Roamings of a Leo: Observing for the first time at LACMA

On Friday, I roamed around the Los Angeles County Museum of Art seeing things I have never seen...even though I go there often. I am teaching my class about Aztec art this week and am discovering that I know very little about the history, culture and art of Mexico especially before the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. I am amazed to learn about the various tribes that ruled Mesoamerica and the huge/devastating impact on the native people after the entrance of the Europeans.

First I learned that the Aztecs are a tribe that perhaps originated in what is now New Mexico or Arizona... an area they called Aztlan. These Nahuatl speaking people roamed around the Northern part of what is now Mexico and moved into the area that is now Mexico City in about 1350. Since most of the good land was taken by other tribes, they moved into an island in Lake Texcoco and built the city called Tenochtitlan which eventually had over 500,000 occupants. Eventually they allied with other city-states, Texcoco, Tlacopan, and the Mexica to create the Aztec Empire. They controlled the area from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans and built amazing pyramids, aqua ducts, and temples. They believed they needed to keep the gods happy so that the sun would rise and life would go on by human sacrifices....up to 20,000 a year. When Hernan Cortes arrived in 1521, he made friends with the enemies of the Aztecs and took over...Montezuma II was eventually killed and that was the end of the Aztec Empire. Over the next 50 years, up to 80% of the native population of Central American died of diseases brought by the Europeans. Lake Texcoco was eventually drained and the valley is the site of Mexico City.

LACMA has artifacts from major tribes of Central America including the Maya, Mixtec, Olmec, Zapotec, Aztec/Mexica, Toltec, Huastec, and the Tarascan going back to 1000 BC. They currently have a special exhibit on Mayan art. Here is some of what I saw:

Dancer with Snakes, Mexico, Guerrero, Xochipala, 1000-500 BCE
"Standing Male Fugure Holding Serpent Staff, Mexico, Western Pacific Coast, Colima, 200 BCE-500 CE

Mayan 300-900 CE

Mexico, Veracruz, Remojades 600-900 figures found in graves

Seated Male Figure, Mexico, Veracruz, 600-900

Standing Warrior, Mexico, Jalisco, 200 BC-AD 300

Censer Depicting Tlaloc, Mexico, Oaxaca, Mixtec (?) AD 1200-1400

Standing Male and Female Figures, Mexico, Nayarit, Ixtlan del Rio, 200 BC-AD 500

Male and Female Figures Seated on Benches, Mexico, Colima, Coahuayana Valley, 200 BC - AD 500

Incensario Stands, Mexico, Palenque, Maya, AD 600-900

Vessel with God GI or Hunahpu and Monkey, Guatemala, Southern Highlands, Alta Verapaz region, Maya, AD 600-900
The vessel depicts the adventures of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque...renown ballplayers who angered the gods by their noisy playing.

Ball Court Model, Mexico, Nayarite, 200 BC-AD 500

Seated Male Figure, Mexico, Nayarit, 200 BC-AD 500

Musicians, Mexico, Colima, 200 BC-AD 500

Below are paintings of Mexican artists in the 20 Century:

"Messengers in the Wind," 1931 by Rufino Tamayo, Mexico, 1899-1991

"Young Woman with Dolls," 1935 by Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Mexico, 1871-1946

"The Fanatic," 1935 by Luis Arenal Bastar, Mexico, 1909-1985

"Girl with Hoop," 1932 Rufino Tamayo

"Portrait of Mrs Carr," 1946 by Diego Rivera, Mexico, 1886-1957

"Huicholes," 1951 by Diego Rivera

"Portrait of John Dunbar," 1931 by Diego Rivera

"Still Life with Bread and Fruit," 1917, Diego Rivera

"Weeping Coconuts," 1951 Frida Kahlo, Mexico, 1907-1954

"Portrait of Frida Kahlo," 1936 by Diego Rivera

Finally I visited a small exhibit of "Four Abstract Classicists" that was shown in L.A. in 1959 and reunited for a show at LACMA now. The exhibit shows the works of the four artists, Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson, Frederick Hammersley, and John McLaughlin, and a few others painting in Southern California around the same time are included. The poster states that the Abstract Classicists are finite, flat, and rimmed by a hard clean edges.