By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

In 2002, an unbreakable bond between the artwork of the Mexican 20th century surrealist artist Remedios Varo and Mexico’s Modern Art Museum (MAM) was established when philanthropist Walter Grüen and his wife Anna Alexandra Varsoviano made an unprecedented donation of 39 of the late artist’s works.

This year, that extraordinary collection was expanded even further with a donation by the same couple of a personal archives about Varo, including over 250 drawings and sketches, as well as some of her earliest oil paintings and a collection of letters from her intellectual contemporaries, such as Octavio Paz, César Moro, Óscar Domínguez and Leonora Carrington.

Now, the MAM is offering a glimpse into the artist and her personal life and creative perspective, based on both the 2002 donation and the more recent Grüen-Varsoviano endowment.

The exhibit, titled “Adictos de Remedios Varo, nuevo legado 2018” (“Addicts of Remedios Varo, new legacy, 2018”) is slated to open to the public on Friday, Oct. 19, and to remain on display through February 2019.

Varo, who was born in Spain in 1908, fled to Mexico with her family to escape the repressive regime of Francisco Franco.

One of the pioneers of Mexico’s surrealist movement, she is best known for her enigmatic paintings of androgynous creatures engaged in magic arts and the occult.

She died in Mexico City in 1963 of a heart attack at age 54.

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The “Adictos de Remedios Varo, nuevo legado 2018” exhibit will remain on display at Mexico City’s Museum of Modern Art through the end of February 2019.

The museum is located on Avenida de la Reforma s/n in Chapultepec Park, across from the Tamayo Museum (tel: 5553-6233).

It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

There is a 65-peso entrance fee. Entrance is free to the public on Sundays and to students and seniors every day.