READING PAINTINGS: THE INSCRIPTIONS IN THE PAINTED IN MEXICO, 1700-1790: PINXIT MEXICI EXHIBITION ANALYZED THROUGH THE LENS OF MIECZYSŁAW WALLIS Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Hormel, Ana Lucia Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 17:17:02 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/637055 READING PAINTINGS: THE INSCRIPTIONS IN THE PAINTED IN MEXICO, 1700-1790: PINXIT MEXICI EXHIBITION ANALYZED THROUGH THE LENS OF MIECZYSŁAW WALLIS By ANA LUCIA HORMEL ____________________ A Thesis SubmitteD to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelor’s Degree With Honors in Art History THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 ApproveD by: ____________________________ Dr. Stacie WiDDifielD Department of Art History Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................................. 2 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Description of Exhibition ................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Significance of Inscriptions in Paintings ............................................................................................................ 4 1.3 On Eighteenth-Century Mexico .......................................................................................................................... 6 1.3.1 Historical Background ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.3.2 Style and Influences ................................................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................................................................. 8 2. Inscriptions in Paintings .................................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Wallis’ Typology ................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2 Historical Uses of Inscriptions in Paintings .................................................................................................... 12 3. Research Design ............................................................................................................................................ 15 3.1 Research Question Revisited ............................................................................................................................ 15 3.2 Materials and Methodological Overview ......................................................................................................... 15 4. Research Findings and Analysis .................................................................................................................... 16 4.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 4.2 Categories ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 4.3 Outliers ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 5. Research Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1 Reoccurring Themes ......................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.2 Conclusion #1 ........................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.3 Conclusion #2 ........................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.4 Conclusion #3 ........................................................................................................................................... 34 5.2 Research LiMitations and RecomMendations ................................................................................................... 34 5.3 Future Research ............................................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................... 36 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................... 60 1 Abstract The acclaimed 2017-2018 Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici Exhibition and its corresponding catalogue reintroduced the world to the paintings of eighteenth-century Mexico. Presented alongside each other, the over one hundred paintings in the collection are frequently distinguished by one element: text. This paper takes into account this unique element and examines the applicability of the typology outlined by art historian Mieczsław Wallis in “Inscriptions in Paintings,” a seminal article on the topic of painting inscriptions. Wallis defines four categories of painting inscription based on function: identification, statement, invocation, and artist statement. Analysis of the 95 inscribed paintings in the catalogue reveals that over 52% of inscriptions functioned as forms of identification, over 8% functioned as statements, over 2% functioned as invocations, and over 35% functioned as artist statements. Three conclusions can be drawn from this research: first, Wallis’ typology generally applies; second, the outliers which the typology struggles to categorize indicate refinements can be made; and third, a fifth category could be added to class didactic statements. 2 Acknowledgements This paper would not have been possible without the following three women: Dr. Widdifield, for her infectious zeal for Mexico and its treasure trove of art. Eschelle English, for her brilliant mind and generosity. And for her unconditional love and support—my mother. 3 1. Introduction 1.1 Description of Exhibition In 2017, the doors opened to the first-ever comprehensive show of eighteenth-century Mexican art. As art critic Christopher Knight writes, it marked the “invention of an entire art history.”1 Indeed, Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici was not only an exhibition—it was an entrance to the admiration and study of the art of a former Mexico, one often referred to as “New Spain.” It delivered to the world an assiduously researched and thoughtfully curated collection of over one hundred paintings. Prior to this exhibition, the art of eighteenth-century New Spain was dismissed. By way of example, notable Mexican art historian Manuel Toussaint—one of the first to study colonial paintings in the 1930s and 1940s—opinioned that, within this period, “We find paintings that we should politely refrain from mentioning as part of the history of art.”2 Painted in Mexico overturns such a perspective. For the first time in over two hundred years, this period of Mexican art is receiving consideration, recognition, and, deservedly, admiration. No longer are these paintings, their artists, and the style in which they were painted neglected and scorned. Instead, the select few belonging to the collection embarked on a year-long travel and were displayed in three major institutions in both Mexico and the United States: first, the Palacio de Cultura Citibanamex, Mexico City (29 June to 15 October, 2017); second, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (19 November, 2017 to 18 March, 2018); and, finally, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (24 April to 22 July, 2018). In accompaniment to these 1 Christopher Knight, “‘Painted in Mexico:’ LACMA’s remarkable and important new show,” review of the exhibition Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici, Los Angeles TiMes, November 28, 2017. 2 Manuel Toussaint, Pintura colonial en México, 2nd edition, edited by Xavier Moyssén (Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1982). 4 shows was the exhibition catalogue, a book of over five-hundred glossy pages full of images and superlative essays. In his Colonial Latin AMerican Review piece, historian William B. Taylor declares “This big, important book will be our guide to eighteenth-century painting and a touchstone for thinking about late colonial culture and politics for years to come.”3 All of this was the result of nearly a decade of work completed