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Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico
Elizabeth P. Benson & Beatriz de la Fuente (eds.)
Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico is the catalog of the 1996 National Gallery of Art exhibition that gave American audiences their first comprehensive look at the Olmec—Mesoamerica's earliest great civilization, often called its “mother culture.” Edited by Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente, it accompanied a landmark show of some 120 objects, including monumental colossal basalt heads and exquisitely carved jade masks and figures, drawn from Mexican and other collections. Fourteen specialists contribute essays reflecting the latest scholarship on Olmec art, religion, cosmology, and daily life, and the volume is illustrated with 278 images, more than 150 in full color. It's both a beautiful art book and a serious introduction to a culture that flourished on the Gulf Coast of Mexico more than three thousand years ago and shaped much of what followed in Mesoamerica. For anyone drawn to ancient American art or archaeology, it remains a standard reference.
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The book
Published in 1996 by the National Gallery of Art (with Abrams), Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico was edited by Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente to accompany the Gallery's exhibition—the first comprehensive show of Olmec art. Fourteen specialists contributed essays; the volume carries 278 illustrations, 151 in color.
The subject
The Olmec flourished on the Gulf Coast of Mexico from roughly 1200 to 400 BC, producing colossal stone heads, fine jade carvings, and an iconography—were-jaguars, rulers, cosmological signs—that deeply influenced later Mesoamerican cultures. They are often called Mesoamerica's "mother culture," though scholars debate the term.
How to read it
As catalog and scholarly overview together. The plates convey the astonishing craftsmanship, while the essays lay out competing interpretations of Olmec society and belief.
For more context
Read alongside Michael Coe's writings on the Olmec and general surveys of ancient Mesoamerican art.
Sources
- Type
- Exhibition catalog
- Author / Maker
- Elizabeth P. Benson & Beatriz de la Fuente (eds.)
- Publisher
- National Gallery of Art
- Place of publication
- Washington
- Year
- 1996
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Art
- Location
- Maine