Mexican Cherub, Chalma, Mexico

Original Language TitleAngelito mexicano, Chalma, State of Mexico

Artist Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, born 1942)

Date1984

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 12 3/16 × 8 5/16 inches (30.96 × 21.11 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 10 15/16 inches (35.24 × 27.78 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2011.67.41

SignedSinged on sheet recto, lower right, in black pen: "Graciela Iturbide"

Inscribednone

Markingsnone

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

Exhibition History

Treasure of Mexico in Kansas City. The Consulate of Mexico, Kansas City, MO, April 16 – July 16, 2012, no cat.

Rotation 24. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – November 12, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

This photograph depicts a young girl in Chalma, Mexico, dressed as a cherub. In Spanish Catholicism, a cherub is a winged angelic creature in service to God. Her handdrawn wings draw attention to the carefully crafted symbolism of her costume.

Graciela Iturbide was dedicated to portraying the lives of Mexico’s indigenous peoples and how their culture has been transformed by the Spanish. Here, we see the religious effects of Spanish colonization.

Provenance

Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2011;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2011.

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