In 1521, the conquest of Mexico at the hands of an Indigenous coalition led by the Spanish and Indigenous lords inaugurated a series of cataclysmic events that not only transformed this continent but also decisively shaped the modern age. These disastrous events annihilated many Amerindian peoples and decimated their material wealth, as well as the cultural remnants of many ancestral groups. However, not all perished; surviving objects attest to the lasting vision and creativity of native artists. The resilience of various Indigenous practices in subsequent centuries is a testament of the ways these artists’ descendants have overcome the devastation wrought 500 years ago.
The objects from Tufts University Art Galleries’ collections presented in Innovation, Reflection, and Resilience, Five Centuries after the Conquest of Mexico showcase some of the resplendent works and unique forms that survived conquest. The exhibition pairs Pre-Columbian works with a suite of photographs by Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexico’s preeminent modern photographer, who focused sharply on both the social inequalities Indigenous people have continuously suffered and their enduring legacy. Fixing his lens on Mexico’s rich visual culture, people, and the landscape (both imagined and perceived), Álvarez Bravo’s photograph’s respectively reveal the transformed landscape and its cultured people. The exhibition’s four sections—Introduction, Pre-Columbian Worlds, Enduring Legacies in Print, and Coruscating Perceived Landscapes——provide moments of contemplation that memorialize the horrors of conquest, reflect on the recuperative ways visual culture can endure such traumatic and devastating events and provide a more comprehensive, albeit still incomplete, view of the past.
Image 1: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Mexican
Parabola Optica (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
1931
Gelatin silver print
9.938 x 71/8 (image) 19 x 14.75 (paper)
19” x 14.75” (paper)
1980.7.1.1
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice
Gantcher
Image 2: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
El Ensuena (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
1931
Gelatin silver print
9.375 x 7.125 (image) 19 x 14.75 (paper)
10.625 x 8.125 (embossed plate mark)
1980.7.1.5
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 1: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Sed Publica (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
1934
Gelatin silver print
19 x 14.875 (image) 19 x 14.75 (paper)
9.375 x 7.5 (Image)
10.25 x 9.375 (Platemark)
1980.7.1.7
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice
Gantcher
Image 2: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
La Quema Tres (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez
Bravo)Alvarez Bravo
1957
Gelatin silver print
14.875 x 19.75
6.5 x 9.375 (Image)
1980.7.1.8
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 1: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Los Agachados (from the Portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
1934
Gelatin silver print
7.25” x 9.563”
1982.8.1.3
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice
Gantcher
Image 2: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Tumba Reciente (from the Portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
1933
Gelatin silver print
6.75” x 9.687” (image)
14.75” x 19.75” (paper)
1982.8.1.6
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 1: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Paisaje Inventado (from the Portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual Alvarez Bravo)
20th century
Gelatin silver print
11.375” x 14.375” (image)
14.75” x 19.75” (paper)
1982.8.1.7
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 2: Unknown (Mexica)
Standing fertility goddess
1450-1520
Volcanic stone
28 .5 x 11 .5
1983.11
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Seth I. Merrin A82
AIDEKMAN
Image 1: Unknown (Paracas)
Panel with pumas and human faces wearing headdresses
6th-2nd century BCE
Camelid wool
18 .5 x 34 x 1/8
Framed 25h x 42 l x 2.5d
1983.12
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Esther Merrin
Image 2: Unknown (Gulf Coast)
Mask of skull
12th-5th century BCE
Greenstone
4 x 4 .25 x 1 .25
Base: 5.5” x 3.75” x 3.75”
1985.6.2
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Jeremy M. Merrin, A80, A16P, A17P
Image 1: Unknown (Olmec, Las Bocas)
Seated figure
16th-9th century BCE
Ceramic and pigment
1986.11.1
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Seth I. Merrin A82
Image 2: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
La Buena Fama Durmiendo (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual
Alvarez Bravo)
1938
Gelatin silver print
7 .5” x 9 .625”
1991.8.3.3
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 1: Alvarez Bravo, Manuel
Obrero en Huelga, Asesinado (from the portfolio: Fifteen Photographs by Manual
Alvarez Bravo)
1934
Gelatin silver print
7 .5 x 9 .75”
1991.8.3.9
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 and Alice Gantcher
Image 2: Bridges, Marilyn
American
Machu Picchu, Peru (from the portfolio: Marilyn Bridges/ Heightened Perspectives)
1989
Gelatin silver print
16” x 20” print
1997.42.2
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Michael B. Targoff, J98P, A08P and
Family
Image 1: Bridges, Marilyn
American
Overview Nazca, Peru (from the portfolio: Marilyn Bridges/ Heightened Perspectives)
1988
Gelatin silver print
16” x 20” print
1997.42.3
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Michael B. Targoff, J98P, A08P and
Family
Image 2: Unknown (Nazca)
Manta
3rd-7th century
Camelid Wool
65 x 37 .25 x 1 .75”
Measured in Plexiglas frame
2001.05
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Samuel Merrin A85
Image 1: Unknown (Moche)
Necklace bead in the form of a head with a rattle
1st-5th century
Gilded metal and pigment
TU1994.16
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering: Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 2: Unknown (West Mexico)
Standing figure pendant
11th-16th century BCE
Spondylus shell
TU1994.18
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 1: Unknown (Mexica)
Tripod effigy vessel in the form of a dog (Xolotl) head
1400-1521
Ceramic, pigment and trace of glaze
TU1994.21
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 2: Unknown (Maya)
Eccentric flint in the form of a sacrificial knife
5th-9th century
Stone
TU1994.22
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 1: Unknown (Mixtec)
Leopard figurine
9th-15th century
Wood
TU1994.24
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 2: Unknown (Chimu)
Ear spool
11th-14th century
Wood and feathers
TU1994.43
Property of Tufts University School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Gift of Bernard
Sperling
Image 1: Unknown (Nazca)
Feathered Tunic
3rd-7th century
Cotton and Feathers
2001.04
Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of Samuel Merrin A85