Toledo Museum of Art acquires Alejandro Mario Yllanes ‘Lake Titicaca’ (1935)
The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) announced on September 22, 2026, the acquisition of Lake Titicaca (1935), a significant painting by Bolivian artist Alejandro Mario Yllanes (1913–c.1960), marking a major step in TMA’s ongoing efforts to broaden the narrative represented within its collection.
A commanding composition, Lake Titicaca depicts an Aymara boatman navigating the waters of the eponymous lake, one of the most culturally and spiritually significant sites in the Andes. Rendered with striking clarity and dynamism, the figure occupies the foreground in a moment of physical exertion, set against a vividly colored landscape of mountains and sky. The work reflects Yllanes’s distinctive approach to form and composition, as well as his commitment to representing Indigenous life with dignity, agency, and presence.
The acquisition marks the first work by Yllanes to enter TMA’s collection and positions the museum as one of the few U.S. institutions to hold one of the artist’s paintings. Yllanes’s works, both across painting and works on paper, have only recently reemerged following decades of relative obscurity.
Despite achieving recognition during his lifetime—with exhibitions across Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico—Yllanes’s career was repeatedly disrupted by political exile due to the radical nature of his work in its critique of Indigenous labor conditions. He later relocated to the United States after being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the late 1940s. Recent research indicates that he accepted the fellowship and worked on his projects in New York and Washington, D.C., before disappearing under unclear circumstances in the early 1950s.
“This is a landmark acquisition for our museum. Yllanes’s work compels us to rethink the established narratives of modernism and to recognize the vital contributions of artists working across the world,” said Adam M. Levine, TMA’s Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey Director, President, and CEO. “For our audiences, both in the Midwest and beyond, it offers a powerful new point of connection to the cultural and political histories of the Andes. As we prepare for the museum’s major transformation next year, works like Lake Titicaca are essential to building a collection that reflects the full complexity and richness of global art history.”
Born in Bolivia in 1913, Yllanes developed his artistic practice in dialogue with the political and cultural movements shaping Latin America in the early 20th century. His work is closely aligned with Indigenismo, an intellectual and artistic movement that sought to foreground Indigenous identity and labor at a moment of intense social and political transformation. While often associated with Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera, Indigenismo also came to prominence across the Andes, though artists working in this context have historically been underrepresented within dominant art historical narratives.
Yllanes stood as a critical figure within this history. His paintings both celebrate Indigenous cultural traditions and confront the realities of labor and exploitation, offering a perspective that expands and complicates prevailing accounts of modernism in the Americas. As scholars have noted, his work challenges the longstanding assumption that such movements were limited in scope or influence within Bolivia and the broader Andean region.
Lake Titicaca is closely tied to a pivotal moment in Yllanes’s career. The painting is related to a mural he created in the early 1930s at the Warisata School in Bolivia (an influential center for Indigenous education), suggesting that the work functioned as a portable iteration of a larger public project. In this sense, the painting not only exemplifies Yllanes’s artistic vision but also serves as a vital record of a body of work that has been partially lost or remains at risk.
Within TMA’s holdings, Lake Titicaca marks a significant expansion of its representation of Latin American art, particularly in the area of South American modernist painting. This work will play a key role in the museum’s forthcoming reinstallation, Transformation 2027, TMA’s first comprehensive reinstallation of its collection in more than 40 years. Organized chronologically to present a more globally interconnected history of art, the reinstallation will position works as essential building blocks in shaping a more inclusive and historically grounded narrative of artistic production across the Americas.
ABOUT THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART
Established in 1901, the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) is a beloved cultural institution in Toledo, Ohio, and a global leader in the museum field. Its renowned collection features over 25,000 works, ranging from antiquity to contemporary art, and has one of the finest collections of glass in the world. Situated on a 40-acre campus, TMA integrates art into people’s lives through its world-class collection, engaging exhibitions, robust educational programs, and community outreach.
Admission and parking to TMA are always free, welcoming everyone to explore the museum’s galleries. TMA is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is closed on Monday, Tuesday, and select holidays. TMA is located at 2445 Monroe St., just one block off I-75, with exit signs posted for easy access.
For more information, call 419-255-8000 or visit toledomuseum.org.
