MEXICO CITY - Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, will soon open a new museum in one of the poshest areas of his native Mexico to house his collection of artwork by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, considered the biggest outside France.
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.
REUTERS
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