Image: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington has added Tonatiuh, a 2023 sculpture by the Mexico City–based artist Pedro Reyes, to its collection. The work is one of eight acquisitions the museum announced in March 2026 for its Sculpture Garden, which has been redesigned by Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Tonatiuh is carved from stone quarried in the hills around the Popocatépetl volcano. According to the museum, it is a monumental sundial and has been installed to work as one. Its name refers to the Mexica sun deity, who in the Hirshhorn's account was honored for the daily labor of crossing the sky from birth to death. The sculpture has one angular side and one rounded side, which the museum links to the sharp light of morning and the warmer light of sunset, and a circular carving at its center sets off the stone's irregular natural edges.
Reyes, the son of two chemical engineers, works across classical stone carving and what he calls social sculpture. The Smithsonian places his stone pieces at a meeting point between contemporary art and pre-Columbian and Modernist Mexican traditions, while the Hirshhorn points to his interest in Mexico's ancient history, its volcanic geology and the shared labor that carving demands.
The other seven acquisitions are works by Mark Grotjahn, Raven Halfmoon, Lauren Halsey, Izumi Kato, Liz Larner, Woody De Othello and Chatchai Puipia. Director Melissa Chiu said the redesign was meant to present art of the 21st century while honoring the Modernist works at the core of the collection, which the museum counts among the most important holdings of postwar American and European art.
Work on Sugimoto's project began in November 2022. It responds to Gordon Bunshaft's original design for the garden and is expected to be the most significant change to the museum since it opened in 1974, with a wider entrance from the National Mall, more shade and more than triple the seating. The reopened garden presents 60 artworks, and Reyes is among the artists scheduled to give short talks on its opening day, October 31.
