ARTstor Collection Release: Mexican Retablos

ARTstor, in collaboration with Douglas Massey, has recently added 170 images of Mexican retablos to the Digital Library. Retablos are small, colorful oil paintings made on tin and offered as votives of thanks for miracles granted and favors bestowed.

Douglas Massey photographed retablos dating from 1912 to 1996, which appeared in Miracles on the Border: Retablos of Mexican Migrants to the United States (University of Arizona Press, 1995), a book co-authored with Jorge Durand. These images represent modern expressions of the traditional Mexican folk art genre. The bright palette and vibrant style that characterizes this art form later influenced the work of Mexican artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

To view the Mexican Retablos Collection (Douglas Massey): go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Mexican Retablos Collection (Douglas Massey);" or enter the Keyword Search: massey retablos.

To view ARTstor from off campus locations you need to create an ARTstor account at http://www.artstor.org/ from any on campus computer.