Miguel Covarrubias

Illustration from a vintage mini book made in Spain

The map is a copy from the Covarrubias "Pageant of the Pacific"

Hotel del Prado

Review from a 1964 AAA Mexico travel guide

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=36737&forum=4&5#fresh

On 2010-06-08 09:35, Zeta wrote:
Collection Exhibited
Lunes, 03 de Mayo de 2010 20:09

More than half of the pieces exhibited are part of the Oceanic Collection of the National Museum of Cultures (MNC), mostly integrated as a result of an important exchange with Field Museum in Chicago, negotiated by Miguel Covarrubias and the director of INAH, Daniel de la Borbolla, in 1951.

Oceanic items safeguarded at MNC are known as “South Seas Collection” and hold incredible curatorial and anthropological value.

Moana: Cultures of the Pacific Islands displays 150 objects from the National Museum of Cultures halls and warehouse, as well as 124 items part of Field Museum collections. Pieces from the de Young and Peabody Essex Museums are also exhibited.

¡Viva Tiki! Ambassador of Tiki in Mexico. Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-06-15 14:29 ]

The Lost Murals of Miguel Covarrubias on display - opens on Sep 15, 2010
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35905&forum=1&9#fresh

On 2009-10-25 15:43, Zeta wrote:
Hola a todos!
I am about to buy this Lithograph for 1000 dollars it's signed and dedicated to Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez (Famous Mexican actor and director who was a personal friend of Covarrubias and worked with Jodorowsky among many others)

I know that 250 where made... But this one has A/P written in it so I know it is one of the Artist's Proof. Wich makes it 20 or 30% MORE valuable than the limited edition.
How much is it worth?
Gracias!

[ Edited by: Zeta 2009-10-25 16:29 ]

[ Edited by: Zeta 2009-10-25 17:14 ]

I get a boner everytime I look at it. Best spent money ever.



:)

Nice! Congrats, Senor Z.

Mahalo GranHermanoTiki!

Miguel's brother Luis Covarrubias mural at Museo de la Ciudad in Mexico City.
Luis mimicked Miguel's technique fairly good... But not the "soul" and vibrant style of his little brother.

Covarrubias "Artista y Explorador" ultra rare book on ebay now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270785865401

Has anybody in L.A. been to the exhibition yet?:

http://www.caamuseum.org/ce_3.htm

While trying to find info on this cocktail napkin,

I searched TC and found Zeta's travel guide post of the Hotel Del Prado in Mexico City were this mural is/was.

"Mexico Pintoresco"

While going through the 78 photos on the site that I found this picture I came across this one.

Could this be the painting of the Worlds Fair murals?

aloha, tikicoma

Yes indeed, here Miguel and an assistant are painting the elusive "Art Forms of the Pacific" map that disappeared after the maps were loaned to the New York Museum of Natural History. This mural is the "Golden Ark" of the Tiki explorer. :)

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35905&forum=1&vpost=553921

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22512&forum=1

While trying to find more info on the Llyod Sexton Waikikian painting I stumbled across this:

An old advertisement from Dole which uses a backdrop painted by Miguel Covarrubias.

More info here:
http://hawaiiantimemachine.blogspot.com/2011/02/charles-coiner-and-rebranding-of-dole.html

The question is, is this a real mural or just a painting that was combined in a collage with the foreground photo.

It is interesting how this blog is written from the p.c. perspective of a Polynesian minority, going beyond my view of describing 20th Century Polynesian pop merely as CLICHE imagery:

Quote: "VIEWS OF HAWAII THROUGH THE DISTORTING LENS OF TIME"

"These advertisements played upon mainstream stereotypes of objectified natives and idealized tropical landscapes, perceptions that were encouraged by the Hawaiian tourist industry to attract visitors. Regardless of the ethical implications, Coiner’s ingenious use of stereotypical images to evoke elitist desire played a significant part in the success that greeted the Dole rebranding."

Ethical implications...in advertising? Advertising is pop culture, pop culture is defined by over-simplification, not differentiation or seeking the truth, but by embellishing the dreams and desires of the public.

Quote: "VIEWS OF HAWAII THROUGH THE DISTORTING LENS OF TIME"

"These advertisements played upon mainstream stereotypes of objectified natives and idealized tropical landscapes, perceptions that were encouraged by the Hawaiian tourist industry to attract visitors. Regardless of the ethical implications, Coiner’s ingenious use of stereotypical images to evoke elitist desire played a significant part in the success that greeted the Dole rebranding."

Not to play dumb, but anybody know what this blogger means by elitist desire? Is that a racial thing (whites desire "objectified natives")? Or some kind of vague class distinction (civilized and sophisticated desire for "idealized [and un-civilized?] tropical landscapes")?

Or does it just sound good to throw in the word elitist with the usual gripes about tourist imagery? Really, I don't get who the elite is and how that relates to their desire. And just to bring it back to the topic a bit more, I wonder if this blogger would consider Covarrubias' other work as serving some elitist perspective. So much of his work romanticizes the atmosphere of places he visited. But I always think of it more as capturing a culture's essence, as opposed to looking down on it or objectifying it. Oh well, not much point in trying to understand the blogger's critique, I guess.

BTW, the same blog has a nice Stanley Stubenberg image that I don't remember seeing before, under the "Tiki Cubism" post.

-Randy

Randy, tiz itz, that Stubenberg image is in Tiki Modern. :)

I think the elitism angle might come from the fact that at the time, a tropical vacation, a Hawaiian cruise, could only be afforded by the upper middle class, it remained a dream vacation for the general public until jet travel happened.

I think it is good to be reminded of the fact that there are different viewpoints out there, and that Tiki IS an idealized view of a reality that was much more complex. And it is good to mourn the loss of indigenous cultures, and support the efforts of those who work for the recognition of the cultures' values and truths.

I just see it more as a philosophical conflict: The universal desire of mankind to find paradise on earth, and in the course of it destroying it, leaving only the fantasy to hold onto and perpetuate.

On 2012-02-08 10:49, bigbrotiki wrote:
...And it is good to mourn the loss of indigenous cultures, and support the efforts of those who work for the recognition of the cultures' values and truths.

Yeah, well that's the puzzling thing to me, because Covarrubias had a great deal of work that aimed to do just that, particularly with his love of Bali. I guess that blogger's hangup is less about the people and more about some implied statement in the Covarrubias work behind them. But it's kind of ironic or at least misguided to see it as some kind of exploitation. In reality, the thrust of Covarrubias' work was just the opposite - not exploitation but recognition, preservation, celebration!

And about the Stubenberg image - woops! Was that a menu? If so, the blogger's estimate of circa 1950 has got to be way off, right?

-Randy

On 2012-02-08 08:31, bigbrotiki wrote:
Ethical implications...in advertising? Advertising is pop culture, pop culture is defined by over-simplification, not differentiation or seeking the truth, but by embellishing the dreams and desires of the public.

I'll agree that the bloggist is stretching their argument rather far but even modern day advertising can't ignore social responsibility using a pop cultural curtain.

There are definite "ethical implications" in commercials such as this. You could devote an entire thread to other advertising examples both historic and modern.

That was FUNNY! This is where I differ: Why would I have to feel guilty if i find that commercial funny? I find Germans stereotyped as as Nazis and in Lederhosen funny. If in this f#@&d-up world we can no longer romanticize, parodize or exaggerate through art because it is un-p.c., than we are really sunk.

That Stubenberg cover was more late 50s, not "around 1950"

On 2012-02-08 11:08, aquarj wrote:
In reality, the thrust of Covarrubias' work was just the opposite - not exploitation but recognition, preservation, celebration!

I completely agree.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2012-02-08 13:07 ]

Randy hit it right on, his work was part documentation and more celebration.

The great map piece from his trip to Bali.

Another photo of Covarrubias painting one of the San Francisco murals.

And the map on display at the original expo in 1939.

DC

Another Dole ad with the Covarrubias mural.

The fine print confirms that Covarrubias painted the mural directly for the Dole ad campaign.

DC

Wow, what a great ad! Wonder what happened to the mural...

Another ad image done by Covarrubias for the Dole pineapple advertising campaign.

DC

I found this great Virginia Roeml window display stock photo for Federal Savings Bank at the flea market over the weekend. It features some of Miguel Covarrubias's Pageant of the Pacific prints in the window along with a refinancing plan that says, "Housing in the Dutch East Indies is not a problem but if you live around New York you should ask about our refinancing plan for your home."

Great find!

Saw this nice original for sale on the net.

DC

Looking through this thread made me miss Zeta, our Tiki Ambassador de Mexico & Espana.

Another nice Dole ad done by the master.

And a nice original of an Easter Island Moai.

DC

This was my favorite piece of art at the Dallas Museum of Art. I admired it many, many times. It was originally designed in 1954 for the Stewart Building.

"Mexican muralist Miguel Covarrubias designed this sixty-foot long mosaic mural. Composed of glass pieces, Genesis is based on an ancient Mexican myth that four worlds preceded the world we currently live in. According to the myth, four principal deities controlled the four elements—water, earth, fire, and air—and each god destroyed the world once using their element. The gods then worked together to create the fifth, or current world. The images of the mural reference this myth and incorporate imagery from numerous historic cultures in Central and North America."

Genesis: The Gift of Life

You can see close up images of the mosaic here: http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/dallasmuseumsc/sc2.html

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2014-06-03 14:23 ]

Spotted this Covarrubias map of Florida on the Life mag pages that I had never seen before. Classic Covarrubias style.

No Tiki but we've got deep sea divers, giant clam shells, Spanish Galleons, Pirates, fishing and more fishing and just about everything else.

DC

I recently learned about Miguel Covarrubias and his World's Fair Pacific map art from Tiki With Ray. Since then, I've discovered that Swaylo's Tiki in Longmont, CO, has a (reproduction?) of his "Art Forms of the Pacific Area" map.