One of the hopefully lasting legacies of last year’s Paris Olympics is that you can now swim in the Seine. Though I’ve heard it’s pretty cold. On a cool September night I opted for a boat. Not having to worry about keeping myself afloat, I got to take in some of the numerous bridges over the Seine, as well as a few Paris landmarks, as nightfall came over the river.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hulten at the Grand Palais
With the Centre Pompidou now closed for what is planned to be a five-year long renovation, the museum is embarking on a “Constellation” program, staging exhibits using their collection at other venues throughout France. One of those venues is the Grand Palais, the Parisian event and exhibition space that dates back to 1900. The Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hulten exhibit is one of two at the Grand Palais.
Saint Phalle and Tinguely, who were married, were modern art sculptors. Saint Phalle was French and Tinguely was from Switzerland. Tinguely created machine-like contraptions that would come alive, banging, clanging and moving in all directions like the above video of “Hell, a small beginning.” Saint Clare created big colorful sculptures, often with a feminist twist. Hulten was a Swedish art collector, curator and museum director. He actively promoted Saint Clare and Tinguely’s work. Hulten was the first director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne.
Tomorrow (Sept. 21) is the last day that the Centre Pompidou, Paris’ reknowed contemporary art museum, will be open before it closes for a renovation. A renovation that is expected to take five years. According to the museum web site, the renovation involves “technical and environmental components, such as the complete asbestos removal from the façade, treatment of corrosion on the main structure, renovation and energy optimization of the building, and improvements to accessibility.”
There is one last exhibition at the Centre Pompidou. “Nothing could have prepared us — Everything could have prepared us” was created by the 58-year old German artist Wolfgang Timmons. He was given free reign to design the exhibit in the center’s 2nd floor library. It includes video, music, various books and papers. The images here are of Timmons’ photography which is what he is best known for.
Celebrating 100 years of Mexican baseball (placards in Chapultepec Park)
Design for the ages at the Museo Sumaya
With the specter of Trump looming over the Smithsonian museums, it seemed like a good time to take in the African American Museum of History and Culture. I spent most of my time in the history galleries. They cover slavery, the Civil War, reconstruction, discrimination and the civil rights movement. Those are likely exactly the exhibits Trump and his cohorts are apt to try to whitewash.
One of the themes running through the museum’s exhibits is how African-Americans fought first for their freedom and later for equal rights, starting with the earliest slave rebellions and continuing through the civil rights, Black Power and Black Lives Matter movements. Here are some samples.
I ran out of time to see all of this giant museum. There are also cultural exhibits, including those devoted to African-Americans’ contributions to the military, sports and entertainment. Here are a couple samples.
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
The Soumaya is a relatively new museum, opened in 2011. It was founded by Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman and philanthropist who was at one time ranked by Forbes as the richest man on Earth. He named the museum after his wife, Soumaya Domit, who passed away in 1999.
The Soumaya houses more than 66,000 pieces of art ranging from Mesoamerican artifacts to contemporary paintings. It includes the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of France. The Soumaya is run as a non-profit and there is no admission charge at the museum.
Auguste Rodin
Salvador Dali
Sculpture
Classic portraiture
Impressionists
Mexican artists
The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is the largest anthropology museum in the world and the most visited museum in Mexico. Last year it hosted some 3.7 million visitors. Admission is pretty modest (about $5 U.S.) and it is free for Mexicans on Sunday.
The Mexica
The Mexica were a Nahuatl-speaking people who are believed to have migrated into the Valley of Mexico around 1200. There they built an empire that dominated the region in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Their capital was Tenochtitlan which is where present day Mexico City stands. They were later named Aztecs by historians.
Teotihaucan
Teotihaucan was at one time the largest city in Mesoamerica. It is about 25 miles from Mexico City. It is here that the Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon were built. Archeologists believe it was a multi-ethnic city attracting migrants from throughout the region. Teotihaucan has been dated back to 100 BC, predating the Mexica, and it lasted until the 7th or 8th century. Today it is primarily known for its significance as an archeological site.
The Indigenous Peoples of Mexico
These photos chronicle a hot air balloon ride to the pyramids of Teotihaucan in Mexico. Teotihaucan was at one time believed to be the largest city in the Pre-Colombian Americas. It is about 25 miles northeast of Mexico City.
The two pyramids, the larger Pyramid of the Sun and the smaller Pyramid of the Moon were built by Teotihaucanos in about 200 AD. The names came later, courtesy of the Aztecs. Both had religious significance though exactly what is a matter of conjecture. It is suspected that human and animal sacrifices were done atop these pyramids. The Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world.
In 1922, shortly after the Mexican Revolution, the Secretariat of Public Education Jose Vasconcelos commissioned Diego Rivera for a mural project at the public education building. The building, located in Mexico City’s historic downtown district, is a large rectangle with two courtyards in the middle. Rivera’s frescoes are painted on the inside walls of the building facing the courtyards.
It took him six years to complete well over 100 panels. The work is a foundation piece of the Mexican mural movement. The building itself has been converted to the Museo Vivo del Muralism and opened as such in 2024. The museum is free. It contains Rivera’s original works and some additional murals by Mexican artists.
Works by other artists in the museum.
Leon Trotsky was one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Along with Vladimir Lenin, he was instrumental in the founding and early governance of the Soviet Union. After Lenin’s death, he had a falling out with his successor Joseph Stalin. This would lead to his being expelled from the Politburo and in 1929 was deported. He spent a few years in exile at different European countries before moving to Mexico in 1937 where he was welcomed by Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas.
Upon his arrival in Mexico, Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedona moved into La Casa Azul with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Apparently Trotsky got on better with Frida than he did with Diego, as the two are purported to have had an affair.
In 1939, Trotsky and Sedona moved to different house in the same Coyoacan section of Mexico City. That house is now the Trotsky Museum.
While in exile at his new home, Trotsky planted a cactus garden and built a chicken coup.
He also continued to write critically of Stalin and the Stalinist brand of Marxism. After a couple failed assassination attempts, he was murdered by an agent of Stalin’s secret police in 1941. He was buried on the grounds of the house in Coyoacan.
off the leash 