Date of Award
5-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Atkinson, Connie
Second Advisor
Mokhiber, James
Third Advisor
Mitchell, Mary N.
Fourth Advisor
Striffler, Steve
Abstract
In December of 1915, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on the death of the patriarch of four generations of Mexican wax figure artists whose artworks demonstrated a century of change in the city of New Orleans. The family's artworks included religious sculptures, representations of indigenous and peasant populations of Mexico, and the merchant populations of the French Quarter. Francisco's artworks represented Louisiana's agriculture at two World's Fairs in New Orleans and Buffalo. Francisco received a contract from Mississippi Commissioner R. H. Henry to produce the 30-foot King Cotton for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. Though the family's success continued after Francisco's death, an examination into the family's business, artworks, travels, and personal connections during Francisco's lifetime provides a new avenue for exploring the relationship between New Orleans and Mexico in the nineteenth century
Recommended Citation
Mangipano, John, "Remolding Mexican Identity: The Wax Art of Francisco Vargas in 19th Century New Orleans" (2011). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1327.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1327
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.