Religious Diversity in New Mexico's Art

For centuries, New Mexico has been home to a distinctive tradition of painting Catholic saints in simple portraits, rather than adhering to the elaborate styles of European art. Some critics have said the paintings resulted from untrained Spanish artists doing the best they could. But the curator, Robin Gavin of the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe never accepted that argument. Instead, Gavin believes artists chose to adopt artistic traditions of Native Americans instead of the baroque styles brought to early New Mexico from the outside world. New Mexico today is known for its santos, or carved statues of saints, and retablos, two-dimensional paintings of saints on wooden boards. The exhibit, "Converging Streams: Art of the Hispanic and Native American Southwest," runs through September.