Elizabeth Anne
VanderPutten - Four Museums of NM
Elizabeth Anne
VanderPutten - Four Museums of NMSanta Fe is a
city of art galleries and museums, and we spent
a good deal of Tuesday and Wednesday visiting the four Museums of New Mexico that are in Santa Fe*. They are the Palace of the
Governors, Museum of Fine
Arts,
Museum
of Indian Arts and Crafts, and the Museum of International Folk Art.** The Girard Exhibit at the MONM-MIFA was a delight
and my favorite. |
Museum
of New Mexico The Palace was built in 1610. After centuries as the seat of government under four flags, El Palacio, as it's often called, in 1913 became the main building of the Museum of New Mexico. Like the Santa Fe Plaza, the Palace is a National Historic Landmark.. Permanent collections include Tableware of the Southwest, Weapons: Spanish Colonial to 20th Century, Textiles: Victorian to 20th Century, Furniture of the Southwest, Fray Angelico Chavez Archives and Photo Archives, and Civil War in New Mexico . For me, the photo history in the Fray Angelico Chavez Archives and Photo Archives was most interesting. The
red, white and blue signs say |
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 September 14, 1999 |
Museum
of New Mexico Just off the Plaza in Santa Fe is the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) which was created in 1917 to preserve and promote the art and artists of the Southwest. The MFA houses a collection of paintings, photography, sculpture, and works on paper which relate primarily to the American Southwest of the 20th century. Collections include 20th Century Photographs, Georgia O'Keeffe Collection, Cinco Pintores, Museum Furniture Collection, Contemporary Artists - New Mexico & Regional, and Taos Masters Collection. Of the four state and three private museums I visited, I found the MFA to be the least impressive. In fact, the next day I could remember only one work here, and that was a painting called something like "The Last Taco," which is a kind of cross between Dali's Last Supper and the one of the four dogs playing cards. |
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Museum
of New Mexico We were fortunate in having an awfully knowledgeable docent not only give us an introduction to the museum but actually give us a private tour of part of it. The Museum
of Indian Arts and Crafts focuses on the Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo
peoples of the Southwest, with demonstrations and
workshops by artisans. Several smaller rooms open off a
central atrium. Of particular interest is "The Rio
Grande World," which explains the story of
civilization along the great river. Displays include
clothing from as early as AD 550, Anasazi cookware, and
detailed diagrams and dioramas of the people and pueblos.
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 September 15, 1999 |
Museum
of New Mexico The Girard Exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art was one of the unexpected joys of my visit to New Mexico. It is a wonderland for children of all ages. I'm standing beside one of 100s of displays of dolls and miniature figures in the Girard Collection. This collection contains 106,000 objects from more than a hundred countries. The Hispanic Heritage Wing houses the nation's most important collection of Spanish Colonial and Latino folk art. |
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Museum
of New Mexico The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) was established in 1953 as a unit of the Museum of New Mexico. has collections from six continents and more than 100 nations. Displays include elaborate dioramas of 19th-century Europe, Chinese prints, Indian mandalas, toys from early 20th-century Germany, New Mexican quilts, Mexican masks, South American and African puppets, amulets, figurines, and ceremonial clothing. |
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Elizabeth Anne VanderPutten
