We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art at LACMA

 

Human Head with Canine Muzzle
Mexico, Veracruz, Veracruz, 600–900 CE
Ceramic, pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.142)
© LACMA

 
 

We Live in Painting

The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art

September 15, 2024 — September 1, 2025

 

Mesoamerican artists held a cosmic responsibility: as they adorned the surfaces of buildings, clay vessels, textiles, bark-paper pages, and sculptures with color, they (quite literally) made the world. The power of color emerged from the materiality of its pigments, the skilled hands that crafted it, and the communities whose knowledge imbued it with meaning. Color mapped the very order of the cosmos, of time and space. By engineering and deploying color, artists wielded the power of cosmic creation in their hands. We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art explores the science, art, and cosmology of color in Mesoamerica. Histories of colonialism and industrialization in the “color-averse” West have minimized the deep significance of color in the Indigenous Americas. This exhibition follows two interconnected lines of inquiry—technical and material analyses, and Indigenous conceptions of art and image—to reach the full richness of color at the core of Mesoamerican worldviews.

 
 
 
 

Exhibition Preview

 

Tripod Vessel
Mexico, Colima, Colima, 200 BCE–500 CE
Burnished ceramic with slip
Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (M.83.217.25)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Hero Twins and Lords of Death
Maya, 600–900 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.409)
© LACMA

Bowl with Maize God and Chahk in Watery Locale
Guatemala, Petén, Maya, 250–550 CE
Slip-painted ceramic with post-fire pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.740)
© LACMA

Papery Jewel (huunal uuh)
Guatemala, Northern Petén, Río Azul (?), Maya, 450–750 CE
Jadeite
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.245)
© LACMA

Vessel with Depiction of Scribes
Guatemala or Mexico, Northern Peten or Southern Campeche, Maya, 650–800 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.9)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Supernatural Musicians
Northern Guatemala or Southeastern Mexico, Maya, 500–700 CE
Slip-painted ceramic with post-fire stucco and pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.21)
© LACMA

Dog
Mexico, Colima, Colima, 200 BCE–500 CE
Slip-painted ceramic with incised decoration
The Proctor Stafford Collection, purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch (M.86.296.152)
© LACMA

Vessel Depicting Dueling Captives
Guatemala, Northern Petén, Maya, 600–900 CE
Travertine with incised decoration and postfire applied pigment
Anonymous gift (M.2010.115.875)
© LACMA

Vessel with Snake-Lady Scene
Maya, 650–800 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Anonymous gift (M.2010.115.3)
© LACMA

Bowl with Supernatural Serpent
Guatemala or Mexico, Maya, 600–900 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.707)
© LACMA

Plaque with Rain or Maize Deity
Mexico, Guerrero, Tabasco, or Veracruz, Olmec, 900–400 BCE
Serpentine
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.336)
© LACMA

Standing Female Figure
Mexico, Guanajuato, Acámbaro Valley, Chupícuaro, Chupícuaro, 200 BCE–100 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (AC1996.146.36)
© LACMA

Seated Female Figure
Mexico, Nayarit, Nayarit, 200 BCE–500 CE
Burnished ceramic with slip and paint
The Proctor Stafford Collection, purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch (M.86.296.4)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Scenes of Warfare and Offerings
Maya, 546–629 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.871)
© LACMA

Figurine Whistle Portraying a Couple
Maya, 600–900 CE
Ceramic with post-fire pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.571)
© LACMA

Dynastic Vase
Mexico or Guatemala, Southern Campeche or Northern Petén region, Mirador Basin, Maya, 650–800 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Anonymous gift (M.2010.115.1)
© LACMA

Seated Male (Brazier)
Mexico, Veracruz, possibly Mixtequilla region, 600–900 CE
Ceramic with chapapote (pitch)
Anonymous gift (M.2010.115.20)
© LACMA

Bottle with Stylized Jaguar Paw
Mexico, Valley of Mexico, Olmec, 1200–800 BCE
Ceramic
Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (AC1993.217.3)
© LACMA

Female Figure
Mexico, Veracruz, El Faisán, Veracruz, 450–600 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (M.86.311.45)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Cormorants and Fish
Guatemala, Northern Petén, Maya, 700–850 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.653)
© LACMA

Carved Sphere
Guatemala or Mexico, Maya, 200–450 CE
Limestone
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.247)
© LACMA

Squared Vessel, "Vase of the Eleven Gods"
Maya, 755–780 CE
Slip-painted ceramic with post-fire stucco
Anonymous gift (M.2010.115.14)
© LACMA

Human Head with Canine Muzzle
Mexico, Veracruz, Veracruz, 600–900 CE
Ceramic, pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.142)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Palace Scene
Mexico, Campeche or Quintana Roo, Maya, 800–950 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.685)
© LACMA

Cylinder Vessel with Palace Scene
Guatemala, Petén, Dos Pilas or vicinity, lk style, Maya, 740–800 CE
Slip-painted ceramic with post-fire pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.12)
© LACMA

Lidded Tripod Cylinder Vessel with Head of Cacao Deity
Guatemala, Northern Peten, Naranjo or vicinity, Maya, early 5th century
Slip-painted ceramic with post-fire stucco and pigment
Purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost (M.2010.115.22a-b)
© LACMA

Masked Male Figure with Dance Staff
Mexico, Campeche, Jaina Island, Maya, 700–900 CE
Ceramic with post-fire applied pigment
Gift of John Gilbert Bourne (M.76.157a-d)
© LACMA

Drinking Vessel Depicting Otherworldly Toad, Jaguar, and Serpent
Mexico, Southern Campeche, Maya, 650–800 CE
Slip-painted ceramic
Gift of the 2006 Collectors Committee (M.2006.41)
© LACMA