Amazona blanca [White Horsewoman], also known as Caballista del circo [Circus Bareback Rider]
Primary
María Izquierdo
(San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, 1902–Mexico City, Mexico, 1955)
NationalityMexican, North America
Date1932
MediumWatercolor and gouache on paper
DimensionsSheet: 11 × 8 7/16 in. (27.9 × 21.5 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Thomas Cranfill, 1980.109
Keywords
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number1980.109
On View
Not on viewCollection Highlight
The figure depicted in "Amazona blanca" gracefully keeps her balance despite being posed precariously on a moving pony. She is a picture of confidence and courage. María Izquierdo admired the circus since her childhood, producing more than fifty paintings celebrating female circus performers. They functioned as a kind of alter ego for her. Images of strong and independent women such as this one challenged the many representations of male workers and heroes pervading Mexican painting in the decades that followed the Mexican Revolution.
Exhibitions
José Clemente Orozco
1929
Unknown Artist
1840-1895