LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2025

Museum Hours

Monday

11 am–6 pm

Tuesday

11 am–6 pm

Wednesday

Closed

Thursday

11 am–6 pm

Friday

11 am–8 pm

Saturday

10 am–7 pm

Sunday

10 am–7 pm

 

  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Building LACMA
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2025
Collections

Mathias Goeritz
Message (Mensaje)1967

Not on view
Square abstract painting covered in a dense grid of tiny raised dots in amber yellow and rust, overlaid with soft horizontal streaks of pale sage green
Abstract composition with dense horizontal rows of raised golden dots or granules against a muted sage-green ground, creating a richly textured, all-over pattern across the entire surface.
Abstract composition in gold leaf with horizontal rows of small punctured or embossed dots and raised textures across the entire surface, creating a rhythmic, grid-like pattern with subtle variation in depth and tone.
Close-up detail of a woven textile with horizontal rows of gold metallic thread against a pale sage green ground, showing irregular texture and small gaps throughout the weave.
Reverse side of a wooden panel with a grid of sixteen rectangular compartments formed by crossbars, hanging wire strung across the upper section, and handwritten inscription in red reading 'MATHIAS GOERITZ 1967' in the upper-left compartment.
Verso of a wooden panel with handwritten inscription in dark red paint reading "MATHIAS GOERITZ / 1967" with a partially legible notation in parentheses below.
Close-up of a gold-leafed surface with horizontal striations, bearing incised cursive script in the center.
Close-up photograph of a textured surface with dense rows of small dark pitted holes across a gold and ochre ground, interrupted by two horizontal bands of iridescent pink and lavender.
Artist or Maker
Mathias Goeritz
Germany, active Mexico, 1915-1990
Title
Message (Mensaje)
Date Made
1967
Medium
Wood, steel sheet, gilding
Dimensions
27 1/2 × 27 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (69.85 × 69.85 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the 2007 Collectors Committee
Accession Number
M.2007.55
Classification
Collages
Collecting Area
Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes
The rich texture and luminosity of Message (Mensaje) is designed to trigger a visceral reaction and foster contemplation. Mathias Goeritz was born in Germany and moved to Mexico in 1949. By that time, murals in the narrative style of Diego Rivera (1886–1957) were discredited among some younger artists. Enormously influential as an artist and teacher, Goeritz promoted a new form of visual modernity anchored in geometric abstraction and a more cosmopolitan worldview. He is best known for monumental projects that blur the boundaries between sculpture and architecture, including Mexico City's the Echo Experimental Museum (1953) and the Towers of Satellite City (1957–58), a collaborative work with the Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988). He also created a number of works on a smaller, less architectural scale. Message (Mensaje) is one of the series of monochromatic plaques he began in 1957, and which reached its fullest expression in the 1960s. Ilona Katzew, 2008