Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market
The Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market is a
Construction
The market was constructed in 1934 in what was part of the grounds of the
Features
This market was the second major market built in Mexico City in the first decades of the 20th century, after the Dos de Abril Market built in 1912. Like its predecessor, the Abelard L. Rodriguez market was intended to be a prototype for a new, more modern popular marketplace, first for the large size of the market and second for a number of extra services offered within the building, such as day care centers, youth centers and libraries.[1]
The Abelardo L. Rodriguez market has four large entrances on República de Venezuela, República de Colombia, Del Carmen and Rodríguez Puebla streets respectively.[1] One unusual feature of the building is the metal roof that covers the central patio area. Its most distinctive service is the Teatro del Pueblo (Theatre of the People) auditorium, which is located on the upper floor.[3] A number of the services and features of this market were copied in markets built as much as twenty years later, such as the markets of La Lagunilla, Tepito and La Merced.[4]
Murals
However, the market's most distinctive feature is the approximately 1,450 square meters of wall and ceiling space covering in murals.[2] These murals were painted by students of Diego Rivera and under his direction.[1][2] Six of the ten painters involved with the project were Mexican, three were American and one was Japanese, working to “bring art to the people”[2] and paid 13.50 pesos (3.75 U.S. dollars approximately) for each square meter painted. The murals are located in the main entrances, vestibules, patios and hallways of the market.[2]
These murals include: Los mercados by Ángel Bracho, Influencia de las vitaminas by Antonio Pujol, Los alimentos y los problemas del obrero by Pedro Rendón, Escenas populares by Ramón Alva Guadarrama, Las labores del campo by Grace Greenwood Ames, La minería by Marion Greenwood, La industrialización del campo and Los mercados by Raúl Gamboa as well as the copper-plated relief called Historia de México, by Isamu Noguchi.[1]
The murals reflect socialist themes in part due to the policies of the Mexican government to promote the benefits of the 1910
This mural work quickly gave the market and the neighborhood around it prominence. It has been ranked fourth in value after the murals in the
Deterioration of murals and other problems
From the time the murals were painted in the 1930s to 2009, there had been no organized effort by authorities to conserve the murals painted here. The 1985 earthquake, humidity, the passage of time, the lack of maintenance and vandalism took their toll on the artwork.[1] Almost all of the murals showed some level of damage[1] with only the murals painted by Pablo O'Higgins at the entrance located at Del Carmen and Rodriguez Puebla were in good condition. This is primarily because these works were done on the ceiling and upper portions of high walls.[4] One of the murals in the worst condition was Influencia de las vitaminas by Angel Bracho, with over 50% of the surface area damaged, mostly by humidity. A wall that holds a work by Marion Greenwood is cracked, possibly due to the 1985 earthquake. The rest of the paintings are damaged by scratches, humidity and small cracks due to the same earthquake,[5] with those at arms reach suffering from graffiti and other vandalism.[4]
The lack of maintenance and protection of the murals was primarily due to disputes between government agencies such as the
Other problems for the market include the large number of wandering and informal street vendors that are on the streets outside market and nearly block passage through the four main entrances into it and block access to the murals with their merchandise. This has been a problem here for over thirty years. In addition, the crime rate in this neighborhood has caused the more than 330 merchants here have seen their sales drop by eighty percent.[1]
Restoration of murals
With more than a thousand square metres of mural work, some of it very valuable, restoration work began in 2009.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gomez Florez, Laura (2008-05-19). "Remodelan el histórico mercado Abelardo L. Rodríguez como parte del rescate del Centro" (in Spanish). Mexico City: La Jornada. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Sobreviven en un mercado murales de discípulos de Diego Rivera" (in Spanish). Mexico City: El Universal. June 27, 2007. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 968-34-0319-0.
- ^ a b c "Abandonan mercado emblemático" (in Spanish). Mexico City: El Mañana. 2007-12-21. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Diaz, Veronica (2009-01-18). "Restauran murales del mercado Abelardo Rodríguez" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Milenio. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ "Restauran el mercado Abelardo Rodríguez y el Teatro del Pueblo" (in Spanish). Mexico City: El Universal. Notimex. 2008-11-05. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
Further reading
- Acevedo, Esther. "Young Muralists at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market." in Mexican Muralism: A Critical History, Alejandro Anreus, Robin Adèle Greeley, and Leonard Folgarait. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 2012, pp. 125–147.