Customer Reviews

Santos: Enduring Images of Northern New Mexican Village Churches

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since E. Boyd wrote her almanac about the traditional arts of the 18th and 19th centuries in New Mexico and the surrounding areas, she was followed by several books written by Professor William Wroth, then at the Taylor Museum in Colorado Springs. Both his books were concerned with the Taylor collection of Santos, a huge representation housed in their Museum. However, Wroth's books are difficult reading, particularly for the novice and the collector. His usage of big words unnecessarily bog down the information, and there are few discoveries which separate his writings from those of the late E. Boyd. Miss Cash, on the other hand, has blessed us with an informative, easy to read book on the Santos in the New Mexican churches, replete with hundreds of photographs (many previously unpublished) which form a chain which extends from the 1760's to 1900. Yes, we would have loved for these photographs to be all color, but certainly the writing makes up for that lack. An ingenious detective search allowed Miss Cash to unearth the identities of two major santeros, the 18th Century Novice and the magnificent Laguna Santero. This book is must reading, not only for the collector, but for the researcher and those interested in the primitive arts of the region.

I found "Santos" a very informative book. There have been other books written on this subject, but none have covered the subject so thoroughly. The author has discovered the names of two previously unknown santeros, and has proven her theories respectably; she has also gone into great detail to dispel many of the myths about the santeros created by other writers. I think this book is a must read about this subject. Granted, many of the photos are black and white, but that does not diminish the importance of the research. It was not designed to be a coffee-table book, and therefore the university press which published has done an ok job of reproducing the many photos. As I understand it, this book has received great reviews by the author's peers, perhaps some of which should be mentioned here: Tradicion Revista; New Mexico Magazine; Latina Magazine and many others. It has been called the "New Testament" as relates to the subject.

This book has just been awarded "Exceptional Books of 1999" by the A List, published by Bookman Book Review Syndicate and is a candidate for best book of the year. The reviewing panel found it to be worthy of such an award, and it was chosen over hundreds of books.

An interesting composition of information mostly available from other books. A nice group of photos unfortuantely most are black and white which is somewhat dissappointing.