Within its iconographic vocabulary are themes that re-emerge in later civilizations, such as Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and the Maya. Its architectural layouts, symbolic language and the foundation of a religion with a pantheon of deities establishes a pattern which, with regional styles and variations, lasted until the Spanish conquest. Investigations into this remarkable seminal civilization haveonly gradually materialized over the last 65 years. We now see that Olmec art is the most powerful, appealing and seemingly enigmatic to have appeared in the northern hemisphere . Private collection 4.
Related material is presented in black and white photographs and line drawings.
Many of these pieces are displayed publically for the first time and will prove a revalation to scholars and connoisseurs. Scholarly essays focus on varying aspects of Olmec art, religion, rulership and symbolism. Mesoamerican artists and the works which they created will be enlightening and, for some controversial. Themes of the catalogue include essays on the archaeology, symbolism, shamanism, rulership and the uses and meanings of the objects displayed. These range in time from 1200 B.C. to 500 B.C. and include materials from the Veracruz heartland, the Mexican highlands, Guerrero and regions as far away as Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica.