Ancient Mexican Art Exhibit

Figure-ing Out the Past: A Transcendent Embodiment of Ancient Mexican Art

September 1 - November 4, 2021

University of Texas, Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas

Figure-ing Out the Past: A transcendent Embodiment of Ancient Mexican Art

Introduction: (Expand Tab)

The mysteries of ancient Mexican civilizations have intrigued archeologists, explorers, artists, and collectors alike for the last hundred years and more. What was life like? How did the ancient Mesoamerican societies communicate? Why did they choose to sculpt such elaborate figurines? Little is known of any written language from the earliest cultures, and insight to the original processes are limited. Inevitably, most people become fascinated with the character depictions of these intriguing clay figurines and their many poses, such as in dramatic fashion with some wearing elaborate jewelry, possibly signifying royalty (for example see catalog accession LFM001and LFM009), or holding a rattle as though to communicate to the Gods as companions of the dead in the afterlife (see LFJ001 and LFJ002). American anthropologist and archeologist, Michael D. Coe said it well when he expressed that, “every archeological site or culture often leaves not only solutions to past mysteries, but also mysteries that still need solving” (Santasilia 2018).

In the early 20th century in Central Mexico, ancient art gained increased popularity among collectors. Particularly the intriguing work of William Spratling, an exceptional silversmith, who combined the ancient craftsmanship and mysteries of Mexican artifacts, and immersed them into his jewelry designs which gained interest of collectors in the United States. A close friend of Spratling’s, Mexican artist, Diego Rivera, also cherished the expression of ancient Mexican pottery and embedded depictions of these ancient forms into his elaborate murals. Rivera's wife and fellow artist, Frida Kahlo, likewise fell in love with the ancient artifacts of Mexico and used similar postures and forms in her paintings. One of Kahlo’s favorite self portraits, My Nurse and I (1937), incorporates a likeness of the figurine style known from West Mexico, at the Late Formative site Jalisco. This image depicts a ceramic female (the nurse) breastfeeding a baby (Frida), while the nurse wears a Late Formative Teotihuacan stone mask. An extended description of this painting and others can be found in the book Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, edited by Richard F. Townsend (1998).

While artists such as Kahlo and Rivera discovered ways to embed likenesses of ancient Mexican art into their modern creations, anthropologists were making major archeological advances. In the middle 20th century Mexico, José Corona Núñez discovered the shaft tomb chambers at the site, Ixtlán Del Reo, Nayarit State, Western Mexico (see Beekman and Pickering 2016; for an example of a Nayarit shaft tomb, see Figure LFN001). Meanwhile, in Central Mexico, anthropologist Miguel Covarrubias led multi-year excavations at the site of Tlatilco (Santasilia 2019). His work at Tlatilco uncovered Olmec objects, changing the previously understood chronology as it meant Tlatilco was contemporary with the Olmec. Around the early 1950s, ancient Mexican art became a hot commodity in the Los Angeles, California art community (Sund 2000), and dealers such as Earl Stendhal showcased exquisite pieces at the Stendhal Galleries (for example EFT0042 and EFT043) selling pieces to collectors such as Jules Berman. Berman saw huge potential in the ancient art as marketing models for the coffee-flavored Mexican liquor, Kahlua paving a new path for modern use of ancient objects.

Another prominent collector that recognized the beauty and mystery of ancient Mexico art was Proctor Stafford (see a former Stafford collection piece EFT012). Stafford, unlike the artists that traditionally coveted ancient Mexico art, was a former WWII Battle of the Bulge soldier who found the ancient pieces intriguing and recognized the high aesthetic quality (Kan, Meighan, and Nicholson 1989). However, similarly to the artists mentioned before, Stafford would also often meet in Mexico with a small community of ancient Mexico art collectors such as Deigo Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and influential surrealist artist Wolfgang Paalen. Stafford was an active collector of ancient Mexico art from the late 1940’s - 1970’s and his West Mexico tomb culture collection is now in the permanent archives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and featured in the book Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit - Jalisco - Colima.

As a result of the increased attention and exposure of the Mexican antiquities, competition for the mysterious and inquisitive ancient art also increased. Looting of tombs and ancient ruins for the sale of artifacts often became more profitable than the average job (Santasilia 2018). In addition, the Jules Bermas Kahlua advertisements exposed ancient Mexican art to a new generation of collectors. Sales of these artifacts increased which in turn also increased forgeries, many of which are in museums and private collections today. All these factors have an impact on the value of excavations of in-situ artifacts. With the expansion of cities, continuous looting, and the introduction of forgeries, the mysteries of ancient Mexico are becoming more difficult to solve. Well curated and legally acquired private and public collections are becoming a valuable resource for scientific and historical research. Michael D. Coe, once again, proved why he is the father of Mesoamerican archaeology, as he suggested that, ”we examine museums and private collections in the same way that archaeologists look at the remains of the past: as assemblages of artifacts positioned in determined physical spaces" (Matsuda 1992).

The collection featured in this exhibition, Figure-ing out the Past: A Transcendent Embodiment of Ancient Mexican Art, focuses on artifacts from ancient Central and Western Mexico.The details of the finely sculpted figures have defied the forces of nature and time and are the representations of their creators artistic expression. Although there are many mysteries yet to be solved, these amazing examples share clues of life and community in ancient Mexico.