Anita Brenner - Idols Behind Altars: Modern Mexican Art and Its Cultural Roots

Idols Behind Altars was not planned as a reference book, and for this reason the printed sources used for pre-Spanish and colonial periods are not given. Those available are to be found listed in most historical and archeological works dealing with Mexico. For pre-Spanish art, see Maya Art, by Herbert J. Spinden; Mexican and Maya Art, T. A. Joyce; Outline of Maya Art, by Eric Thompson, (Chicago Field Museum) and the forthcoming publication, The Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz, by Ann Axtell Morris, Earl Morris, and Jean Charlot. (Carnegie Institution of Washington.) General pre-Spanish art, Lart Pre-Colombien, Basler and Brummer, Paris, 1928. See publications of the National Museum of Mexico and in Natural History (New York), 1928, illuminating article by Dr. George Vaillant.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS:

British Museum Guide to the Maudsley Collection of Maya Sculpture.

Charnay Desire , Ancient Cities of the New World.

Gordon, G. B. Examples of Maya Pottery. Philadelphia University Museum, 1925.

Gamio Manuel, La Poblacion del Valle de Teotihuacan.

Holmes, W. H. Archeological Studies Among the Ancient Cities of Mexico. Chicago, Field Columbian Museum, 1895-97.

Lothrop, S. K. Pottery of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.

Maudsley, A. P. Biologia Centrali-Americana. London, 1889-1902.

Peafiel, F. Monumentos del Arte Mexicano Antiguo. Berlin, 1890.

Saville, M. H. The Woodcarvers Art in Ancient Mexico, and Goldsmiths Art in Ancient Mexico. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.

Seler, E. Gesammelte Abhaudlungen. Berlin, 1902.

FOR COLONIAL ART:

Atl, Dr. (Gerardo Murillo). Iglesias de Mexico, and Cpolas Mexicanas.

Ayres, Atlee B. Mexican Architecture .

Cortez, Antonio B. Arquitectura en Mexico. National Museum of Mexico, 1924.

Kilham, Walter. Mexican Architecture of the Vice-Regal Period. New York, 1927.

Mariscal, Federico. La Patria y la Arquitectura Nacional. Mexico City, 1915.

Revilla, Manuel. El Arte en Mexico. Mexico, 1893.

Romero de Terreros, M. Las Artes Industriales en Nueva Espaa. Mexico, 1925.

Tablada, Jos Juan. Historia del Arte en Mexico. Mexico City, 1927.

FOR POPULAR ART:

Atl, Dr. (Gerardo Murillo). Artes Populares de Mexico. Secretaria de Hacienda, Mexico City, 1923-26.

See also Forma for years 1926-27-28, and Painted Miracles, Anita Brenner, The Arts, 1929.

For general information on modern movement see Mexican number of Survey Graphic, April, 1924; A Mexican Renascence, Anita Brenner, The Arts, 1926; Figures in a Mexican Rennaissance , William Sprattling, Scribners, January, 1929, and chapters on art and photographs in The Mexican Heritage, Ernest Gruening. New York, 1928.

For work of Mexican school children see monograph published by the Secretaria de Educacin Publica, Mexico City, 1927.

115. DESCENT OF CHRIST TO LIMBO

By far the majority of the illustrations in Idols Behind Altars are published here for the first time. They were selected from material collected by the author, the photographers, and collaborating artists, in many months of careful and loving research. Most of the photographs were taken in villages and buildings not usually included even in artists itineraries. Photographs and other illustrations were chosen in all cases for their artistic value, bearing in mind the typical, and the best expressions of Mexican art. The pleasant amazement which no doubt they will cause to artists and collectors will be amazement only because the ancient and modern art of this continent, as strong and as unique as that of any people in the history of humanity, has been so little examined.

• 1. FRONTISPIECE.

  Amado Galvn, whose hand appears in the frontispiece, is one of the most gifted of contemporary Mexican craftsmen. Pottery decoration is a tradition in his family which dates to untraceable beginnings, as is the case in the families of most of his neighbours in the potters village of Tonal, in the state of Jalisco.

• 2. UNFINISHED SKETCH. Vignette.

  From a post-Spanish native picture manuscript, the Codex Dehessa. Few of the ancient pictographic records escaped destruction by the Spaniards. However by request and under the direction of several wise missionaries, among whom the most famous is Father Bernardino Sahagun, native artists portrayed the life and beliefs of the people in a manner somewhat similar to the customary style of Mexican scribes. These records have been examined heretofore chiefly for information, although they are a rich source for the student of pre-Spanish Mexican art. In manuscripts such as the Lienzo de Tlaxcala and the codices collected by Sahagun, the hierarchic and abstract symbolism prevalent in native draughtsmanship, of which a typical example is the Codex De Zouche, is evidently already influenced by Spanish realism. The sketch from the Codex Dehessa reproduced here is an example of realistic description with line.

• 4. LEAD SOLDIERS FROM GUADALAJARA.

  Modern toys, height 1 inches. Polychrome in red and green.

• 6. THE SAD INDIAN.

  A famous pre-Spanish sculpture discovered in Mexico City is known by the name of The Sad Indian. It was found on a street that has been called Street of the Sad Indian, although the story of the Indian who pined away because of grief after the conquest also is given as the origin of that name. This pastel has the same pose as that of the sculpture, which sits in the characteristic Indian manner. It is intended by the painter as a modern interpretation of the pre-Spanish artistic version of the same subject. Property of the National Secretariat of Education. Replica exists in the Suttor collection, Paris.