Diego Rivera (1886–1957) was by all measures one of the most important Mexican artists of the 20th century. His large-scale murals in cities like San Francisco, Mexico City, New York and Detroit transformed the style of public art across the U.S. and Mexico and brought transformational ideas from artists of the Parisian avant-garde to the Americas.
At the start of the 1930s, while Rivera was working in San Francisco, he started a project that was unlike much of his previous work. Long fascinated by ancient indigenous cultures of Mexico and Mesoamerica, Rivera was approached by the American writer and art critic John Weatherwax about doing a series of illustrations for an English translation of the Maya creation myth, the “Popol Vuh.”
Although Weatherwax’s translation was never published, Rivera completed a series of watercolors and gouache paintings to illustrate the text. Largely unknown to art historians and the public, three of the watercolors are part of the Library’s Jay I. Kislak Collection.
Because of their rarity and cultural uniqueness, a team of us – two curators and two scientists – recently decided to draw on advanced imaging and analysis tools available at the Library to gain a better understanding of the watercolors, both for art historical purposes and to inform the Library’s conservation of the paintings. Our work has uncovered intriguing details about Rivera’s technique and materials.
Before I explain, let me tell you a little more about the “Popol Vuh.” One of the great ancient creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, it narrates in poetic language the origins and history of the K’iche Maya from their beginnings in mythological time to around 1550.
Having its literary origins deep in the highlands of Guatemala, the “Popol Vuh” is thought to have been first transmitted orally, and perhaps later written down using Maya hieroglyphs, before being transcribed phonetically into the K’iche language by the Dominican priest Francisco Ximenez in the early 18th century. It is from Ximenez’ single surviving manuscript that all modern versions descend.
Rivera’s “Popol Vuh” paintings are smaller, less political and much more intimate than his large-scale public murals and show a stylistic sensibility that stems from Rivera’s studies and collecting of pre-Columbian art – the three watercolors appear to derive at least some of their general layout, color palette and themes from early Mesoamerican books or codices. Two of the Library’s paintings come from the early part of the book, called the “Creation” and “Trials of the Hero Twins”; the third depicts a later scene of human sacrifice before the fire god, Tohil.
To analyze works of art like the Rivera paintings, it is usually best to employ nondestructive methods. With that in mind, we selected three different techniques to examine Rivera’s underdrawings and the paints and pigments he used.
The first, hyperspectral imaging, involves digitally photographing an object at multiple wavelengths spanning the ultraviolet through the visible and into the near-infrared. Discrete components in an object – inks, glues, parchment – respond in unique ways to the different wavelengths.
Following imaging, we use software programs to analyze the mounds of data generated, which makes it possible to emphasize certain components in a painting while diminishing others. To help us perceive and interpret the findings, we apply unique colors to components that respond to light in the same way. The computer-derived colors we use do not represent anything in themselves – they simply show common areas of response to the various wavelengths used in hyperspectral imaging. ... [mehr] https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/09/hispanic-heritage-month-new-tools-uncover-surprises-in-diego-rivera-paintings/
At the start of the 1930s, while Rivera was working in San Francisco, he started a project that was unlike much of his previous work. Long fascinated by ancient indigenous cultures of Mexico and Mesoamerica, Rivera was approached by the American writer and art critic John Weatherwax about doing a series of illustrations for an English translation of the Maya creation myth, the “Popol Vuh.”
Although Weatherwax’s translation was never published, Rivera completed a series of watercolors and gouache paintings to illustrate the text. Largely unknown to art historians and the public, three of the watercolors are part of the Library’s Jay I. Kislak Collection.
Because of their rarity and cultural uniqueness, a team of us – two curators and two scientists – recently decided to draw on advanced imaging and analysis tools available at the Library to gain a better understanding of the watercolors, both for art historical purposes and to inform the Library’s conservation of the paintings. Our work has uncovered intriguing details about Rivera’s technique and materials.
Before I explain, let me tell you a little more about the “Popol Vuh.” One of the great ancient creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, it narrates in poetic language the origins and history of the K’iche Maya from their beginnings in mythological time to around 1550.
Having its literary origins deep in the highlands of Guatemala, the “Popol Vuh” is thought to have been first transmitted orally, and perhaps later written down using Maya hieroglyphs, before being transcribed phonetically into the K’iche language by the Dominican priest Francisco Ximenez in the early 18th century. It is from Ximenez’ single surviving manuscript that all modern versions descend.
Rivera’s “Popol Vuh” paintings are smaller, less political and much more intimate than his large-scale public murals and show a stylistic sensibility that stems from Rivera’s studies and collecting of pre-Columbian art – the three watercolors appear to derive at least some of their general layout, color palette and themes from early Mesoamerican books or codices. Two of the Library’s paintings come from the early part of the book, called the “Creation” and “Trials of the Hero Twins”; the third depicts a later scene of human sacrifice before the fire god, Tohil.
To analyze works of art like the Rivera paintings, it is usually best to employ nondestructive methods. With that in mind, we selected three different techniques to examine Rivera’s underdrawings and the paints and pigments he used.
The first, hyperspectral imaging, involves digitally photographing an object at multiple wavelengths spanning the ultraviolet through the visible and into the near-infrared. Discrete components in an object – inks, glues, parchment – respond in unique ways to the different wavelengths.
Following imaging, we use software programs to analyze the mounds of data generated, which makes it possible to emphasize certain components in a painting while diminishing others. To help us perceive and interpret the findings, we apply unique colors to components that respond to light in the same way. The computer-derived colors we use do not represent anything in themselves – they simply show common areas of response to the various wavelengths used in hyperspectral imaging. ... [mehr] https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/09/hispanic-heritage-month-new-tools-uncover-surprises-in-diego-rivera-paintings/
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