When friend of arts·meme Juan Bastos, who is not just a talented and in-demand portrait artist but also a super nice person, shared with us his distinguished oil painting of his client Eugenio Lopez, completed last year, we were struck by the skillful rendering of a powerful-looking young man.
What we did not realize was that Lopez, heir to a great Mexican fruit-juice fortune, was on the cusp of opening a permanent home for his rather massive private art collection.
On November 19, 2013, he did so. Museo Jumex, in the heart of Mexico City’s fashionable Polanco district, spans 40,000 square feet and houses a collection that Lopez has amassed since 2001; it’s identified in this Vanity Fair article as a major collection of the Americas and certainly the largest in Latin America, with significant holdings in Twombly, Rauschenberg, Koons and Hirst.
Super exciting that Mexico City, already such a great arts destination, will now host this new museum.
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post update
A major exhibition of works by Juan Bastos, part of Pacific Standard Time LA/LA, opens November 4, 2017 at Dennenberg Fine Arts in West Hollywood.
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Portraiture is such an important driver of artistic trends. It strikes me as a very smart thing for an art collector to commision a portrait of themselves but this leads to a critical decision— who (in the world) is best to do such a demanding task? Given Lopez’ resources and significant collections it is a tremendous vote of confidence to trust Juan Bastos with this award. The finished portrait speaks for itself and will do so for generations to follow. I am sure Lopez is thrilled with the result. Bravo!
Juan Bastos is a beautifully first rate portrait painter. His in depth work with rich color and texture is superb. George Chakiris
—So pleased to see the expressive work of Juan Bastos featured on your website! Much of Juan’s exquisite and prolific portraiture is of course, in private collections so it is a special treat to see this piece well reproduced in artsmeme. TNO, New York/CT
Thank you Debra for your article. I met charming Eugenio Lopez in Los Angeles a couple of years ago, and it was an exciting portrait commission to inmortalize him. I decided to paint him with an Antoni Tapies painting in the background that he owns.