Review 'Painted in Mexico': LACMA's remarkable and important new show

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Christopher Knight, Art Critic

Nicolás Enríquez (attrib.), "Virgin of Sorrows," circa 1750 LACMA

LOS ANGELES---To get an idea of just how bold and ambitious painters were in 18th century Mexico, an era of unprecedented splendor in the colony of New Spain, look no further than the very first painting at the entrance to a smashing new exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Juan Rodríguez Juárez and his brother, Nicolás, were leading artists in Mexico City early in the century. It was one of four commissions for the chapel altar of an important Jesuit residence. The LACMA exhibition, “Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790: Pinxit Mexici,” is filled with eye-popping pictorial moments like this. [More]