GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The title of this drawing comes from Hesiod’s Theogony, a poem detailing the origins, genealogies, and descendants of the Greek gods, composed around 700 BCE. Compositionally, the work is reminiscent of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, the central panel of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the scene in which God’s touch animates the lifeless Adam. In both literary and art historical associations, this drawing evokes creation and beginnings; however, unlike Michelangelo's Old Testament spark exchanged from deity to man, here Guillermo Meza decisively severs the connection between god and human—the ominous mass floating above and the crouched figure buried in the earth.
A student of engraving and drawing, Meza was deeply connected to the fantasies, myths, and religious facets of indigenous Mexican cultures. Much like his contemporaries, Meza’s style was rooted in European art movements, having first worked in an Expressionist manner and eventually becoming consumed by Surrealism.
Excerpt from
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
NOTES
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, 2017.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Meza_Guillermo: ULAN: 500062895
Cultures
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227
Process/materials
pens (drawing and writing): AAT: 300022452
ink: AAT: 300015012
paper (fiber product): AAT: 300014109
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
works on paper: AAT: 300189621
drawing (visual works): AAT: 300033973
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
abstract: AAT: 300108127
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
Hesiod Painter (vase painter / poet): ULAN: 500111139
poetry: AAT: 300055931
creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002
genealogies (histories): AAT: 300027015
Greek_Ancient (culture or style): AAT: 300020072
god (deity): AAT: 300343851
deities: AAT: 300343850
descendants: AAT: 300266305
composition (artistic arrangement): AAT: 300056255
Michelangelo Buonarroti: ULAN: 500010654
scenes (depictions): AAT: 300264666
life (biological concepts): AAT: 300055134
literature (humanities): AAT: 300054273
art history (arts-related disciplines): AAT: 300054233
drawing (image making): AAT: 300054196
Old Testament (culture or period): AAT: 300262581
Christianity: AAT: 300073711
male: AAT: 300189559
men (male humans): AAT: 300025928
humans (homo sapiens species): AAT: 300265711
human (culture): AAT: 300393250
flotation (floating / science concepts): AAT: 300379956
crouching (squatting): DMA
earth (features): AAT: 300404893
students: AAT: 300025909
engraving (printing process): AAT: 300053225
fantasies (visual works): AAT: 300380288
fantasy (imagination): AAT: 300068545
myth: AAT: 300201023
mythology (literary genre): AAT: 300055985
mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725
religious symbolism: AAT: 300055874
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
population (demographics): AAT: 300055417
culture: AAT: 300055768
modernist (European style): AAT: 300021474
expressionist (style): AAT: 300021502
Surrealist (style or movement): AAT: 300021512
form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
spheres (geometric figures): AAT: 300055639
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1959: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Mrs. Edwin B. Hopkins Fund [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.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1959.12
Category
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General Description
The title of this drawing comes from Hesiod’s Theogony, a poem detailing the origins, genealogies, and descendants of the Greek gods, composed around 700 BCE. Compositionally, the work is reminiscent of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, the central panel of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the scene in which God’s touch animates the lifeless Adam. In both literary and art historical associations, this drawing evokes creation and beginnings; however, unlike Michelangelo's Old Testament spark exchanged from deity to man, here Guillermo Meza decisively severs the connection between god and human—the ominous mass floating above and the crouched figure buried in the earth.
A student of engraving and drawing, Meza was deeply connected to the fantasies, myths, and religious facets of indigenous Mexican cultures. Much like his contemporaries, Meza’s style was rooted in European art movements, having first worked in an Expressionist manner and eventually becoming consumed by Surrealism.
Excerpt from
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, 2017.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Meza_Guillermo: ULAN: 500062895
Cultures
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227
Process/materials
pens (drawing and writing): AAT: 300022452
ink: AAT: 300015012
paper (fiber product): AAT: 300014109
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
works on paper: AAT: 300189621
drawing (visual works): AAT: 300033973
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
abstract: AAT: 300108127
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
Hesiod Painter (vase painter / poet): ULAN: 500111139
poetry: AAT: 300055931
creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002
genealogies (histories): AAT: 300027015
Greek_Ancient (culture or style): AAT: 300020072
god (deity): AAT: 300343851
deities: AAT: 300343850
descendants: AAT: 300266305
composition (artistic arrangement): AAT: 300056255
Michelangelo Buonarroti: ULAN: 500010654
scenes (depictions): AAT: 300264666
life (biological concepts): AAT: 300055134
literature (humanities): AAT: 300054273
art history (arts-related disciplines): AAT: 300054233
drawing (image making): AAT: 300054196
Old Testament (culture or period): AAT: 300262581
Christianity: AAT: 300073711
male: AAT: 300189559
men (male humans): AAT: 300025928
humans (homo sapiens species): AAT: 300265711
human (culture): AAT: 300393250
flotation (floating / science concepts): AAT: 300379956
crouching (squatting): DMA
earth (features): AAT: 300404893
students: AAT: 300025909
engraving (printing process): AAT: 300053225
fantasies (visual works): AAT: 300380288
fantasy (imagination): AAT: 300068545
myth: AAT: 300201023
mythology (literary genre): AAT: 300055985
mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725
religious symbolism: AAT: 300055874
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
population (demographics): AAT: 300055417
culture: AAT: 300055768
modernist (European style): AAT: 300021474
expressionist (style): AAT: 300021502
Surrealist (style or movement): AAT: 300021512
form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
spheres (geometric figures): AAT: 300055639
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1959: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Mrs. Edwin B. Hopkins Fund [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.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1959.12
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object_notes_3_c-0154.xml.nores