The Instituto Allende Casa Museo: A Museum That Honors The City

By Natalie Taylor

A great city deserves a great museum. San Miguel de Allende, with all its history, culture, and art lacks museums to showcase them. Certainly, the Allende house museum—home of the eponymous hero—informs about his life and times. Within it, Sala Izquinapan has a fantastic (though by no means complete) collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts from the area. There are a few small, specialized museums, but not a comprehensive repository of the history and art of San Miguel de Allende. Until now!

A newly opened museum, the Instituto Allende Casa Museum, is a dream made reality by Jaime Fernández and is worthy of our town. Fernández aims to showcase the city’s rich artistic legacy and to awaken interest in art and history through interactive exhibits and workshops, particularly for young people. The Instituto itself is a virtual museum, a home with a long history, but that will be addressed on another occasion. This article will focus on the artworks on display.

The museum has exhibits in several rooms. The first of these is the James Pinto room, named after a great Yugoslavian painter who taught art at the school, produced and exhibited his works here. He and other renowned Mexican and international artists arrived in San Miguel in the 1940s and 50s to teach at the newly founded School of Fine Arts at the Instituto Allende.

They became part of the community and developed a style that incorporated their personal artistic vision with elements of what they found here—a fusion of international and Mexican art, including artisanal art. The artistic community of local and foreign artists became a seedbed of a creative spirit, a nurturing environment that resulted in a most unique style, a fusion that is something purely Sanmiguelense.

An example of this is the Mexican muralism movement, which several foreign artists adopted. James Pinto left a stunning creation on the Instituto’s walls in which he used local images in his own style. Other artists used various pre-Hispanic techniques in their art, blending old and new into modern creations. Such is the work of Diedrich Kortlang, who used embroidery as the medium for some of his abstract works. Another is the depiction of an eagle, a work done in an ancient Aztec technique—“feather painting.” The artistic fusion worked in reverse as well. As an example, papier maché techniques were brought in from France, adopted, and turned into a purely San Miguel product with different families specializing in their own style.

Romeo Tabuena, a Filipino artist, painted colorful scenes mingling elements of the tropics and Mexican landscapes. Lothar Kestenbaum, a German-born artist, taught sculpture at the Instituto. His Estonian wife, Mai Onno is an excellent painter in oils, still working into her 90s. Their son, David, also became an excellent sculptor and left several large public bronzes in town. Lothar’s “The Flight” makes bronze come alive in the depiction of a man’s terrifying escape—a universal as well as a personal theme.

With excellent Mexican and international artists teaching at the Instituto, it is no wonder that many of the students became great artists in their own right. Robert Maxwell came from New York to San Miguel on an art scholarship in 1950 and produced some outstanding works. Nicolas Cuéllar, a local student, gained fame for his distinctive surreal paintings and was dubbed “the San Miguel painter for the world.”  Another successful local artist was photographer Arturo Suárez, who recorded quotidian San Miguel life in his photos, with several shown in the museum.

The other room is the Sala Elaine Hamilton O’Neal, named after a prominent American abstract painter. She studied muralism with Siqueiros, and her giant mural dominates the room, a depiction of the history of Mexico with definitive influences of her teacher’s style. Many paintings and sculptures grace the room, showcasing a great selection of works done by San Miguel artists.

It is impossible to list all the artists and their works, the collection speaks for itself. The artwork displayed is that of both artists from the past as well as some who are still living and working in San Miguel de Allende. The best way to enjoy what the museum offers is to visit, and take a guided tour with a full explanation of each work.

The Instituto Allende Casa Museo is located on Ancha de San Antonio 20, and is open from Sunday through Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Guided tours in English take place at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on those days. The museum is currently free, with donations accepted.

Natalie Taylor has a BA in English Literature and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago. MFA in creative writing, Vermont College, Montpelier. Bilingual published writer, editor, journalist, translator.

www.natalietaylor.org