A landmark exhibition honoring one of Mexico’s most important artists, “José María Velasco: A View of Mexico” is now on display at London’s National Gallery through Aug. 17. The first time the gallery has dedicated a solo show to a Latin American artist, the exhibition marks 200 years of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The National Gallery, located in London’s Trafalgar Square, is one of the world’s most visited museums. It houses over 2,300 Western European paintings, from the Middle Ages through the early 20th century. Unlike many European museums, the National Gallery wasn’t founded on a royal collection; Instead, it began in 1824 when the British government acquired 38 paintings from a private banker. From the beginning, its mission has been clear: these paintings belong to the public. Admission has always been free.
The imagery created by José María Velasco is deeply woven into Mexico’s national identity. His landscapes are well known, and he is a household name across the country. Yet Velasco’s art is rarely seen in Europe. There isn’t a single Velasco painting in a UK public collection, and there hasn’t been a major international exhibition dedicated to the painter since 1976. This London showcase offers a rare and long-overdue opportunity for global audiences to experience his work.
A painter who defined a nation
Born in 1840, José María Velasco studied at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City under Italian painter Eugenio Landesio. Although trained in the European tradition, Velasco quickly developed his distinct style and became Mexico’s most celebrated landscape artist. Velasco was a true polymath: a man of deep intellect and wide-ranging curiosity, he pursued studies in fields that enriched his art, including anatomy, geology, botany, paleontology and Mesoamerican history. Velasco approached art from a scientific perspective, using it not only to capture beauty but also to explore and understand the world around him. His paintings reflect a deep reverence for nature and a growing awareness of its fragility during an era of rapid industrialization.
When José María Velasco began his career, Mexican painting was largely focused on the human figure. Nature, if included, was often just a backdrop. Velasco changed that by devoting most of his work to landscapes, placing the natural world at the center of his art. His paintings are visually stunning and technically sophisticated with a distinctive visual architecture: layered perspectives, precise compositions and a harmony of color and proportion that encourage viewers to pause and reflect on the richness of the natural world.
Combining the eye of a scientist and the soul of an artist, Velasco created nearly 300 works, including oil paintings, watercolors, lithographs and miniatures. These became valuable educational tools and brought him national and international recognition. In 1881, he was named president of the Mexican Society of Natural History, a rare honor for a painter and a testament to his standing in both the art and scientific communities.
Among his most iconic works are the “Valley of Mexico” paintings, panoramic views of the Valley of Mexico that he painted in multiple versions over the years. These sweeping landscapes offer a glimpse of the area around Mexico City before it was transformed by urban growth. One version was gifted to Pope Leo XIII and now belongs to the Vatican Museums.
Velasco at the National Gallery
The exhibition includes 30 works from public and private collections, 17 of which come from the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City. Three paintings are on loan from the National Museum in Prague. These were once owned by František Kaška, personal pharmacist to Emperor Maximilian I. During Maximilian’s short-lived reign in Mexico, Kaška commissioned works directly from Velasco. After the emperor’s execution in 1867, Kaška continued to play a diplomatic role, helping to secretly rebuild ties between Austria and Mexico.
Among the highlights of the exhibition is “Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl seen from Lake Chalco,” an 1885 painting commissioned by František Kaška as a tribute to the lake’s vanishing beauty before it was drained. Velasco places the viewer at water level, drawing the eye upward to the two snow-capped volcanoes.
The exhibition covers more than 50 years of the artist’s career and is organized into six thematic sections, each reflecting Velasco’s wide range of interests and how they shaped his art. The section “Landscape and Industry” looks at how the artist documented the rise of factories and railways in the late 1800s with paintings like “The Valley of Mexico from the Molino del Rey” and “The Textile Mill of La Carolina, Puebla.” The section “Flora” focuses on his love for plant life as seen in “A Rustic Bridge in San Ángel” and “Cardón, State of Oaxaca.” At the heart of the exhibition is “The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel,” often considered Velasco’s masterpiece. Other sections include “Ruins and Archaeology,” “Geological Time” and “Late Works,” including his last known painting, “Study.”
Velasco’s work helped define the visual identity of the nation. In 1943, the Mexican government declared his body of work a National Historic Monument in recognition of its enduring cultural value. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity for overseas audiences to explore the richness of his work, from volcanic peaks to ancient ruins, giant cactuses and bustling industrial scenes. For visitors to the National Gallery, it’s a chance to see Mexico through Velasco’s eyes in vivid, unforgettable detail.
Sandra Gancz Kahan is a Mexican writer and translator based in San Miguel de Allende who specializes in mental health and humanitarian aid. She believes in the power of language to foster compassion and understanding across cultures. She can be reached at [email protected]
