PAST EXHIBITIONS

This is the largest exhibition of Mexican colonial art ever assembled in the United States. Assembled from important museums and private collections throughout the world, the show features more than fifty paintings that span the period between the arrival of Cortez and the end of Colonial rule. Organized by the Denver Art Museum, the works represent a combination of Aztec, Asian, and European artistic traditions, as well as document the close ties between Spain and “New Spain,” as Mexico was then known. Because of its premier collection of Spanish painting, the Meadows Museum offers a unique opportunity to compare and contrast works by the little-known masters of painting in Mexico with their well-known counterparts in Spain. Not only is the Meadows Museum its only other venue besides Denver, but the Meadows also augmented the display with several exceptional works, including a stunning 17th-century painted screen depicting a wedding, and a complete set of “Casta” paintings from the 1770s that deal frankly with issues of race, racial mixture, and class. A day-long symposium featuring talks by international scholars will be offered on Saturday, September 18, in conjunction with the exhibit; please call 214.768.2727 for information. In addition, a sumptuous and scholarly 327-page hardcover catalogue published by the University of Texas, Austin, is available.

Also exhibited from September 1 through October 31, will be corresponding exhibitions of rare printed maps and images of New Spain from the comprehensive holdings of SMU’s DeGolyer Library. Mapping a New World and Images of New Spain will establish the geographical boundaries of Spain’s dominions in the New World which included Mexico, large portions of North America extending from Florida to California, and all of Texas.