Palacio de Bellas Artes info

Address

The main entrance is on Avenida Juarez (nearest corner: Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas)

Phone Number

Main Information Line: +52 (55) 10 00 46 22 ext. 2132 / 2112
Taquilla (ticket office): +52 (55) 55 12 25 93/ or +52 (55) 55 21 92 51 ext. 1155

Hours

Tuesday – Sunday 10AM – 6PM (closed Mondays)

Admission Cost (as of November 2023)

• 89 pesos for temporary and permanent collection
• Free entry on Sundays
• Free entry for students and teachers every day

Tours of Bellas Artes

• Tours on the history and architecture of the Palace of Fine Arts every day at noon and 5 pm.
• Mural tours every day at 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm.

How to Get There

Metro: Estación Bellas Artes (lines 2 and 8)