A new exhibition featuring a unique selection of photographs, lithographs and books about two contiguous periods in Mexican history opens today at the Herzstein gallery on the 2nd floor of Zimmerman Library. The exhibition, “The President, the Prince and the People” features a unique selection of photographs, lithographs and books from the Reform era, 1855-1861 and the French Intervention, 1861-1867.
Images featuring Mexican President Benito Juárez, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Belgium are featured along with published materials from this tumultuous era in the history of Mexico. The images, books and pamphlets are all drawn from the collections in the Center for Southwest Research.
The lithographic reproductions represent the work of various artists from the “Taller Gráfica Popular” or the TGP and are part of the “Año de Juárez” collection of images commemorating the centennial anniversary of President Juarez’s death. The photographs consist of several small albumen prints of Maximilian, Charlotte and members of their court.
Visitors to the exhibit will also see images depicting Mexican vendors; a delegation of Kickapoo indigenous members and a well-known photograph of the Cerro de Las Campanas in Querétaro, the site of Maximilian’s execution in 1867.
The exhibit is curated by Roland RodrÍguez, a Masters candidate in the UNM Department of Art and Art History. RodrÍguez, who specializes in the history and visual culture of Mexico’s nineteeth century, is the 2007-2008 recipient of the CHIPOTLE Fellowship, funded by the Center for Regional Studies.
The exhibit is sponsored by the University Libraries Division of Iberian and Latin American Resources and Services (DILARES) and the Center for Southwest Research (CWSR). It will run through Sept. 16, 2008. It is free and open to the public during regular library hours. For more information about the exhibit call 277-0818.