Hispanic Heritage Month: Quiriguá
National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th to October 15th) has started. I would like to kick off the month-long celebration with one of the most spectacular cultures of Mesoamerica, the Maya. A ...
Read More
< Back to Curator's Corner
Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Classic Maya, Jaina Island
Classic refers to something that, over time, has been judged to be outstanding and of the highest quality of its kind. That would certainly be a good way to describe the magnificent Maya culture in Me ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Hispanic Heritage Month: Chichén Itzá
When you think of ancient cultures that are tip-top interesting, do your minds usually wander to the civilizations of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome? My idea of tip-top are the indigen ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Rethinking Classicism: Maya
As a Westerner (and art historian my entire adult life), I have always felt extremely weary of the word “classicism.” One reason I am weary of the word is that it is used as a blanket term ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Fabulous Tikal
As winter approaches, everyone dreams of vacations again. As an art historian, I have many, many places around the world that I would dearly love to visit, but know that I probably never will. My year ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Hispanic Heritage Month: Maya Culture
For today’s Hispanic Heritage Month post, let’s look at the Maya culture. The early Pre-Classic Mayans occupied Chiapas in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala until between 400 and 50 BCE, whe ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Survey No. 2: NOT The Dark Ages
The first migration of Asiatic peoples across the land bridge to the Americas began as early, and possibly earlier than 25,000–9000 BCE. By 10,000 BCE, they had migrated as far south as Tierra d ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
One Day in 1839: Frederick Catherwood
Always the geek interested in little-discussed aspects of the history of art, I bring you the art of a true pioneer! It took three centuries for some archeologists/art historians to become interested ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Color, Color, Color: Maya Tzute
I just love cultures where art forms are considered more valuable than gold (let’s tell that to Wall Street). I find it especially interesting when what is considered valuable in non-Western Eur ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Mayan Textiles
I am always fascinated when I stop to think about indigenous cultures that have flourished culturally for many, many centuries. True, we in the West consider the ancient Greek and Roman cultures as ou ...
Read More