Museum H. Tejada
PORTRAIT OF A GREAT ARTIST
Museum
The H. Tejada Museum, inaugurated in February 2024, aims to tell the story of the artist Hernando Tejada, who died in 1998, and to show his life and how he lived.
The museum commemorates the artist's centenary, focuses mainly on his lifestyle, his diversity and the sources of his inspiration, beyond the exhibition of his great works.
All the furniture and objects in the museum come from Hernando Tejada's house in the El Peñón neighborhood, which was sold in 2023. His belongings, memorabilia and furniture were acquired by Angela Neuhaus, who has set out to bring visitors closer to the fantastic artist Hernando Tejada, the master of Gato del Rio, and in another way, to the extraordinary person he was. The style of Hernando Tejada's furniture is very idiosyncratic, his small house was filled with furniture designed by him, works of art, photos and gifts from friends.
The museum strives to reproduce as faithfully as possible the furniture ensemble and countless items in their entirety, in order to offer a glimpse into the artist's personality, because his home tells much of his life - a life of abundance and pleasure!
The Life of Hernando Tejada
Hernando Tejada ¨Tejadita¨, an integral and total artist, did everything possible that a plastic artist could encompass at that time. He was also a great photographer and made films.
Tejada began his training at the art academy in Cali and moved to Bogota in 1945 to attend the National University. The painter Alejandro Obregón became its new director in 1948 and appointed him professor of design, thus becoming the first professor of graphic design in Colombia.
In college, he began to paint in various techniques, did many portraits of women and painted many scenes of the life of the people of the Colombian coast, which fascinated him enormously. Among other things, he learned the technique of mural painting. He returned to Cali in 1952 and in four years completed two extraordinary and enormous frescoes in the railroad station, each 190 m² in size and one of the largest in South America. In the sixties, he discovered wood as a material through the "Cocoliche" puppets; and so began a new creative facet for Tejada, expanding his imaginative world with countless animals made of wood, women as furniture and large mangrove trees carved with a variety of creatures.
Hernando Tejada's art ranges from academic portraits and mural frescoes to large wooden sculptures influenced by Mexican muralism and handcrafted elements of the European Middle Ages. He is the great artist who, through mastery of his craft and talent, goes back in time, finding a new modern vision while bridging the gap between Naïve Art, Baroque and Pop Art.
"For me what is vital is to model and draw my feelings; art is my instrument. I love women, nature and animals."
Shop
The museum store offers Tejadita-style handicrafts. These are handmade crafts made by artists with images of Tejadita's works, for example, replicas of cats and mangroves, handbags, clothing, small engraved wooden objects, as well as books about the artist and posters.
Events
The H. Tejada Museum should not only be a place of remembrance, but also a place of exchange, which is why events are organized here on a regular basis. From concerts, theatrical performances and practical activities.
Museum location
The Hernando Tejada Museum is located just 150 meters from the Gato del Río in the gallery EL Finestral. In the 1970s, he had his workshop here, where the museum is now located. If you visit the Gato del Rio, complete your trip with a visit to the museum and learn more about the creator.
How to get to the museum
Avenida 4 Oeste
#1-66 Cali
Inside the El Finestral Gallery
150 meters from the Gato del Rio
How much is the entrance fee?
Adults: 8’000 COP
Students:
4’000 COP
Children under 12 years old free of charge
Groups with advance notice: special price
When the museum is open?
Opening Hours:
Monday to Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m.
Group visits possible with extra schedules
Javier Tafur shows Alejandro Valencia, Hernando Tejada's nephew, his book with Tejada's nibs.
El Finestral
El Finestral is a cultural space in Cali that today houses the H. Tejada Museum. It is a place that tries to reconstruct the stories that lie in its bricks. We know the history because it was a small house where the artist Hernando Tejada had his studio. Then came this new building, which was nominated for the National Architecture Award and became a family home. Then it was an antique store, and in one fell swoop it became a very famous bar. Now, and since 2017, LA GALERÍA FINESTRAL is a place of friends, art and artists, musicians, sculptors, writers, poets... an unusual place because it is constantly under construction.
La historia continúa…
Tejadita Miau Miau
Sebastian Valencia Sayin is the grandnephew of Hernando Tejada and is also an artist, but dedicated more to music many years ago. As part of the efforts to pay tribute to his great uncle, in the year of his centenary he made a song in co-authorship with his friend Tomas Correa entitled "Tejadita Miau Miau". In order to contribute to the museum H. Tejada the musical element, within a musical city like Cali and that this musical piece had present the work and spirit of the master Tejada.
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