Exhibit at the National Museum of Art

One more post of some of the artwork from the National Museum of Art's exhibit on indigenous women...

"Woman of the Day of the Dead"

by Nahual Olin

1932

"Market"

by Alfonso X. Peña

1946

"Girl Learning History"

by Angel Zárraga

1927

"Indigenous Girls Receiving Biology Classes"

by Juan Guzmán

circa 1959

"Indigenous Girls from Chiapas Reading in the Hall of a School"

by Juan Guzmán

circa 1956

"The Indian María"

by Fidias Elizondo

1923

"Woman at the Metate"

by Mardonio Magaña

undated

The metate is the stone upon which corn is ground.

"Portrait of Rosa Rolanda"

by Roberto Montenegro

circa 1926

"Fruit Seller"

by Rufino Tamayo

1938

"Mayan Potter"

by Raúl Anguiano

1972

"Pinole Vendor"

by Diego Rivera

1924

Pinole is a flour made from ground, roasted, sweetened corn.

"Water Carriers"

by Ramón Alva de la Canal

1927

"The Spinner"

by Celia Calderón

1969

More from the National Museum of Art

Here are more works from the National Museum of Art's exhibit on indigenous women...

"Aunt Anastasia"

by Mariana Yampolsky

undated

"Girl of the Taco"

by Rosa Rolanda

1947

"Madonna"

by Julio Castellanos

1932

"Woman from Tehuantepec with Watermelon"

by Olga Costa

1952

"Woman Combing"

by Gabriel Fernández Ledesma

1938

"Women Combing"

by Lola Cueto

1930

"The Ceiba Tree"

by Raúl Anguiano

1956

"Girls with a Cage"

by Agustín Lazo

1943

"Woman from the Mountains of Orizaba"

by José Justo Montiel

undated

"The Woman from Papantla"

by Luz Osorio

circa 1885

"The Harvest"

by Saturnino Herrán

1909

"Peasants"

by David Alfaro Siqueiros

1913

"Market"

by Lola Cueto

undated

Still to come... one more post of artwork from this exhibit.

 

The Indigenous Woman

My trip to the National Museum of Art last week was to see a special exhibit that I somehow missed the last time that I was there.  The show presents portrayals of the indigenous women of Mexico in paintings, sculptures and photographs.  The images presented are sometimes romanticized, and sometimes perpetuate stereotypes, but nevertheless is an interesting exhibit.  The works span the centuries from the colonial era to the 20th century.

"Malinche"

by Manuel Vilar

1852

Malinche was the native woman who served as the translator for the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.  She was also his mistress and bore him a son.

"Indigenous Family"

by José de Ibarra

1725

"Indian and Spaniard Produce Mestizo"

circa 1720

This is one of the infamous "caste" paintings which catalogued the different racial mixtures of colonial Mexico.

"The Earth"

by María Izquierdo

1945

"The Flower of the Lake"

by Manuel Ocaranza

1871

"Interior of a Shack"

by Edouard Pingret

1853

"Jarabe Tapatío"

by María Rincón Gallardo

circa 1880

The "jarabe tapatío" is the dance which we refer to as the Mexican Hat Dance.

"Indigenous Woman with Baskets"

by Alfredo Ramos Martínez

undated

"The Wake"

by José María Jara

1889

"Woman with Pineapple"

by Ceferino Colinas

1950

"Day of the Dead"

by Rosa Rolando

circa 1945 -1950

"Women Harvesting"

by Ramón Alva de la Canal

1928

"Prenatal"

by Gabriel Fernández Ledesma

1945

"Monument to the Mother"

by Luis Ortiz Monasterio

1949

"Child Mother"

by David Alfaro Siqueiros

1956

More from this exhibit in the next post.

 

Making Music

It seems that there is always a special exhibit to see at one of Mexico City's many museums.  In fact, Thursday has almost become my "museum day" when I go to see something new.  Last Thursday I went downtown to see a show at the National Museum of Art that I had somehow missed before.  However, before I ever got there, I saw that there was a new exhibit at the Museum of Popular Arts.  It was a small but interesting display of items related to music... traditional instruments, art depicting musicians and dancers' costumes.

At the entrance there was a wall of stringed instruments.  The classical guitar was brought to Mexico by the Spanish, and is an integral part of Mexican music.

A "salterio" or psalter, an instrument similar to a zither

This guitar is made from the shell of an armadillo.

This guitar is decorated with the beadwork typical of the Huichol tribe of western Mexico.

A representation in painted wood of Mexico City's Plaza de Garibaldi, a favorite hangout of mariachi musicians.

I think the crank in the front makes the dancers go round and around.

An antique table organ

The costume of a "parachico", a dancer from the town of Chiapa de Corzo in the state of Chiapas.

The elaborate costume of a "chinelo", a traditional dancer from the state of Morelos

The costume of a "carnaval" dancer

The tiger costume of dancers from the state of Chiapas

The costume of the deer dance performed by the Yaqui tribe in the northern state of Sonora

This painting done on bark paper included a band of musicians.

A modern recreation of a "teponaztle", a wooden percussion instrument used for the Aztecs and Mayas.

A marimba from the state of Chiapas

A collection of drums

This painted, wooden drum is from the state of Tlaxcala.

A ceramic whistle in the shape of a bird

A papier mache figure of a skeleton playing the guitar