Buying Art in the Rosarito Area of Baja

There are so many fine artists and galleries in our little area of Baja. I am talking about Rosarito as I am not a frequent traveler to Tijuana or Ensenada. The cost of an original oil painting, unframed is way less than you would expect to pay many other places. Many of the fine pieces in my home cost around two hundred and fifty dollars, framed. This does not mean the quality is not of the best. Whenever you get a place with a nice climate, art buyers, and a comparatively inexpensive way of living, you get a lot of very good artists. Some of the artists here can command upwards of six thousand dollars for a painting.

One of my favorite galleries is Polo Valencia’s, which is across from the Baja Film studios just south of Rosarito. He has two buildings stuffed full of so many fine paintings it almost takes your breath away. He is charming and will do his best to explain to you about your artist in an informative rather than hard selling manner. He has been known to discount if someone buys more than one painting which is great for that person just decorating a new home or condo. The galleries have been there for almost 20 years, He is a fine painter himself who likes to do fruit you can almost pick off the canvas. He commands in the thousands for some of his oils which are done in a three dimensional style and are quite large, about three by four feet and framed usually in white. There is a frame shop right in between the two galleries.

Polo learned how to paint from Paco Garcia who has a gallery in front of the Rosarito Beach Hotel right on the main boulevard. Paco has done quite a range of subjects over the years and is just as charming as Polo. He also has done a lot of murals over the years. If you go into our historic Rosarito Beach Hotel they can point out some of his mural work for you. He also has a frame shop which I find to be quite reasonable, about twenty dollars for a matted and framed piece of about twelve by twelve inches.

A few doors away from Paco’s gallery is David Silva’s. David is well known for his depictions of Don Quixote with eyes that follow you around the room. He also does tango dancers in a large format perfect for that very large empty wall you might have, using a background of what looks like newsprint quite often. His women are lifelike and appear to move on the canvas. Part of his gallery is given over to MexiFolkArts. Benito Del Aguila owns a business that he has expanded into online selling with eBay. His knowledge of museum quality folk art is extensive. His family helps out by traveling Mexico to find some of the best artists for him to purchase his exquisite pieces from, and sells for excellent prices. I have a pottery piece a well known mainland Mexican artist sold off from his private collection to defray medical costs that cost me only forty dollars. Benito assured me with a straight face that I did not have to pay the shipping cost.

UGI’s Gallery is in between Rosarito and Popotla on the right hand side of the street going south. Owned by two very talented artists, Alvaro and Janet. He specialized in large flowers perfect for adorning a wall in a contemporary home. Janet is a master of light and uses it to great advantage in her paintings. She also does wonderful things with texture to make a painting come alive.

ArtFest is coming up Memorial Day weekend in Rosarito. It is this weekend every year.

So if you are looking to decorate a wall, an office, or a home, this is a great place to come for masterful art that will not cost you a fortune.