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Blanton Publishes Digital Catalog on CPPC Gift of Venezuelan Colonial Art
We are pleased to share the publication of Wooden Tales: Celebrating the Gift of Venezuelan Colonial Art from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, published by the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin. The book celebrates the longstanding relationship between the CPPC and the Blanton and advances new research on the museum’s holdings of Venezuelan art from the colonial period.
In 2016, the CPPC donated 85 works of Venezuelan colonial art to the Blanton, contributing to the foundation of the museum’s collection in this area and complementing its significant holdings of modern and contemporary Latin American art. The gift includes paintings, furniture, and other objects that offer insight into religious and domestic life in Venezuela during the colonial period.
Edited by Rosario I. Granados, Wooden Tales takes wood as a point of departure for studying the collection, bringing together devotional paintings on cedar panels, furniture crafted from woods including mahogany and gateado, and their period frames. The publication places these objects within their artistic, social, and material contexts, while examining relationships between painters and cabinetmakers and the movement of materials, techniques, and ideas across regions. The catalog includes a foreword by Blanton Director Simone J. Wicha and essays by art historians Janeth Rodríguez Nóbrega and Rosario I. Granados, as well as a scientific study by Alejandra Quintanar Isaías, Ana Teresa Jaramillo Pérez, and Dulce Selene Nolasco Ramírez. Their research includes technical analysis of works from the gift and new findings about the use and properties of Cedrela odorata, or Spanish cedar, a material frequently employed by Venezuelan artists and craftspeople. A complete checklist of the gift is also included in the book.
The publication reflects a shared commitment between the CPPC and the Blanton to ensure that works of Latin American art continue to generate research, teaching, and new opportunities for interpretation. As the collection enters a new institutional context, Wooden Tales builds on decades of study of Venezuelan colonial art while opening further avenues for scholarship and engagement.
Read and download the publication here.
In 2016, the CPPC donated 85 works of Venezuelan colonial art to the Blanton, contributing to the foundation of the museum’s collection in this area and complementing its significant holdings of modern and contemporary Latin American art. The gift includes paintings, furniture, and other objects that offer insight into religious and domestic life in Venezuela during the colonial period.
Edited by Rosario I. Granados, Wooden Tales takes wood as a point of departure for studying the collection, bringing together devotional paintings on cedar panels, furniture crafted from woods including mahogany and gateado, and their period frames. The publication places these objects within their artistic, social, and material contexts, while examining relationships between painters and cabinetmakers and the movement of materials, techniques, and ideas across regions. The catalog includes a foreword by Blanton Director Simone J. Wicha and essays by art historians Janeth Rodríguez Nóbrega and Rosario I. Granados, as well as a scientific study by Alejandra Quintanar Isaías, Ana Teresa Jaramillo Pérez, and Dulce Selene Nolasco Ramírez. Their research includes technical analysis of works from the gift and new findings about the use and properties of Cedrela odorata, or Spanish cedar, a material frequently employed by Venezuelan artists and craftspeople. A complete checklist of the gift is also included in the book.
The publication reflects a shared commitment between the CPPC and the Blanton to ensure that works of Latin American art continue to generate research, teaching, and new opportunities for interpretation. As the collection enters a new institutional context, Wooden Tales builds on decades of study of Venezuelan colonial art while opening further avenues for scholarship and engagement.
Read and download the publication here.
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