'MASTERWORKS OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART' Exhibition to Open 9/5 at Phoenix Art Museum

Masterworks of Spanish Colonial Art from Phoenix Art Museum's Collection will be at Phoenix Art Museum from September 5, 2015 to February 28, 2016. For information on Phoenix Art Museum's hours and admission pricing, click here.

This landmark exhibition features a selection of remarkable paintings as well as a grouping of retablos (small-scale paintings on copper or tin) recently acquired by Phoenix Art Museum from the Estate of Gerry S. Culpepper and the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation. With the exception of one exquisite 18th-century Mexican painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe-on display here for the first time-these paintings were all created in the 18th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru, a territory that encompassed present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, among other modern South American nations. The exhibited retablos, on the other hand, were primarily produced in Mexico in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the Last Judgment, saints, and archangels conquering Satan are among the most prominent subjects of the works on display. Some of these paintings are very large and would have originally functioned as components of church altarpieces. Others are smaller in scale, but no less commanding, and would likely have served as devotional aids for prayer in chapels, private home shrines, monasteries or convents.

This exhibition affords the community the opportunity to view masterworks of Spanish Colonial art that have never before been exhibited. These works showcase the inventiveness, originality and skill of artists working in the Spanish viceroyalties during the 18th century. In addition, they illustrate these artists' diverse approaches to religious imagery and its multifaceted meanings in the colonial world.

A generous gift of funds from Shawn and Joe Lampe enabled the Museum to undertake the cleaning and restoration of these donated paintings. Thanks to the generosity of leading members of the Phoenix community Milena and Tony Astorga, Pari and Peter Banko, Lee and Mike Cohn, Mary and Harold Dorenbecher, Susan and Carter Emerson, Janis and Dennis Lyon, and Gail and Steve Rineberg, we were then able to frame these restored works of art.

This exhibition will be accompanied by a free, public symposium on Spanish Colonial art developed in collaboration with scholars from the Herberger School for Art and Design, Arizona State University.

• Painting in the New World: A Symposium of Spanish Colonial Art - 6 to 8 p.m., September 30, 2015

Phoenix Art Museum has provided access to visual arts and educational programs in Arizona for more than 50 years and is the largest art museum in the Southwestern United States. Top national and international exhibitions are shown alongside the museum's collection of more than 18,000 objects of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, photography and fashion design. The museum hosts photography exhibitions through its landmark partnership with The University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. Visitors can also enjoy the PhxArtKids gallery, the Dorrance Sculpture Garden, the Thorne Miniature Rooms of historic interiors, and a collection of works by renowned Arizona artist Philip C. Curtis. For additional information about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org or call 602-257-1880.