Art in Mexico

Preconquest through

20th Century

3 Major Phases

• I. Preconquest Art

• II. Colonial Art and Architecture

• III. Popular Artists in 19th and 20th Centuries

I. Preconquest

• A. Preclassic (3500 B.C. – 300 A.D.)

• B. Classic (300 A.D. – 900 A.D.)

• C. Postclassic ( 900 A.D. – 1521 A.D.)

Preclassic: Las Remojadas

• Around 1500 B.C. in Southern Mexico

• Human figures made of baked clay or mud, painted with “chapopote”

• Smiling figures, probably used for rituals and ceremonies

• Figures of women who died giving birth

Preclassic: Olmecs

• 1200 B.C. – 600 A.D. • Lived in what is now the southern

part of Mexico, near the Gulf of Mexico

• Created many sculptures such as the “Olmec Heads” , animal spirits, and small human figures

Classic: Teotihuacan

• “Ciudad de los dioses” (150-750 A.D.)

• Talud-Tablero style buildings with painted stucco

• Painted murals of gods, nature, and animal spirits

• Figures of humans, gods, and masks made from stone, jade, and obsidian

Classic: El Tajin

• 600 – 1100 A.D. in Central Veracruz

• May have been built by the Totonacs

• Talud style architecture• Grecas and nichos• Art related to “juego de pelota”

Postclassic: Quiahuiztlan

• 1100 – 1521 A.D. in Central Veracruz

• Built by the Totonacs• Small “templos”, possibly used for

sacrifices to the dead• Nichos, evidence of influence from

El Tajin

Postclassic: Zempoala

• 1200 – 1521 A.D. in Central Veracruz

• Built by the Totonacs• Unique use of river rocks instead of

cut stone• Design stamps of animals

Postclassic: Tenochtitlan

• 1325 – 1521 A.D.• Built by the Aztecs• Murals and paintings of ancient

gods such as Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Huitzilopochtli

• Animal and human figures such as eagles made of stone and obsidian