Adela Breton: A Victorian Artist Amid Mexico's Ruins

COLOR PLATES

1. Study of Ferns, painted in 1887, the year Adela embarked on her life as a traveler and artist; this painting marks a turning point in Adela Breton’s artistry. (1924.41 Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and North East Somerset Council.) 91 ______________________________________ 2b. Very few paintings by Adela from the Southwest are known. Note on front: “Zuni, N.M. 5.1900 AB [monogram].” Note on back: “Indian Pueblo of Zuni, June 1900.” (Ea 8376 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 92 ______________________________________ 2a. Page in sketchbook, annotated : “Cliff dwellings, Moran Point, Grand Cañon 24.6.1900.” (Ea 9494 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 3a. Adela made detailed notations on many of her paintings. Note on back: “Near Cuetzala [Puebla], slope towards Gulf of Mexico, after frost Feb. 1899.” (Ea 8409 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 93 ______________________________________ 3b. Page in sketchbook, annotated: “Glacier between El Faile + main cone Popacatpetl 15,000 ft. 16.5.98.” (Ea 9493 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 4. “Tlalmanalco, Valley Mexico.” Adela frequently drew and painted elaborate architectural detail, from both Pre-Columbian and Colonial buildings. This painting likely depicts part of an abandoned convent. (1924.55 Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and North East Somerset Council.) 94 ______________________________________ 5b. Detail from full-size copy of the “Pulque Priests” wall painting from Casa de Barrios, Teopancaxco, Teotihuacán. One of the two priests is pouring a libation to the gods while making a flowery speech. (Ea 8360 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 95 ______________________________________ 5a. Copy of a wall painting of an armed figure from the outer chamber at Teopancaxco, Teotihuacán. These are the first known copies Adela made of Pre-Columbian murals in Mexico. The inscription suggests that she was copying a copy of the original. (Ea 8265 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 6b. On her 1910 trip to South America Adela recorded several pots and fabrics. Note on front: “Museo Nacional Lima. 1257 Region of Papa. 1st period of Nazca. A. Breton 1910.” Taped to back is the outline of the design, possibly traced directly from the pot. (Ea 8334 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 96 ______________________________________ 6a. Although Tula was a favorite site of Adela’s, few of her drawings from the site or the immediate area are known. Note on front: “Piedra de Malinche, Tula, Hidalgo, 1900.” On back is a sketch of the same figure reversed with some measurements. (Ea 8283a Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 7b. Full-size copy of part of the relief panel on the north façade of the “Palace of the Stuccoes,” Acanceh. Figures 19 and 20. (Ea 8186b Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 97 ______________________________________ 7a. Full-size copy of the bird from the east end of the relief panel on the north façade of the “Palace of the Stuccoes,” Acanceh. Copy is in two pieces. (Ea 8220a, Ea 8220b Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 8. Adela’s painting of the katunes of Aké, showing the ruins of the colonnaded building. (Ea 8221 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 98 ______________________________________ 9. The Ahab Tzib (or Akab Dzib), near the Main Plaza at Chichén Itzá. The rooms do not interconnect so that each has its own outside entrance. Notes on back: “Ahab Tzib, Chichen Itza, in which I lived 1900 + 1901.” (Ea 8128 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 99 ______________________________________ 10. Painting showing the Annexe of the Casa de las Monjas at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, and the Iglesia (“church”) on the right. Note on front: “Casa de Monjas, Chichen Itza, 3.1900 AB” (monogram). (Ea 8492 Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 100 ______________________________________ 11. Adela copied all that remained of what must have been an elaborate mural program in the Casa de las Monjas. Note on front: “A small part of the painting in the vault of a large upper chamber, Casa de las Monjas, Chichen Itza, Yucatan Scale 1/4 A. Breton 1903.” (Ea 8216a Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery.) 101 ______________________________________ 12. Photograph of the Lower Temple of the Jaguars, Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, showing the elaborate bas reliefs. Photograph by T. Maler, with watercolor detail added...