Stephen D. Houston’s Bloody, Courtly, Fiery, and Luxurious Contributions to Exhibitions of Maya Art

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Decipherment, Digs, and Discourse: Honoring Stephen Houston's Contributions to Maya Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As a graduate student, Stephen Houston contributed references as well as two personal communications to the catalogue for The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art, including drawing Linda Schele and Mary Miller’s attention to key details of an exhibition centerpiece: the Kimbell Art Museum’s panel with captive presentation. Since then, his contributions to our understanding of the visual culture of Classic Maya artists has shaped major exhibitions, including Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (National Gallery and de Young Museum), and Lords of Creation (LACMA, Dallas Museum of Art, and The Met). As co-curator of Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea (Peabody Essex Museum, Kimbell Art Museum, and St. Louis Museum of Art), he drew scholarly and public attention to a crucial yet overlooked aspect of Maya art: the "influence the oceans, and water generally, had on [the ancient Maya’s] perception of the world around them." Recently, as part of the research team for Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas (Getty Museum, The Met), he shaped the checklist of Maya art and underscored that, for the Maya, luxury "materials are not just solid stone or metal but lambent with spirits."

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Decipherment, Digs, and Discourse: Honoring Stephen Houston's Contributions to Maya Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23942