José María Velasco: The Grandeur of the Mexican Landscape Arrives in London

For the first time, British audiences will have the opportunity to encounter the work of José María Velasco — the foremost landscape painter of 19th-century Mexico — in the exhibition José María Velasco: A View of Mexico at the National Gallery in London. Organized to mark the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United Kingdom, the exhibition assembles thirty works that capture the essential character of the Mexican territory — from its natural splendor to the earliest effects of industrialization.

Velasco (1840–1912), whose work has received remarkably little international exposure, distinguished himself through scientific precision and a singular capacity to distill Mexican identity into landscapes where history and modernity coexist. Works such as The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel (1877) do not merely reveal the beauty of the land — they compel the viewer to reflect on its transformation in the face of advancing urbanization.

Curated by Dexter Dalwood, this marks the first exhibition at the National Gallery dedicated to a historic Latin American artist. Following its London presentation — March 29 through August 17 — the show will travel to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, further cementing Velasco’s standing in the global artistic conversation.

Accompanying the exhibition, the first international catalogue devoted to the artist will be released, featuring essays by specialists from Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The publication is designed to position Velasco firmly within the global artistic canon and reassert his contribution to Latin American art.

This exhibition is a window onto 19th-century Mexico and a reminder of art’s enduring power to transcend borders. It is a singular opportunity in London to discover, through Velasco’s extraordinary eye, the grandeur of a landscape that continues to define Mexican identity.