Caricature Museum, Mexico City

The Caricature Museum (Museo de la Caricatura) is a specialized institution in the historic center of Mexico City dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Mexican cartooning. Opened in 1987, it occupies an 18th-century Baroque building that was originally the home of Cristo College, a royal college established in 1612. The museum matters as one of the few institutions worldwide devoted specifically to caricature, spanning both political and entertainment cartooning across nearly two centuries of Mexican history.

The museum was inaugurated in 1987 with the stated mission to preserve, reprint, and disseminate artistic works by Mexican cartoonists throughout history. From its founding, it has offered workshops dedicated to cartooning and other drawing forms. The Mexican Society of Cartoonists (La Sociedad Mexicana de Caricaturistas) maintains an exhibition hall at the museum and organizes temporary exhibitions, art workshops, conferences, and book presentations, mostly on the upper floor. The institution has also hosted exhibitions by renowned artists such as José Clemente Orozco and Frida Kahlo, focusing on their political cartoon work and sketches. More recent themed exhibitions have included "Piracy in the Modern World" and "Cartoons of the 19th Century."

The museum's holdings center on Mexican cartooning from 1826 to the present, organized into four historical periods: the Mexico Independent period (1826-1876), the satire of the Porfiriato (1876-1911), the caricature of the Revolution, caudillismo, and the Maximato (1911-1934), and humorous criticism by presidential sexennium from 1934 onward. The permanent collection, titled "La caricatura en la historia, historia de la caricatura," occupies one hall on the ground floor. It begins with political cartoons from the Porfirio Díaz presidency, including 65 lithographs produced between 1861 and 1875. The collection encompasses both political and humorous cartooning. Featured artists include Constantino Escalante, Santiago Hernández, Ernesto García Cabral, David Carrillo, Rius, and Naranjo. Temporary exhibitions are held in the Hall of Mexican Expressive Art (Sala del Arte Expresivo Mexicano), the second ground-floor hall.

The permanent collection's earliest significant holding consists of 65 lithographs from 1861 to 1875, representing political cartoons from the Porfirio Díaz era. The museum has notably presented exhibitions examining the cartoon and sketch work of major Mexican artists José Clemente Orozco and Frida Kahlo, material often overlooked in studies of their careers. The thematic exhibition program has addressed subjects such as "Piracy in the Modern World" and 19th-century cartoons, demonstrating the museum's effort to connect historical satire with contemporary issues.

The museum occupies the building at 104 Donceles Street, constructed between 1770 and 1780 on the site of the original Cristo College structure. The college had been founded by Don Cristobal Vargas de Valdez in 1612 with a royal charter, beginning with a dean and twelve students who took classes at San Ildefonso College and the College of San Pedro y San Pablo. Though no classes were held in the building itself, it provided scholarships for resident students. Facing closure due to lack of funds in 1774, the college merged with San Ildefonso College in 1775. The present building is considered a prime example of an 18th-century residence, retaining its Baroque facade and small patio despite minor alterations. The two-level facade is faced with tezontle, a blood-red volcanic stone, with windows and doors framed in chiluca, a greyish-white stone. The portal shares similarities with the Colegio Grande portal of San Ildefonso College, featuring paired columns flanking the lower arch, fluted only in their upper portions, and profuse plant designs with estipite (inverted, truncated, slender pyramid) motifs on the upper level. A simple cornice contains a relief crucifix. Visitors enter through a long, narrow hallway leading to a very small patio area.

The museum is located at Donceles 99 (also numbered 104) in the historic center of Mexico City. It offers guided visits and operates a caricature market (tianguis de caricatura) where visitors may have their portrait drawn by professional caricaturists. The museum shop sells books by famous cartoonists, posters, t-shirts, bookmarks, postcards, engraved mugs, and drawing and painting materials, including a bicentennial independence-themed lottery game designed by Mexican cartoonists. Workshops for children and adults in drawing, painting, and caricature are taught by established cartoonists. The permanent exhibition traces cartooning from 1826 to the present, while temporary exhibitions rotate in the second gallery space.