On December 13, 2013, Maria Elena and Carlos Slim Domit hosted a 50th birthday celebration for pop artist icon Romero Britto at Museo Soumaya in Polanco, Mexico City. The celebration included the unveiling of Britto’s “Mexican Glow” collection, a special exhibit of over 20 original paintings and mixed media sculptures, marking the first time in the museum’s history that a living artist has exhibited.
Owned by the Carlos Slim Foundation, Museo Soumaya opened their doors to the public in 1994. A cultural, not-for-profit institution seeking to collect, research, conserve share and exhibit, the museum boasts a collection of over 66,000 pieces of art, primarily European works from the 15th to the 20th century and Mexican art, religious relics, historical documents and coins. The museum contains the world’s second largest collection of casts of sculptures by Auguste Rodin outside of France.
Grateful to his dear friends and longtime supporters of his art, Carlos, Maria Elena and the entire Slimfamily, Romero Britto was honored to have his works featured amongst the European and Mexican masters. Inspired by Mexico’s silver, Britto explained his “Mexican Glow collection honors the effort, hard work and passion of the people of Mexico; just as the silver comes out of the soil and mountains, so shines the silver glow of the people, their true essence.”
Romero Britto , born in Recife, Brazil in 1963, was self-taught at an early age, painting on newspapers, cardboard or any scrap of paper he could find. After traveling to Paris, where he was introduced to the work of Matisse and Picasso, he combined influences from cubism and pop to create his vibrant and iconic style. In 1988, he moved to Miami and emerged as an international artist whose art can be found today in fine art galleries, museums, private art collections, public installations and corporate commissions across five continents.
VIP collectors from all over the world flew in to attend Britto’s birthday celebration and enjoy his beautiful tribute collection. Ines Sainz , a journalist for CNN en Espanol and Azteca Deportes, served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening.