When
the Spanish arrived on the northern coast of what is now Peru in 1532, they
encountered a complex empire with deeply rooted artistic traditions. The Inca,
whose domain extended across much of the Andean region, utilized art and
architecture to express their power and sovereignty. Textiles were among the most valued
assets of Inca society and were (and still are) a primary expressive medium in
the region. Building on thousands of years of Andean artistic mastery, weavers
crafted exquisite tapestry-woven garments contributing to an Inca aesthetic.
Tapestries made after the Spanish arrival drew from these native Andean
traditions as well as a variety of new influences, incorporating European
concepts and materials in unique ways.
This talk will present some examples of these hybrid works of Colonial
production, highlighting the evolution of the tradition, from the early 16th
through the end of the 18th centuries.
Elena Phipps is Senior Museum Conservator, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she has worked since 1977. Between 1989-1995, her responsibilities at the Museum included the design and development of the Antonio Ratti Textile Center. She has her PhD in Pre-Columbian art from the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University (1989). Her interests focus on the history of textile materials and techniques in relation to cultural perspectives and has published on various aspects of Andean textiles, including Color in the Andes: Inca garments and 17th Century Colonial Documents a Colonial Synthesis of European and Andean Textile. Traditions in Textile Society of AmericaSymposium 2000. In conjunction with her research on Colonial Andean textiles, she has been a Museum Guest Scholar, Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities and received a National Endowment for the Humanities, Fellowship for Independent Scholars. In 2004 she was co-curator of an exhibition and co-author of the catalogue The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork 1430-1830, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.