National Art Museum, Art museum in Cuauhtémoc district, Mexico City, Mexico.
The National Art Museum occupies a grand neoclassical building with tall columns, marble staircases, and a central skylit courtyard surrounded by several floors of galleries. The rooms display paintings, sculptures, and drawings hung on white walls or placed on pedestals, with natural light entering through large windows.
The building was finished in 1904 following designs by Italian architect Silvio Contri and originally served as the palace for the Ministry of Communications. In 1982 it was converted into an art museum and opened to the public.
The collection holds over 3,000 works and traces the development of Mexican art from the colonial era through the 1950s, including paintings of religious themes, portraits, and landscapes. Visitors can walk through rooms arranged by historical period, showing works by José María Velasco, Diego Rivera, and other key artists of the nation.
The museum is located near the Bellas Artes metro station and opens Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30, with free entry on Sundays. The galleries spread across several floors, so plan about two hours for a full visit.
In front of the main entrance stands the equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain, which has been moved three times to different locations in Mexico City since its creation in 1803. The statue is considered one of the finest examples of neoclassical bronze sculpture in Latin America.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
