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PHOENIX—Masterworks of Spanish Colonial Art from Phoenix Art Museum’s Collection opens at Phoenix Art Museum on September 5, 2015. This landmark exhibition features a selection of remarkable paintings as well as a grouping of retablos (small-scale paintings on copper or tin) that the Museum recently acquired from the estate of Gerry S. Culpepper and from Diane and Bruce Halle. With the exception of an exquisite 18th-century Mexican painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe and several 19th-century Mexican retablos, the exhibited works were all created in the Viceroyalty of Peru. This territory originally encompassed most of Spanish-controlled South America, including present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, among other modern South American nations. The earliest painting in the exhibition dates to 1665; the most recent, to the 19th century.
The Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the Last Judgment, saints, and archangels are among the most prominent subjects of the works on display. Some of these paintings are very large and would have originally functioned as components of church altarpieces. Others are smaller in scale, but no less commanding, and would likely have served as devotional aids for prayer in chapels, private home shrines, monasteries or convents. These works showcase the inventiveness, originality, and skill of artists working in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the 18th century. In addition, they illustrate these artists’ diverse approaches to religious imagery and its multifaceted meanings in the colonial world.
“All of these gifts represent an invaluable and fascinating addition to our holdings in Latin American art,” said Vanessa Davidson, Ph.D., Shawn and Joe Lampe Curator of Latin American Art at Phoenix Art Museum. She added, “Through these works, we continue to enhance and build a collection that connects us with the unique history of our region of the globe, a history that is important to continuing to build bridges across national boundaries.”
Masterworks of Spanish Colonial Art from Phoenix Art Museum’s Collection was organized by Phoenix Art Museum and will be on view from September 5, 2015 to February 28, 2016. It is the first special exhibition of Spanish Colonial art at the Museum since 1997. A generous gift of funds from Shawn and Joe Lampe enabled the Museum to clean and conserve nine of the donated paintings, on display here for the first time. Thanks to the generosity of leading members of the Phoenix community Milena and Tony Astorga, Pari and Peter Banko, Lee and Mike Cohn, Mary and Harold Dorenbecher, Susan and Carter Emerson, Diane and Bruce Halle, Janis and Dennis Lyon, and Gail and Steve Rineberg, Phoenix Art Museum was then able to frame these restored works of art. This exhibition is supported by the Joan Cremin Exhibition Endowment Fund. For additional information about the exhibition please visit phxart.org/exhibition/colonialmasters.
Exhibition Programming:
Symposium: Painting in the New World: A Symposium on Spanish Colonial Art 6 to 8 p.m., September 30, 2015, Phoenix Art Museum, Whiteman Hall
This symposium will present an overarching view of artistic traditions in Colonial Latin America for a general audience, and will enrich understandings of the works on display.
This evening of talks will present new perspectives on how art was created and disseminated throughout the Spanish viceroyalties. How were paintings commissioned during the colonial period? How did indigenous artistic traditions continue to be reflected in art created in the viceroyalties? How did native artists transform artistic source material imported from Europe into distinctive and original artworks? The symposium speakers will address these questions, and more.
In addition, the symposium has been organized in tandem with the first exhibition in recent history in Phoenix of an 18th-century painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe—often called the “Queen of the Americas”—and our keynote speaker will shed light on the history and traditions surrounding this iconic image.
Cost: This event is on a #FreeAdmissionWednesday evening and is free and open to the public. No registration required.
For the complete program, please consult the event website: Painting in the New World:
A Symposium on Spanish Colonial Art
First Friday at Phoenix Art Museum
September 4, 2015, 6pm – 10 pm
Museum-wide In celebration of our landmark exhibition Masterworks of Spanish Colonial Art from Phoenix Art Museum’s Collection Phoenix Art Museum partners with Clandestino to present a Cumbia dance party! Free Museum general admission.
Mariachi Pasión | 6 to 7 p.m.
DJ LENGUA
La Diabla
Pop-up dance performances choreographed by Liliana Gomez
Cash bar
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