FRANCISCO ZÚÑIGA. MOTHER WITH CHILD AT HER HIP.
-
Francisco Zúñiga
(Mexican, born in Costa Rica, b. 1912–d. 1998) -
Mother with Child at Her Hip
-
1979
-
Bronze
-
72 x 37 x 21 13/50 in.
(183 x 94 x 54 cm) -
HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY INDIGENOUS CULTURES IN MESOAMERICA.
Just beside the entrance to the Ralph Freud Playhouse at UCLA is Francisco Zúñiga’s Madre con niño en la cadera, or Mother with Child at Her Hip, made in 1979. The bronze sculpture is a life-size depiction of a nude woman with her child. She stands proud with her weight slightly shifted to her left side, and just as the title of the sculpture suggests, she holds her child in her left hand at her hip with her right arm “akimbo” (akimbo is defined as “with hands on the hips and elbows turned outwards”). She gazes upward as her head turns to the left. Her stance and posture are seemingly natural and relaxed but nevertheless exude confidence and power.
Zúñiga was heavily influenced by Indigenous cultures in Mesoamerica and pre-Hispanic art. In his work, he is less interested in European ideals of the nude form but instead focuses on the natural beauty of womanhood rooted in his cultural surroundings and history. Zúñiga often sculpts Indigenous Mesoamerican women in that culture’s most coveted and sacred role: a mother. The woman’s voluptuous body and strong features are striking and show the artist’s deep connection to this cultural tradition.
DIEGO RIVERA & FRIDA KAHLO.
The tradition of the nude often takes a different form in Mexican art than in European art. While some European art shows idealized forms of the female body—look for examples here in the sculpture garden—Mexican art, both pre-Hispanic and modern, tends to show how the female body is deeply connected to nature, notions of fertility, and natural beauty. Diego Rivera’s The Liberated Earth with Natural Forces Controlled by Man, from 1927, and Frida Kahlo’s My Nurse and I, from 1937, are two of many examples of this phenomenon (both images shown below).
-
Diego Rivera
(Mexican, b. 1886–d. 1957) -
The Liberated Earth with Natural Forces Controlled by Man
-
1927
-
Fresco
-
22 ft., 8 7/16 in. x 19 ft., 17 7/16 in.
(6.92 x 5.98 m) -
A detail of the auditorium at the end of the wall at Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (UACh) (formerly Escuela Nacional de Agricultura) in Chapingo, Mexico
-
Frida Kahlo
(Mexican, b. 1907–d. 1954) -
My Nurse and I
-
1937
-
Oil on canvas
-
14 9/16 x 12 1/64 in.
(36 x 30 1/2 cm) -
Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City, Mexico
SPARK A CONVERSATION.
While these have more supernatural or surreal elements to them, what qualities do we find in this sculpture that celebrate femininity?
Additionally, think about your own experiences as a mother or with your mother or maternal figure.
Are the woman’s stance, expression, or actions in Zúñiga’s work relatable?