From The Mayas & Aztecs To Great 20th Century Artists

Three Millennia Of Mexican Art And Culture

On Display At The Yale Peabody Museum

NEW HAVEN — The rich and diverse artistic traditions of Mexico are being celebrated in an exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History through July 19. From the ancient worlds of the Mayas and Aztecs to the great 20th Century works of Miguel Covarrubias, Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, “Las Artes de Mexico” examines over three millennia of art and culture and of tradition and change across the broad spectrum of Mexican life.

In telling the story of the Mexican people, “Las Artes de Mexico” celebrates the human experience. Beginning with the Olmec culture in the Preclassic period (2500 BC-300 AD), it continues through the Classic period (300-900 AD) that saw the emergence of Teotihuacan and the Mayas, and into the militaristic Postclassic (900-1521 AD), when the Toltec and Aztec empires arose, with each civilization building upon the achievements of earlier ones.

Numerous pre-Columbian artifacts representing over a dozen different cultural periods are on display as are objects from the Peabody’s own collections including a beautiful Aztec calendar stone. Olmec, Mayan, Vera Cruz and Toltec sculpture reveal scenes from an often mysterious past: a world of ceremony and celebration, ritual warfare, and the veneration of the dead.

The arts of ancient Mexico demonstrate a unique view of the world, notably captured in the ceramic effigy traditions of Nayarit, Jalisco and Colima. These often poignant, often whimsical, portrayals display an approach to life that has continued in Mexican culture for centuries.

The Spanish invasion of 1517 destroyed ancient civilizations but created a new culture that grew from Indian and Spanish traditions. Folk portraits and carvings of patron saints eloquently show the merging of Spanish culture, Catholic iconography, and native art after the founding of New Spain in the 1500s, while colorful costumes and glittering fabrics illustrate folk celebrations and other traditional practices that continued through the colonial period. The exhibition explores Mexican weaving and the role of the loom from antiquity, including Zapotec blankets that employ centuries old techniques and iconography.

Faith and devotion have always been strong forces in the daily lives of modern Mexicans. The jaguar, an important religious symbol in many of the pre-Columbian cultures, was a common image in Olmec art before 1000 BC. The Maya used it as a symbol of royalty, the Toltecs and Aztecs a symbol of warfare. “Jaguar Head – Maya” is featured in the exhibition, as is the 19th Century “Guadalupe Madonna Santo,” an intricately carved but primitive wooden ceremonial figure.

Although Mexico gained its independence in 1821, the country was still to endure a century of instability and social injustice. Social commentary became the hallmark of Mexican art in the late 19thand early 20th centuries, and, in keeping with the new sense of identification with the workers that came in the wake of the Great Revolution of 1910, images focus on the ordinary members of society and often the indigenous and oppressed. Complex national, social and religious themes predominated.

The exhibition includes works by Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, two of Mexico’s most important artists. Orozco depicts an ocean of revolutionaries in Zapatistas, a 1928 lithograph. Rivera uses an earthy palette to portray laboring peasants made noble through the integrity of their labor in his watercolor “Building in the Desert.”

In his 1957 painting “El Galope,” Jose Chavez Morado uses a dramatic style to evoke the vitality of a man taking care of his horses. He melds Christian and pre-Hispanic subject matter in the foreboding “Annunciation of the Nahuatal.” Village scenes portray the weekly markets or a visit to the fair, as in “Feria,” a 1943 oil by Mariano Paredes.

Gustavo Savin is among the artist using a surrealistic style to portray the mythical and mystical aspects of Mexican culture and history. The nature of gods is reflected in his “El Exodo,” a 1943 oil depicting a group of Mexicans fleeing from a volcano. Miguel Covarrubias’s moving “Tehuana” evokes emotions that transcend the bounds of culture toward a common humanity.

“Las Artes” also includes works by the founders of the Taller de Grafica Popular (People’s Print Workshop): Leopoldo Mendez, Carlos Merida, Raul Anguiano, and Alfredo Zalce.

The traveling exhibition was developed by and is shown courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Okla.

The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is at 170 Whitney Avenue, and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and on Sundays from noon to 5. Unless otherwise noted, admission to exhibits and programs is included with admission of $7 adults, $6 seniors, and $5 for children ages 3-18. It is free for Museum members, Yale ID holders, and children under age 3.

On Thursdays from 2 to 5 pm it is free and open to all.

Visit Peabody.yale.edu or call the Infotape at 203-432-5050 for additional information.