Traitor, Survivor, Icon

The Legacy of La Malinche

Alfredo Arreguín, La Malinche (con Tláloc), 1993. Oil paint on canvas; 48 × 36 in. (122 × 91.4 cm). The Keller Family. © Alfredo Arreguin, imagen por cortesía de Rob Vinnedge Photo.

Antonio Ruíz, El sueño de la Malinche (Malinche’s dream), 1939. Oil paint on Masonite (engineered wood); 11 7/8 × 15 3/4 in. (30 × 40 cm). Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City. © Archivo Antonio Ruíz. Image © and courtesy Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City.

Alfredo Ramos Martínez, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca), 1940. Oil paint on canvas; 50 x 40 1/2 in. (127 x 103 cm). Phoenix Art Museum: Adquisición del museo con fondos de Friends of Mexican Art, 1979.86. ©The Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project, reproducido con autorización.

Mercedes Gertz, Guadinche, 2012. Digital image printed on polyester; 71 × 43 3/10 in. (180 × 110 cm). Courtesy of the artist. © Mercedes Gertz.

María Cristina Tavera, La Malinche Conquistada, 2015. Serigafía; 30 × 30 in. (76.2 × 76.2 cm). Cortesía de la artista. © Maria Cristina Tavera. Foto de Xavier Tavera.

Cecilia Álvarez, La Malinche Tenía Sus Razones (La Malinche had her reasons), 1995. Acrylic paint on amate paper; 34-1/2 x 27 in. Courtesy of the artist. © Cecilia Concepción Álvarez.

Delilah Montoya, La Malinche, 1993. Collotype; 21-1/2 x 17 x 1-1/4 in. The Abarca Family Collection. ©Delilah Montoya. Photography courtesy Denver Art Museum.

Unknown artist, Mexico, Spaniards on the march to Tenochtitlan, Codex Azcatitlan. 16th century. Ink on amate paper; 8 1/4 × 11 in. (21 × 27.9 cm). Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. Image courtesy BnF.

Leslie Tillett, Tapestry of the Conquest of Mexico, 1965-1977. Hand embroidered silk on cotton cloth (manta); 28 in. x 100 ft. Denver Art Museum: Partial gift of the Tillett family; partial purchase with generous funds from Merle Chambers: In Memory of Evelyn Hemmings Chambers; Alianza de las Artes Americanas; Theodore and Nancie Burkett; Mexican Society of Philadelphia; Ralph L. & Florence R. Burgess Trust; Florence R. & Ralph L. Burgess Trust; Jana and Fred Bartlit; Charles Hosmer Morse Foundation; bequest of Jacqueline Paley Wolber by exchange; and anonymous donors, 2018.303. © Estate of Leslie Tillett.

Publications

Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche is the first major visual and cultural exploration of the legacy of La Malinche, simultaneously reviled as a traitor to her people and hailed as the mother of Mexico. This lavish book establishes and examines her symbolic import and the ways in which artists, scholars, and activists through time have appropriated her image to interpret and express their own experiences and agendas from the 1500s through today.

The catalog and many others are available to purchase at the DAM's Shop or online.

Traidora, sobreviviente, ícono: El legado de la Malinche ha sido organizada por el Denver Art Museum. La exposición ha sido posible en parte gracias a una subvención del National Endowment for the Humanities: La democracia exige sabiduría. Asimismo, recibe el apoyo de Furthermore, un programa del fondo J. M. Kaplan Fund, así como de los donantes para la campaña benéfica Annual Fund Leadership Campaign y de los residentes que brindan su apoyo al Distrito de Organizaciones Científicas y Culturales (SCFD, por sus siglas en inglés). Apoyo promocional proporcionado por 5280 Magazine y CBS4.

Cualquier opinión, resultado, conclusión o recomendación expresados en esta exposición no representan necesariamente los del National Endowment for the Humanities.