Dolores Olmedo's Home in Acapulco, Mexico, Becomes Museum Honouring Work of  Diego Rivera

Magic Carpet Journals invites you to join Lenora Hayman as she visits the home of Dolores Olmedo, Diego Rivera's benefactor and final lover. 

Although Frida Kahlo was the 2nd & 3rd wife of Diego Rivera, the Mexican muralist, Dolores Olmedo Patino was his eternal muse, final lover and benefactress.

Dolores Olmedo Patino was born in Mexico city on Dec.14,1908 and died July 2002. Diego did a nude painting of 12 year old Dolores Olmedo much to the chagrin of her mother Prof.Maria Patino Suarez.

In Acapulco I met Hugo Zuniga, the artist who knew Dolores personally and painted several portraits of her. We took a taxi up the Peninsula de las Playa to the top of Cerro de la Pinzona to Dolores Olmedo's House (6 Inalambrica) where Diego lived with her from 1955-1956 prior to his death in April 1957.

In gratitude Diego created along the outside wall of her home, originally called The House of the Winds, a mosaic depicting Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent Aztec god and Xoloitzcuintle, the pre-Hispanic dog. The gardener allowed us inside to view the tiled ceiling mosaics. Lola (Lolita) was Diego's sweet term for Dolores Olmedo. Diego was born in Guanajuato,"The Place of the Frogs" and Olmedo's loving words for Diego were " You're my beloved Frog". A frog, a dove symbolizing his love of country and the hammer and sickle embracing his communism adorn the ceiling. A friendly xoloitzcuintle pre-Hispanic dog with hairless black sensitive skin, whiskers on his face and lacking some teeth(a genetic quirk) roamed the garden.

Diego didn't like painting outdoors. His portraits of Dolores, her three sons and daughter, and twenty five sunsets were painted in the living room of the house behind Dolores's. Twenty of these along with other works of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and his first wife Angelina Beloff are exhibited at Dolores Olmedo's 16th century home La Noria near Mexico city.



My day was complete when Hugo Zuniga took me to his studio where his huge portraits of glamorous 90 year old Dolores Olmedo adorn the walls.

Article and Photos by Lenora Hayman

Photos:

*EXEKATLKALLI-House of Winds, in Nahuatl language

*Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent Aztec God & Xoloitzcuintle pre-hispanic dog.

* "You're My Beloved Frog" ceiling mosaic inside Dolores Olmedo's home

*Hugo Zuniga and his Dolores Olmedo portraits in his Acapulco studio

How to get there:

Mexicana and Japan Airlines both fly direct from Vancouver to Mexico City with Mexicana transfers to Acapulco. 

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