Mexico has one of the most extensive and important art histories in the world. The internationally famous Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City offers ample documentation of the very rich accomplishments in the  art of Pre-Columbian cultures such as the Aztec, Olmec and Mayan.

The Colonial Period saw the introduction of European traditions in art from Spain, France and Austria. Franciscan artists-priests not only portrayed the majesty of Christian  heritage, but also acted as the visual historians of the Colonial era. Parallel  versions of most of the world's major art movements also occurred in Mexico, often inspired by Mexican artists returning from extensive sojourns to major art centers such as Paris and New York.

Painters like Diego Rivera mingled with  Picasso and experimented with Cubism, while later his wife Frida Kahlo staged  exhibitions organized by Andre Breton in Paris that caused her to be regarded as many as the "Queen of the Surrealists". The flow reversed itself when Rivera along with David Alfaro Siqueiros founded one of the twentieth century's most significant directions in art, the Mexican Muralist Movement. Suddenly artists  from all over the world were coming to Mexico to work and study with these and  other masters. Pioneer photographers such as Edward Weston and Tina Modeti came  to soak up their inspirations and document their efforts as well as offer their  own interpretations.

Later other Mexican artists such as Rufino Tamayo broke out  of the muralist mold and became internationally recognized masters of Modernism and Post Modernism. Most recently, major museum shows around the world have brought significant attention to such artists as Diego Toledo, Alejandro Colunga  and Julio Galan as leading practitioners of the contemporary Latin American movement in art and literature know as "Magical Realism", which shows great promise of continuing well into the 21 st. Century and beyond.

Mexico counts of thousands of artists. Unfortunately, only few of them are known to the domestic public, let alone the international market.

However, artists like Sergio Bustamante did very well in the last years. In effect, Sergio is very well-known in Mexico and internationally like in the USA, Japan and is currently becoming very popular in Europe. Recently a new representation has been opened in Russia. today, around 300 people work for him.

On www.artedemundo.com almost all famous mexican artists can be found and eventually discovered. It is worth visiting it.