Down one floor to level 5 and my mind was about to
"esplode!" as one of my little kindergarten friends says--and not
just once, but twice. The fifth
floor is home to two of the finest collections of art in these genres that I
have ever seen. My life has been a
fortunate one. I've seen a lot of
art. But finding collections of
Pre-Columbian art outside of special exhibitions is not a common occurrence. Here in DC there is the Pre-Colombian
wing of the Dumbarton Oaks Museum.
It is a modest, but amazing collection. I have also been to the national museums of Costa Rica and
Nicaragua and they're both sources of national pride. I have never been to Mexico, and I suppose I would have to
in order to see more that I saw here at the Denver Art Museum.
It is a sign of our Euro-centricity that we know far more
about the art of ancient Greece and Rome than we do the founders of
civilization on our own side of the world. It is a fact that is crying shame. I couldn't help but think if we only were as aware of the
creativity and sophistication of art like this how we might not be a less
prejudiced society against cultures of color. You certainly can't walk away thinking that they are in
anyway inferior.
"
Supreme Being with Staffs" (San Agustín) circa
800 CE (give or take 400 years on either side!), Colombia, upper Magdalena
River Valley
"
Nude Man Peg-base Figure" circa 1250 CE (give or
take 250 years on either side!), Costa Rica, Diquís region
"
Turtle-form Double Bowl" (Guinea Incised style)
circa 300 CE (give or take 200 years on either side!), Costa Rica, Greater
Nicoya region
"
Tripod Jar in Form of Jaguar" (Pataky Polychrome
style) circa 1000 CE (give or take 200 years on either side), Nicaragua,
Greater Nicoya region
"
Dancer with Rattle" (Nopiloa style) circa 750 CE,
Veracruz, Mexico
"
Female Dancer" (Nopiloa style) circa 750 CE,
Veracruz, Mexico
"
Plate" Mayan circa 750 CE, Petén, Guatemala
"Plate with Enthroned
Ruler" Mayan circa 750 CE, central Petén, Guatemala
"
Lidded Blackware Vessel" Mayan circa 350 CE,
Mexico/Guatemala region
foreground "
Potbellied Man Rattle" Mayan circa 750
CE, Mexico, background "
Ruler with Headdress" is all I got...and
search of the online catalogue of the museum failed to turn it up. But it's the rattle that I found the
most fascinating.
"
House Model with Figures" (Nayarit, Ixtlan del
Rio style) circa 0 CE, Nayarit, Mexico
"Frieze
Fragment" (Zapotec) circa 350 CE, Oaxaca, Mexico
"Incense
Burner" (Teotihaucán) circa 550 CE, Azcapotzalco, Mexico
This was just one of dozens of this
type of artifact on display, and for everything I've shown you, there were
dozens more and then some--and the guard lamented that part of the floor was
already closed for the coming renovation.
I commented back that I didn't think I could aesthetically or
intellectually consume much more than the bounty that was still on display--not
that I wouldn't have tried!
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