La Mano Mágica Galería Art Gallery — Attraction in Oaxaca

An incredibly successful marriage between a café, an art gallery and a crafts shop.

The small gallery has a great selection consisting mainly of paintings and sculptures by Mexican artists and included works by renouned Oaxacan artists Rufino Tamayo and Francisco Toledo. We were also pleasantly surprised to see a sketch by Dalí. As far as I understand all the works in the gallery and café are for sale and it was quite fun trying to guess how much they might fetch. We asked the prices of a few of them and the staff told us the prices without any fuss.

The cafe area has a wonderfully warm atmosphere with dim incandescent lights illuminating works of art and plants that surround you as you sit in the courtyard of the Colonial resistance. My partner and I enjoyed very much the coffee and dessert on offer. The tres leches cake was both scrumptious and beautifully presented, the sponge served in a molcajete with berries and the "leches" in a little jug on the side ready for you to pour yourself!

The service was impeccable. Waiters were attentive but not pushy and we were treated warmly and with respect.

Needless to say, we came back the next day and will certainly be coming back the next time...

The gallery was fine, interesting art hanging from the high ceiling and the walls. They are also running a restaurant which is not worth staying for. I rarely criticize another restaurant because after being on the business I know how difficult it is. The owner got mum order wrong- which is fine, but he over charged both my wife and myself considerably. When I confronted him about it - actually getting a menu and showing the discrepancy between the menu and the bill, he shrugged his shoulders and said the the computer guy didn't know what the price was.... I tried reasoning, but it was obvious he wasn't going to do anything about it so I left without tipping (something I've never done!) before I lost...

Last winter, I was in La Mano Mágica and fell in love with the show by Edwin Rojas. Many months later, I couldn’t stop thinking about those paintings so I contacted Gabriel to see if we could work something out. He was absolutely wonderful to deal with. I can’t say enough good things about this gallery. My painting just arrived via FedEx, expertly packed, in just a few days time. If you love Mexican art, from folk to fine, this is the...