Bowdoin College Museum of Art |

Preview image of work. pastel and charcoal on paper, The Dead Indian 11415

1995.25

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The Dead Indian

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Artist

Juan O'Gorman (1905 - 1982)

Title

The Dead Indian

Creation Date

1961

Century

20th century

Dimensions

12 1/16 in. x 36 1/8 in. (30.64 cm. x 91.76 cm.)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

pastel and charcoal on paper

Credit Line

Gift of Mymie L. Graham

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1995.25

Juan O’Gorman’s preparatory drawing for his mural Retablo de la Independencia in Mexico City’s Chapultepec Castle pictures an assassinated indigenous Mexican. In the final version of the painting, which measures more than fifty feet in width, the dead man is depicted without a blanket, but clothed in pants. The artist created many studies in developing this large mural and often employed pastel in this process. Born in Coyoacán, Mexico, O’Gorman was presented with the opportunity to complete this mural commission when his friend Diego Rivera’s failing health and eventual death led him to withdraw from the project. It was finally completed in 1961 after five years of work. To be read from left to right, the mural depicts historic scenes beginning with Mexican hardships under Spanish colonial rule in the eighteenth century and ending with the creation of the Congress of Chilpancingo in 1813, the first congress independent of Spain.