"Santos Retablos" 1936

Curator: This is Maude Valle's "Santos Retablos," a watercolor and colored pencil work created in 1936. The figures are captivating, aren’t they? Editor: Absolutely. There's a striking symmetry and stylized presentation, particularly in the three central figures. The subdued palette also evokes a certain…somberness. Curator: Valle’s artistic process involved mixing folk traditions with her academic training, and her attention to craft really comes through in these details. Think about the conditions under which art like this would have been produced in the Southwest during the 1930s. Editor: Yes, and that layering creates depth. I am drawn to the angel in the center—the geometry and the sword… there's a dynamism at play even though the image is still. Curator: She was heavily involved with the New Mexico art scene at the time and incorporated those artistic currents into depictions of locally venerated Catholic saints and religious themes, adapting retablo conventions to her own means. The way materials like simple watercolor were elevated speaks to the resourcefulness of the artists. Editor: And the crown iconography...It draws one’s eye, establishing the symbolic authority these figures embody. Curator: Precisely. The entire piece reveals the unique blending of culture, religion, and available resources in New Mexico during the period. Valle isn't just creating art; she's commenting on the lived realities of a community adapting ancient traditions in a modernizing world. Editor: Yes, its strength lies in that dialectic. We read her rendering and read, simultaneously, that which she’s representing, those devotional and historical threads. Curator: Seeing it through the lens of materials and production opens up insights into the artist’s intention and her socio-economic reality, providing a powerful example of localized artistic creation in a challenging economic period. Editor: A fruitful reading; I found that incredibly insightful.