The new branch of Slim’s Soumaya Museum, named for his late wife, is expected to open in November. It will be the second museum opened by Slim, whose over $50-billion empire includes Latin America’s leading cell phone services provider, adding to an initial public collection in the Mexican capital featuring works by painters Salvador Dali, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others.The museum, designed by son-in-law Fernando Romero, is a six-story, chimney-shaped structure covered in shiny panels. It will be the anchor of a new development, including offices, apartments and retail, that Slim is building in western Mexico City with an initial investment of $750 million.
Leading a tour of the new museum on Tuesday for reporters, Slim said the museum’s lobby would feature a piece by Rufino Tamayo, one of Mexico’s best known painters. Entry into the museum will be free.