62 ceramic fi gurines depicting an ancient funerary ritual. Mourners purposefully arranged the fi gurines in the tomb to tell a story, perhaps their own story, and archaeological excavation documented and preserved that story. This assemblage of twenty-three individual fi gurines is a compelling example of the critical importance of archaeological context, or provenience—the location of an object and its position relative to other objects. While each fi gurine is singularly expressive, their meaning and power are truly anchored in the story they tell when engaged together as a scene. On view from July 1, 2017, until February 4, 2018, Ancient Bodies presents fi gurines from Burial 39, one of the royal tombs excavated at El Perú-Waka’, and nearly fi fty additional fi gurines from LACMA’s collection that represent ancient cultures from across Mesoamerica. Through an archaeological perspective, this exhibition invites new ways to perceive and experience the meaning embodied by the fi gurines in LACMA’s collection. ABOVE: Installation view of Henry C. Balink: Native American Portraits at the Tucson Museum of Art. Image courtesy of the Tucson Museum of Art. ABOVE: Henry Balink (1882–1963), Chief Yellow Bird/Tat-Sa-On-Ja (Marcelino Baca), 1942. Oil on canvas. Tucson Museum of Art, gift from the Howard and Marilyn Steele Collection, inv. 2015.1.1. BELOW: Seated drummer. Nayarit, Mexico. 200 BC–AD 500. Burnished ceramic with slip. H: 14 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Proctor Stafford Collection, purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch, inv. M.86.296.5. BELOW: Henry Balink (1882–1963), Chief Herrera, Tesuque Indian, date unknown. Oil on canvas. Tucson Museum of Art, gift from the Howard and Marilyn Steele Collection, inv. 2015.1.8. Henry C. Balink TUCSON—Henry C. Balink (1882–1963) is among the foremost painters of Native American portraits of the Southwest in the twentieth century. Curated by Christine Brindza, an exhibition currently at the Tucson Museum of Art debuts the museum’s Henry C. Balink collection, recently donated by Howard and Marilyn Steele, which is considered the largest repository of Balink’s art in the world. Following in the footsteps of the Taos Society of Artists, which was established during the fi rst part of the twentieth century, Balink was enchanted by the imagery of the Southwest. After visiting Taos and Santa Fe several times, he moved there permanently in the 1920s, concentrating mostly on Native American people and culture in his paintings, drawings, and etchings. Henry C. Balink: Native American Portraits can be seen until July 9, 2017, and a Balink painting in the same collection is the subject of the Object History section of this issue. Ancient Bodies LOS ANGELES—Coming this summer to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ancient Bodies: Archaeological Perspectives on Mesoamerican Figurines will explore the central role of archaeological excavation in situating ancient art and artifacts within a cultural framework. In April 2006, archaeologists discovered a masonry tomb chamber while excavating a grand pyramid in the ancient Maya city of El Perú-Waka’ in Petén, Guatemala. The tomb, dating to AD 600–650, contained the remains of a ruler of the city and a rich array of funerary objects selected to accompany the ruler into the afterlife. Among these was an elaborate scene composed of
T84 EN Online
To see the actual publication please follow the link above