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All Mexico Mexico City Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada

Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada

Psychedelic murals coat the inside of a nondescript research library.

Mexico City, Mexico

Added By
Paula Mejia
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One of the many extraordinary walls of the library.   Paula Mejia for Atlas Obscura
One of the many extraordinary walls of the library.   Paula Mejia for Atlas Obscura
Soaking in the many murals of the library.   Paula Mejia for Atlas Obscura
Main entrance mural   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
Lateral view   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
  linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
The library’s facade belies the interior.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
A view from the front of the library.   Paula Mejia for Atlas Obscura
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About

On paper, the Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada is a resource for thousands of economic records and newspapers of yesteryear. But step inside this research library tucked away in Mexico City's Centro Histórico, and you'll find the unassuming home of psychedelic frescoes depicting revolutionary scenes throughout history.

The Russian-Mexican artist Vladimir Víktorovich Kibálchich Rusakov (aka Vlady) painted the 21,527 square feet (2,000 square meters) of murals that cover the walls of this former 18th-century baroque church and theater. Entitled La Revolución y los Elementos, the murals are arguably some of the most lysergic representations of revolution ever committed to art, and take the muralismo movement to a completely different dimension.

Vlady began painting the chapel in the 1970s. At first, he painted a psychedelic mural of Freud and the sexual revolution, then moved into explorations of other revolutionary ideas and movements, from the musical revolution to upstarts throughout the Americas. Over the decade he worked on the mural, he painted revolutionaries at the Bastille, Jesus, and even himself. The textured details throughout are astonishing, too: Vlady once described taking a full day to paint a 20-inch (50-centimeter) section of the wall, armed with a brush bearing just four bristles.

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Libraries Murals

Know Before You Go

While the library is open to the public, it's an active research institution, so be mindful of people working when you visit. 

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paulamejia

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Mario Yair TS, linkogecko

  • Mario Yair TS
  • linkogecko

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November 6, 2018

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  • http://en.mxcity.mx/2015/09/miguel-lerdo-de-tejada-library/
Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada
Avenida República de El Salvador 49, Centro, Cuauhtemoc
Mexico City
Mexico
19.429572, -99.138033
Visit Website
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