El jardín de Velasco presents a new perspective on the painter through the most extensive collection of his work ever assembled. For Velasco, plants were the gravitational center of his creations—from sweeping vistas to the intimate scale of his postcards. The constant presence of botany in his drawings, sketches, notebooks, and paintings reveals the artist as well as the scientist.

José María Velasco (Temascalcingo, State of Mexico, 1840 – Mexico City, 1912) is recognized as the great national landscape painter, yet his archive reveals an artist far more complex and multifaceted than previously shown. Acquired in 2023 by Museo Kaluz from the artist’s great-granddaughter, María Elena Altamirano Piolle—who assembled and researched the collection—this rarely exhibited archive comprises more than 2,000 works of art and objects of exceptional value and diversity that accompanied the artist throughout his life. It is a collection that invites future research into the many dimensions of his practice.

This exhibition aims to reveal a new Velasco through his botanical projects and his engagement with both local and international scientific networks. From his study of the flora of the valley of Mexico to his representations of remote geological epochs, his work resonates with the scientific inquiries of the nineteenth century. The title El jardín de Velasco (The Garden of Velasco) evokes his field of study and contemplation—a botanical realm where art and knowledge converge.

Throughout the exhibition, four installations commissioned from contemporary artists explore the painter’s continued relevance today. Jan Hendrix (Maasbree, Netherlands, 1949), Patricia Lagarde (Mexico City, 1961), Wendy Cabrera Rubio (Mexico City, 1993), and Ariel Guzik (Mexico City, 1960) reframe his legacy within the debates of contemporary art.

This living exhibition reexamines the canonical artist through the lens of his epistemic and creative processes. It underscores the enduring relevance of his projects, which—through observation and scientific thought—compel us to reconsider our relationship with nature today. Velasco’s work continues to raise fundamental questions about how we understand our place within the natural world.