“Flores Mexicanas: A Lindbergh Love Story”

The whereabouts of one of the largest paintings by artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez has been widely unknown to art scholars for decades. Safely stored at the Missouri Historical Society’s Library and Research Center, the monumental 9-by-12-feet masterpiece is on display to the public for the first time in a half-century in a new 2,000-square-foot special exhibit, Flores Mexicanas: A Lindbergh Love Story.

Prior to filling its starring role in the exhibit, Flores Mexicanas was in need of conservation so that it could be displayed in its near original splendor and to ensure it could safely hang in the gallery.

Flores Mexicanas: A Lindbergh Love Story soars beyond Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight to reveal the little-known connection between a poet, a pilot, a president and a painter — a connection that altered the course of aviation history and left a lasting legacy on U.S.–Mexico relations.​

In 1929 Mexican president Emilio Portes Gil gave the Lindberghs the Martinez masterpiece as a wedding gift. Mexico was significant to the Lindberghs as the place where their love story began. For the Mexican government, the gift was a chance to impress the daughter and son-in-law of the United States’ respected ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow — Anne’s father.​

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Image: “Flores Mexicanas” by Alfredo Ramos Martinez as seen on display in the Missouri History Museum​