Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: Pondering contemporary art scene

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment
A postage stamp featuring a portrait of a female figure, depicting a nun with a religious emblem, surrounded by books, with the text 'ARTE Y CIENCIA DE MEXICO' and 'AEREO' printed on it.

Above: “Ensenan Mas las Obras…,” Miguel Angel Hernandez Vences, lost-wax bronze, 2025; and “Dibujos en la Piel,” Enrique Hernandez Rivera, oil on canvas, 2025. Among pieces selected for the “MAQRO’s First Biennial of the Human Figure.”

Baroque architecture of the former convent of San Agustin, featuring arched colonnades, intricate stone carvings, and a central fountain, under a blue sky.

Never would we visit Queretaro without ducking in to admire the exquisite Baroque courtyard for the former convent of San Agustin. But there’s more than early 18th-century colonial architecture to experience there.

The rooms surrounding the courtyard are refurbished as galleries of Museo de Arte de Queretaro. This summer those galleries were overflowing with exhibitions showing the vitality of the creative community of the city.

Continue reading “Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: Pondering contemporary art scene” →

Postcard from Aix-en-Provence, France: Vegetarian, Italian, North African, and, oh, French flavors

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment
A decorative postage stamp featuring a French baguette with a blue, white, and red ribbon.

Above: Shrimp risotto at Lou Mao

Off we go through the alphabetical list of restaurants we tried in Aix-en-Provence. The “c” ones clump together first – ones that would make a Happy Cow vegetarian list – but simply scroll down farther if you are vegetable-averse. Meat and fish are much easier to find than vegetable dishes when eating out.

The tomato Saint Marcelin salad and an ample vegetarian mezze bowl at the pleasant Cafe du Temps helped reward our quest for vegetables. The seitan burger was not to our tastes; we prefer veggie burgers that taste more like vegetables.

Continue reading “Postcard from Aix-en-Provence, France: Vegetarian, Italian, North African, and, oh, French flavors” →

Old and New World artistry merge in Hispanic Baroque

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment
A 1893 one-cent postage stamp depicting Christopher Columbus and indigenous figures, surrounded by an ornate border. The inscription reads 'Columbus in Sight of Land.'

Above: “Annunciation and Saints,” Jose de Paez, Mexican (1727-1790), oil on copper, 1750-1760.

“Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque” surveys 150 years of Spanish art leading to the Baroque period with works culled from the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City. Some of Spain’s most renowned and respected artists are represented in this ongoing exhibition at the Blanton Museum of Art, but don’t expect much more than a dozen of these works.

What I love are the pieces demonstrating the Baroque style translated by transplants and native-born artisans in the Americas. Artists took advantage of materials available in this so-called “New” World – copper, shells and, of course, more precious metals. They added a magical sheen to art designed to convert “pagans” to the foreign beliefs held by the Catholic conquerors.

Continue reading “Old and New World artistry merge in Hispanic Baroque” →