This article reports on the success of the exhibition of ancient and modern Mexican art that was presented in Paris and then shipped to Stockholm. In Fernando Gamboa’s opinion, the exhibition was a revelation. The Parisian press described it as the most important event ever presented in the city by the government of another country. England, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, and Norway, among other countries, asked to be on the list of future presentation venues, but the collection would only be going to Stockholm and London. Gamboa mentions that important critics and artists visited the exhibition, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy, and the architect Le Corbusier. Gamboa writes that the works presented an “artistic sequence with a historical continuity, a clear continuity between past and present,” that should be understood as a strategy for presenting a historical-artistic perspective.

Fernando Gamboa (1908–1990) said it would be wrong to think that the Parisian public had only shown an interest in the pre-Hispanic and traditional art, and had ignored the rest. It is true, however, that reactions were mixed. Housed in a 55,000 square feet extension, a historical and thematic succession was displayed, linked by a unifying thesis. The continuity that Gamboa sought to demonstrate was obvious from the entrance, where two classic pieces—a large serpent’s head and Homenaje a la raza India [Tribute to the Indian Race], a recent painting by Tamayo— connected the ancient with the modern and spanned the full arc of the two periods. Further inside, the Aztec goddess Coatlicue anchored the center of the exhibition. Gamboa’s goal was to show what was relevant for a gist of Mexicanness, rejecting anything derivative of European art from any period or style. But he also mentioned that young painters were well represented, from Dr. Atl to Luis Nishisawa. It is also important to note that several artists were completely ignored, such as Mathias Goeritz, Gunther Gerzso, Vlady, Héctor Xavier, Alberto Gironella, José Luis Cuevas, Enrique Echeverría, and José Bartolí, whose work was not even considered.