Combining modern architectural profiles with a strong influence from pre-Hispanic pyramids, the Camino Real Hotel in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City was designed by renowned architect Ricardo Legorreta. The hotel was opened in 1968 and is considered to be a hotel-museum for its beauty, color and of course fantastic murals and paintings.
And If you’ve ever stayed at the the hotel, you couldn’t have missed the three fantastic murals on-site by Mexican masters, Rufino Tamayo, Mathias Goeritz, and Miguel Covarrubias.
Although not widely known or considered to be major murals by any of the artists, they truly are wonderful murals that brighten up the place and clearly showcase each of the artists unique styles and iconic imagery.
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo, generally known as Rufino Tamayo was born August 25th, 1899 in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.
Known for breaking away from the often political and socially charged style of muralism that was popularized in Mexico during the 21st Century by artists such as Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, Tamayo often depicted images of a figurative abstract nature, exploring the artistic mediums he was working with and ‘painting for the sake of painting’.
The mural by Tamayo at the Camino Real Hotel clearly showcases this ‘Tamayo style’ of painting, depicting a massive, abstract female figure standing on a black silhouette of rolling hills. The background of the mural is rich in blue and purple pigments, creating an almost cosmic background.
Mathias Goertiz
Born April 4, 1915 in Danzig, Germany (now Poland), Mathias Goeritz immigrated to Mexico in 1949, at the age of 34 and is generally considered to be a Mexican artist.
Goeritz was known for his highly abstract painting and sculpture, often influenced by architecture. The mural he produced for the Camino Real Hotel is a work with gold leaf, displaying a beautiful texture that subtly interacts with the light of the room; it is of the same vein as his style of Mensajes (Messages), which was influenced by what he called ‘emotional architecture.’
Miguel Covarrubias
Born November 22, 1904 in Mexico City, José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (more commonly known as Miguel Covarrubias) was an anthropologist, historian, illustrator, painter and muralist. He spent a number of years in Harlem, New York and Bali, Indonesia and is known for the images he created while living in those two places.
The mural by Covarrubias at the Camino Real Hotel in Palanco depicts a jungle scene most likely from his travels to Bali.