Historical Representation of Culture
Artist: Juan O'Gorman
Architects: Juan O’Gorman, Gustavo Saavedra, and Juan Martinez
Date: 1949-1956
Location: Central Library of National Autonomous University of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico
Juan O’Gorman’s A Historical Representation of Culture is a four-part stone mosaic spanning the large walls of the Central Library at the Universidad Nacional Autónima de Mexico. Divided into three periods, O’Gorman aims to represent Mexican identity not only through the mural’s subject of a nationalized history but also through the building’s architectural and material form.
O’Gorman organized his mural into three parts: the pre-Hispanic past, the colonial period, and the modern day. Each wall is filled with rich imagery and is meant to be read in three vertical registers, starting from the top. The North wall depicts the pre-Columbian past. The viewer starts in the top center with the Aztec sun. Below, O’Gorman has included symbols from the Aztec ritual calendar. The iconic Mexican eagle atop a nopal cactus is depicted in the center, referencing the myth of the founding of Tenochtitlan, which was built in the middle of Lake Texcoco through the use of chinampas and canals. O’Gorman further alludes to the famous Aztec city by depicting the city’s canals throughout the composition. The left and right columns parallel one another and represent complementary parts. At the top left, the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc contrast against Tezcatlipoca and Chalchihuitlicue, who are on the right. Flanking the Mexican eagle are allegorical figures representing time. The single enthroned figure to the left is Tlazoltéotl, the goddess of birth and agriculture. O’Gorman also uses her as a representation of stability and time, invoked by her positive association with agriculture and new life. Her location on the left side is also notable, as it is the side associated with the sun. The figure on the right is Tlahuizoalpantecuhtli, who is shown in her dual forms of life and death. Here, O’Gorman used the struggle of life and death to represent the complementary relationship between the past and future.
The South wall depicts the colonial past and the evangelization and oppression of Mexico’s Indigenous peoples by the Spaniards. Like the North wall, the viewer is meant to start at the top of the central column. Here, a Bible takes up the foreground, overshadowing Indigenous figures who are depicted as slightly in the foreground. The narrative then moves down, referencing the Spanish Empire with the double-headed Hapsburg Eagle. At the base of the center column is a Catholic cathedral overlaying a pre-Columbian pyramid, from which emerge Christ’s outstretched hands.
The East and West walls, while separate, are said to both reflect the Mexico of 1949. The East wall shows a modern Mexico created through science and revolution. In the center, O’Gorman has depicted the last Mexica-Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc, reborn and represented as an atom. The left and right sides of the East wall represent the proletariat and agrarian classes, respectively. The West wall also represents modern Mexico but through the lens of the university. Crediting the university’s culture as both European and Indigenous, the left side of the wall depicts the university’s Indigenous origins while the right side registers European origins.
In addition to designing the mosaic mural, Juan O’Gorman was also one of the architects of the Central Library. As a result, the mosaics and library were designed together, aiding in O’Gorman’s goal of achieving plastic integration. As an ideology requiring the integration of sculpture and art into architecture, the other artists commissioned by the university incorporated three-dimensional reliefs into their works. However, O’Gorman forgoes any sculptural elements on the walls of the Central Library. Overflowing with imagery, any three-dimensional element likely would have overshadowed and overcomplicated any reading of the mosaic’s detailed forms. Other concerns, such as the preservation of the library’s light sensitive materials, also influenced his design, as most of the library is windowless. The large expanse of walls lends itself to a large tapestry-like mosaic, which would take advantage of the building’s flatness. In his effort to incorporate sculpture, O’Gorman designed a sculptural relief wall along the building's front entrance. It was constructed using a rock local to campus and was elaborated with pre-Columbian images as reliefs.
Representing modern Mexico as rooted in Mexico’s history and Indigenous culture was important to O’Gorman. By the time of this commission, he had abandoned his previous practice of functionalist architecture in favor of an ‘organic’ style. However, he was likely commissioned due to his successful older work, such as the functionalist schools he designed while he served as Head of Construction for the Department of Public Education. His original design for the Central Library was a pyramidal structure, but it was vetoed by his fellow architects. In order to add a more “Mexican character,” O’Gorman used rocks gathered from around Mexico.
His approach of grounding Mexico’s identity in its history was not accepted by all, as competing narratives and ideologies were held by other artists, such as Siqueiros, who was also commissioned by the university to create The University of the People, the People of the University. In regard to the Historical Representation of Culture, Siqueiros said that the library and its mosaic were akin to an “American tourist in Mexican kits and skirts" [1]. Siqueiros believed that Mexico’s identity lived in its present and future rather than its past. Siqueiros’ mosaic, The University of the People, the People of the University, was originally located on the route the students would take to the library. As students, faculty, and staff traversed the campus, they would be exposed to differing interpretations of Mexican culture. However, due to renovations, the path no longer exists, and the two works are isolated from each other.
[1] Carney, Annemarie Elizabeth, "The mosaics of Ciudad Universitaria : Mexican muralism at the crossroads." (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2924.
Detail of South Wall: Falling Cuahtemoc. Just below, Friar de Landa burning Maya Codices
Work: © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico CityImage: Bob Schalkwijk/UNAM
Detail of upper left North Wall: Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc
Image from National Autonomous University of Mexico
Detail of the lower right East Wall: Emiliano Zapata
Image from National Autonomous University of MexicoMentioned Works and Concepts
The People of the University, University of the People
Siqueiros saw his commission at Ciudad Universitaria as the perfect opportunity for the harmonious blending of art, sculpture, and architecture. Dubbed plastic integration, he considered this comprehensive approach to be truly Mexican. At the beginning of the project, he expressed strong enthusiasm for the commission and urged the university to include the artists in the planning of the buildings that their art would adorn. It was only through the inclusion of artists and architects that the mosaics could be truly integrated, creating works where architecture and art could exist in a true union. However, his request was denied. He would have to plan his murals, The People of the University, the University of the People, and The Right to Culture, around the existing architecture of the Rectory.
Siqueiros’ objections to O’Gorman’s mosaics become clear when looking at the difference in their approaches. Siqueiros's rectory murals focus solely on the present and future, reflecting his belief that 20th-century Mexico cannot be represented through the pre-Columbian and colonial past. The People of the University, the University of the People shows who Siqueiros believes should be the students of the university. The allegorical students represent science, industry, technology, agriculture, and culture. The study of history is notably absent. Rather, Siqueiros references disciplines he considers beneficial to the advancement of society, in particular that of the proletariat. His only reference to history is in The Right to Culture, which lists the dates 1520, 1810, 1857, and 1910. The last date is 19??, leaving the last digits intentionally blank and challenging the university’s inhabitants to create their own history. Siqueiros would later regret his use of mosaic, calling it an “archaic” medium.
The Codex Mendoza
The Codex Mendoza was an early colonial manuscript created in the 1540's. It is believed to have been commissioned by the first viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, for the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V. The Codex Mendoza records many aspects of Aztec life, such as tribute records, traditions, and customs. As a colonial document, it is written in Central Mexican pictograms accompanied by Spanish text. This page depicts Tenochtitlan, identifiable by the eagle perched upon the nopal cactus surrounding water channels. The blue border contains different years, marking the founding of Tenochtitlan and the conquest of Colhuacan and Tenayucan.
The Historical Representation of Culture depicts Tenochtitlan similarly to the depiction in the Codex Mendoza, showing O'Gorman's influence from Mexican codices. He may have even been influenced by this page of the Codex Mendoza.