Ortiz-Gurdian Art Gallery, Leon, Nicaragua

We visited two museums / galleries in Leon today.

The Museo de la Revolucion tells the story of the Sandinistas who fought against the Somoza dictatorship in the 1970s. We noticed the doors open at 08:30 so stuck our heads in for a peek. We were beckoned inside although we thought they officially opened at 10am. After explaining “nosotros no hablamos Espanol” (at least not nearly good enough to follow a guide and more at the ‘two beers’ standard) the guy at the desk wandered off then reappeared a couple of minutes later with his English speaking colleague to take us around the small museum. The guide took us through this recent history and the build up to it explaining the photos and newspaper articles displayed on the walls. The museum is housed in a building that was the communications HQ of the Somoza National Guard - it was captured by the Sandinistas during the fighting.

The Centro de Arte Fundacion Ortiz-Gurdian is in six colonial houses with lush courtyard gardens. It’s a fabulous collection of art, well curated in a beautiful setting. The collection has work from the 15th century through to the present day including Warhols, Picassos, Damien Hirsts’ and the renowned Nicaraguan artist Armando Morales. I was pleased to see three cabinets of pottery from San Juan de Oriente, the village we went to a few days ago! Four of us visited the gallery together and apart from us there was only one other visitor - astonishing really for such an impressive gallery.