1943.9, Octavio Medellín, The Hanged One, c. 1942

Octavio Medellín was brought to the United States at the age of thirteen to escape the ravages of the Mexican Civil War. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago before traveling intermittently to Mexico, where he became reacquainted with the Maya-Toltec cultures, from which he would draw inspiration and garner his artistic heritage. The Hanged One was sculpted at a time when Medellín’s work was becoming nationally recognized. Inspired by memories of his youth, the work may symbolize Mexico's effort to free itself of centuries of colonial subjugation and to find its own democratic path, a struggle that Medellín witnessed firsthand.

Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.

Medellin_Octavio: ULAN: 500333005

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

San Luis Potosí (inhabited place / Mexico): TGN: 1018225

United States (nation): TGN: 7012149

Dallas (Texas/United States): TGN: 7013503

Denton (Texas/United States): TGN: 2103762

San Antonio (Texas/United States): TGN: 7416035

black walnut (wood): AAT: 300012478

walnut (wood): AAT: 300012476

wood (plant material): AAT: 300011914

carving: AAT: 300053149

woodworking: AAT: 300054083

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

men (male humans): AAT: 300025928

male: AAT: 300189559

violence: AAT: 300192799

wars: AAT: 300055314

battles: AAT: 300185692

civil wars: AAT: 300055315

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Maya: AAT: 300017826

Toltec (Central Plateau Mesoamerican styles): AAT: 300017032

culture: AAT: 300055768

colonialism: AAT: 300400905

hangings (executions): AAT: 300386106

deaths: AAT: 300151836

dead (people): AAT: 300389809

bodies (human and animal components): AAT: 300404640

rope: AAT: 300014248

platforms (general): AAT: 300375665

trousers (pants / pantalón / pantalón rajado / main garments): AAT: 300209935

captive (prisoners of war): AAT: 300259895

allegory (artistic device): AAT: 300055866

From 1943: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Kiest Memorial Purchase Prize, Fourteenth Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition, 1943 [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.