
Juan Soriano (Guadalajara 1920 – Mexico City 2006) was one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century in Mexico. From a very young age, he was welcomed by the circles of intellectuals and relevant artists of his time, such as the group of the Café Paris, the group Los Contemporáneos, the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists (LEAR) and the Spanish exiles in Mexico. His great interest in classical literature and theater led him to stage sets and costume design in the 1930s for the Teatro Orientación, and later to found, together with the writers Juan José Arreola and Octavio Paz, the project Poesía en Voz Alta.
During the 1950s he traveled extensively through Greece, France, Spain and Italy, places that marked his interest in classical culture and had a strong impact on his work. Without being affiliated to any artistic movement, Soriano’s work in sculpture and painting is characterized by having a diversity of modern and contemporary artistic and literary influences, which were praised in multiple texts by writers such as María Zambrano, Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes and Octavio Paz, among many others. He died in Mexico City on February 10, 2006.
Collection
The MMAC Juan Soriano preserves the personal collection and archive of the renowned modern artist Juan Soriano (1920-2006). The collection has more than 1,200 works in painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic work, documents, photographs, costume designs and theater sets.
The archive includes books from his library, personal writings, photographs of his work processes, information about exhibitions, sketches of costume designs and theater set design, in addition to the correspondence he exchanged with relevant figures from the cultural sphere such as María Zambrano, Octavio Paz , Rufino Tamayo, among others.
The MMAC Juan Soriano will undertake the project of cataloging and digitazing the collection in order to preserve and share the collection with the public.