Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Jenny Larson
Original score by Graham Reynolds

Casta is an intimate multi-lingual performance featuring music, puppetry, and dance. Casta is inspired by a series of casta paintings by Miguel Cabrera. Casta paintings were a unique form of portraiture that grew in popularity over the 18th century in Nueva España/colonial Mexico. The paintings depicted different racial mixtures arranged according to a hierarchy defined by Spanish elites. When a lowly apprentice is commissioned to paint a casta series for a wealthy patron, he tries to conform his work to a set hierarchy. The images revolt, illuminating a complex portrait of fluid Latinx identities. These performances are in conjunction with the exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America and produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater.

These performances are included with museum admission and will take place in the Rapaport atrium inside the museum. For those who do not wish to stand while viewing a performance, limited seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please check with our Visitor Services team at the front desk upon entry.

Feature Image Credit: José Joaquín Magón, De Español, y Castiza, torna á Español., Puebla, Mexico, circa 1770, oil on canvas, 35 13/16 × 45 1/4 in., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (Photo: Javier Rodríguez Barrera)

Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America addresses the social roles of textiles and their visual representations in different media produced in Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela during the 1600s and 1700s. This major exhibition brings together exquisite paintings and real garments, including loans from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Our tours can accommodate a maximum of 25 people on a first come, first serve basis. Please check-in with our Visitor Services Desk to secure your place.

Due to construction on the grounds, our visitor entrance has changed and is accessible only via Brazos Street. Check our Before You Visit page when planning your trip. The Blanton is located at the intersection of Congress Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Paid parking is available in the Brazos Garage on Brazos Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Parking is $4 (not available to UT ID holders); bring your ticket with you to the museum.

Feature Image Caption: Attributed to Pedro José Diaz, Portrait of Rosa de Salazar y Gabiño, Countess of Monteblanco and Montemar (detail), Lima, circa 1770–1780, oil on canvas, 37 x 29 3/4 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of Jeanne and Michael Klein in honor of Marilynn Thoma, 2019; (right) Miguel Cabrera, Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes (detail), Mexico City, circa 1760, oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in., Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America addresses the social roles of textiles and their visual representations in different media produced in Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela during the 1600s and 1700s. This major exhibition brings together exquisite paintings and real garments, including loans from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Our tours can accommodate a maximum of 25 people on a first come, first serve basis. Please check-in with our Visitor Services Desk to secure your place.

Due to construction on the grounds, our visitor entrance has changed and is accessible only via Brazos Street. Check our Before You Visit page when planning your trip. The Blanton is located at the intersection of Congress Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Paid parking is available in the Brazos Garage on Brazos Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Parking is $4 (not available to UT ID holders); bring your ticket with you to the museum.

Feature Image Caption: Attributed to Pedro José Diaz, Portrait of Rosa de Salazar y Gabiño, Countess of Monteblanco and Montemar (detail), Lima, circa 1770–1780, oil on canvas, 37 x 29 3/4 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of Jeanne and Michael Klein in honor of Marilynn Thoma, 2019; (right) Miguel Cabrera, Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes (detail), Mexico City, circa 1760, oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in., Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Thursday, September 8, 2022 | 5:00pm (CT) via Zoom 

Gorgeous gowns, groundbreaking research. Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin is a feast for the eyes—and the mind. Painted Cloth looks at the social roles of textiles and how they are represented in artworks across 18th-century Latin America.

For this special members-only salon, take a closer look at Painted Cloth with curator Rosario I. Granados and consider what these richly textured works can tell us about this period of history. There will be an audience Q&A, so bring your questions—curiosity welcome! 

Not a member? Join at bit.ly/BlantonMembership 

Image credit: Attributed to Pedro José Diaz, Portrait of Rosa de Salazar y Gabiño, Countess of Monteblanco and Montemar (detail), Lima, circa 1770–1780, oil on canvas, 37 x 29 3/4 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of Jeanne and Michael Klein in honor of Marilynn Thoma, 2019; (right) Miguel Cabrera, Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes (detail), Mexico City, circa 1760, oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in., Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Thursday, September 22, 2022 | 5:00pm CT Via Zoom

Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America features 300-year-old fabrics, from satins and silks to alpaca fleece. Each require expert care to make last for future generations. Two textile conservators talk about preservation techniques for historic tapestries and costumes, and how textiles better our understanding of the colonial past.

Funding provided by the College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts, and the School of Architecture.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Laura García Vedrenne
After working at the Museo Textil in Oaxaca and Mexico`s National History Museum, since 2019 she currently works at the Textile Conservation Laboratory of the de Young Museum, at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). She hasa M.Sc. in Textile Conservation from the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History (CTC-TAH) at the University of Glasgow, and B.Sc. in Restoration from the Western School of Conservation and Restoration (ECRO).

Mónica Solórzano Gonzales
Art historian and textile conservator. She holds a PhD in History from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She currently is associate professor at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Permanent, where she also works as Director of the Conservation and Restoration Program.

Image Credit: Chasuble (back), New Spain (now Mexico), circa 1750, silk and metallic thread embroidered on silk satin, center back length 82 6/10 × 27 1/2 in., Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City (photo: Francisco Kochen)

Thursday, October 6, 2022 | 6:00 p.m. (CT)
VIRTUAL MEMBER EVENT
Not a member? Join at bit.ly/BlantonMembership

Major exhibitions are several years in the making: Curators research and write. Registrars secure loans and shipment. And a team of designers brings it all together with color palettes, fonts, and custom displays. 

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the design of Painted Cloth with the Blanton’s Head of Exhibition and Installation Design Matthew Langland and Graphic Designer Jennifer Lioy. They’ll answer all your burning questions about typography, paint choices, and installing delicate fabrics and garments—and reveal how they create a meaningful and accessible experience for all Blanton visitors. 

Thursday, October 13, 2022 | 6:00pm (CT) via Zoom 

Book lovers unite at the Member Book Club—pairing literature with the latest exhibitions! With special guest, Rosario I. Granados, the Blanton’s Marilynn Thoma Associate Curator, Art of the Spanish Americas.

This fall, we’re reading Isabel Allende’s sweeping historical novel Inés of My Soul in connection with the vibrant exhibition Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America, on view through January 8, 2023.  A fictionalized account of a real-life figure, Inés of My Soul provides a glimpse into life in the early Spanish Americas and, like the exhibition, offers abundant material for discussion.  

Email member@blantonmuseum.org to learn how to join this virtual discussion!

Not a member? Join at bit.ly/BlantonMembership 

Image credit: Sobre los telares de seda que hay en esta capital, pages 54–55, Mexico City, 1783, paper, silk weaving, textile samples sewn onto pages, 12 × 8 11/12 x 11/12 in., Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund

Organized in tandem with Painted Cloth, this symposium will bring together scholars from Colombia, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S. to further explore the social role of textile arts in colonial Latin America. The keynote will be delivered by Dr. Elena Phipps and speakers include historians Tamara J. Walker and Meha Priyadarshini and fashion historian James Middleton. The round table discussion will feature art historians Laura Beltrán-Rubio, Martha Sandoval, and Leslie Todd.

Check back for soon for schedule and speaker topics. Please note the time for this event is not yet finalized.