Overview

This is a reprint of a 1938 WPA project that produced fifty hand-coloured prints of existing Spanish Colonial pieces. There are prints of santos, altar screens, straw-work, tin-work, colcha, furniture, and decorative motifs. The portfolio has not been seen by many because after the project was completed it was recalled by the Federal Works Project as being too primitive. They just didn't understand the process or the significance of the pieces. The accompanying booklet authored by E. Boyd has also been reprinted. The reprint is dedicated to Eliseo Rodriguez of Santa Fe, the lone remaining artist of the project. This is a long forgotten, but important, piece of New Mexico's history. Boyd is credited with the text and the renderings for this portfolio, which was her first major work in the field of the Spanish Colonial arts. She continued her work for almost forty years, first at the Los Angeles County Museum and eventually at the Museum of New Mexico where she served as curator of the Spanish colonial art department for nearly twenty-five years.

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9781890689216

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This book-within-a-book offers a unique look at New Mexico arts. Very few copies of the original linen-cased edition were printed; even fewer survived. Awalt and Rhetts tell the fascinating tale of chasing down enough copies of the original portfolio using the Internet to faithfully reproduce this facsimile edition. For art lovers, historians, bibliophiles and lovers of local color, these beautifully reproduced color and black and white plates printed on high quality stock ensure the survival of this valuable edition for many years to come.

An intriguing piece of New Mexico's history has been reclaimed with the publication of The Portfolio of Spanish Colonial Design in New Mexico. The book is a charming time capsule of an era that has a profound influence on Southwestern culture and art today. This book-within-a-book offers a unique look at New Mexico arts. Very few copies of the original linen-cased edition were printed; even fewer survived. Awalt and Rhetts tell the fascinating tale of chasing down enough copies of the original portfolio using the Internet to faithfully reproduce this facsimile edition. For art lovers, historians, bibliophiles and lovers of local color, these beautifully reproduced color and black and white plates printed on high quality stock ensure the survival of this valuable edition for many years to come.

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