(Economics, Cognition, and Society) Tyler Cowen - Markets and Cultural Voices_ Liberty vs. Power in the Lives of Mexican Amate Painters (Economics, Cognition, and Society)-University of Michigan Press

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(continues on last page of the book)
LIBERTY VS. POWER IN THE LIVES OF
MEXICAN AMATE PAINTERS
Tyler Cowen
THE UNIVERS ITY OF MICHIGAN PRE S S
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2005
All rights reserved
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
@ Printed on acid .. free paper
2008 2007 2006 2005 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
A ClP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library .
Library of Congress Cataloging .. in .. Publication Data
Cowen, Tyler.
Markets and cultural voices : liberty vs. power in the lives of
Mexican Amate painters / Tyler Cowen.
p. cm. - ( Economics, cognition, and society)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0 .. 472 .. 09889 .. 6 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN 0 .. 472 .. 06889 .. X
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Nahuas-Mexico-San Agustin Oapan-Economic
conditions. 2. Nahuas-Mexico-San Agustin Oapan-Industries.
3. Nahua art-Mexico-San Agustin Oapan. 4. Folk art-Mexico-San
Agustin Oapan. 5. Indian business enterprises-Mexico-San Agustin
Oapan. 6. Paper, Handmade-Mexico-San Agustin Oapan. 7. Amate
( Plant)-Economic aspects-Mexico-San Agustin Oapan. 8. San
Agustin Oapan (Mexico )-Social conditions. 9. San Agustin Oapan
(Mexico )-Economic conditions. I. Title. II. Series.
F 1 2 2 1 .N3C69 2004
338.4'7 745-dc22 20040 1 7 200
Acknowledgments lX
1 • Introduction 1
2 • Early Ye ars and the Quest for Markets 13
3 • American Discovery 41
4 • The Lives Today 73
5 • How the Outside World Shapes Politics : Public Choice and

Local Government 109
6 • Concluding and Summary Remarks 141
Notes 159
Bibliography 175
Index 183
T H E MATERIAL IN T H I S B O O K is based on many conversations and
interviews in addition to the formal bibliography. I would like to thank
( in no particular order) : Marcial Camilo Ayala, Juan Camilo Ayala,
Felix Camilo Ayala, Roberto Mauricio, Abraham Mauricio, Felix
Jimenez Chino, Inocencio J imenez Chino, his wife Florencia,
Leonardo Camilo Altamirano, Claudia Altamirano, Felipe de la Rosa,
Julio de la Rosa, Clemente de la Rosa, Pedro de la Rosa, Angel
Dominguez, Martina Adame, Joel Adame, Maria Ayala Ramirez, Car ...
tTIen CatTIilo Ayala, AtTIalia CatTIilo Ayala, Alcividiades CatTIilo
Altamirano, Nicolas de Jesus, Eusebio Diaz, Cristino Flores Medina,
Felix Venancio, Salom6n Ramirez Miranda, Carlos Ortiz, Jose Rutilo,
Carlos Tolentino, Alfonso Lorenzo, Francisco Lorenzo Ramirez, Ed
Rabkin and Carolyn Mae Lassiter, Jonathan Amith, Max Kerlow,
Felipe Ehrenberg, Gobi Stromberg, Larry Kent, Gloria Frank, Laurie
Carmody, Leonore Thomas, Bill Negron, Martin Kroll, Maureen Kel ...
ley, Maria Walsh, Steven Clark, Sydney Jenkins, France Chancellor,
Senor Watanabe, Carol Lamb Hopkins, Alexander Benitez,
Dominique Raby, Enrique, Scott Guggenheim, Thomas Bird, Renata
Madero, Randall Kroszner, Cathy Good, Peggy Golde, Ralph White,
Janie Burke, Lilia Quiroz, Florence Browne, Ute Stebich, Albert
Wuggetzer, Selden Rodman, Carole Rodman, Carla Rodman, Davis
Mather, Sheri Cavin, and Randall Morris. Many of these individuals
helped me a great deal, and I apologize if anyone feels slighted at being
included in such a long list and not receiving especial thanks. Many of
the people on this list deserve a special commendation.
x ACKN OWLE D GMENTS
In terms of comments and assistance, my debts are many. Without

Ed Rabkin and Selden Rodman, the book could not exist. Anthropol;
ogist Jonathan Amith has been helpful beyond the call of duty. This
study would not have been possible without his pioneering anthropo;
logical efforts and without the earlier work of Cathy Good-in partic;
ular her unpublished doctoral dissertation. Maureen Kelley encouraged
me to write this book. Mary Hirschfeld offered especially useful com;
ments. Bryan Caplan, Natasha Cowen, Kevin Grier, Robin Grier, and
Robin Hanson offered helpful comments as well. Eric Crampton, Chris
Coyne, and T. Clark Durant offered useful research assistance. Andres
MarroquIn helped with the Spanish. Most of all, I am indebted to the
artists, who have given so freely of their time and energy. Marcial
Camilo had the good patience to sit for three days and offer corrections
while I read him a Spanish translation of the entire story; the other
artists have heard and responded to parts of the story as well.
I spell the artists' names as they do, which in some cases means leav;
ing off the diacritical marks that one would otherwise expect in Span;
ish. The artists are familiar with these marks and have made conscious
decisions not to use them.
W HAT HAPPENS WHEN poor, Nahuatl ... speaking Mexican artists enter
global art markets ? What choices do they face ? What is required for
them to succeed ? I will address these questions in this book by tracing
the theme of liberty versus power in the lives of several Mexican
painters, three of them brothers. These individuals have painted both
on amate paper (bark paper) and on board-in both cases, for sale
abroad and to North Alnericans in Mexico. They all hail froln the
small, rural pueblo of San Agustin Oapan in the state of Guerrero in
central Mexico.
Throughout this study, the theme of liberty versus power will inter ...
lock with two primary topics: ( 1 ) how poor rural communities develop
and grow richer and ( 2 ) how the globalization of culture affects diver ...
sity and the cultural voices of the poor.
Economic Development
By the term liberty , I mean the positive ability of individuals to control

their lives, support their families, shape their cultures, and speak their
minds. Liberty requires wealth, and questions arise about how wealth is
created and distributed.
The stories of the artists featured here and the broader story of amate
painting present a microcosm of successful economic development.
1
2 MARKETS AND CU LTURAL VOICES
The amate and crafts merchants have succeeded through intense train ...
ing; investment in unique, nonreplicable skills; marketing to outsiders;
and the cultivation of trade networks. The residents of Oapan have
developed a "cluster of creativity" to drive their development. Michael
Porter, in his Competitive Advantage of Nations ( 1 998 ) , cited such clus ...
ters as critical to the economic success of advanced nations; the Japan ...
ese electronics industry, Italian shoe making, and Swiss pharmaceuti ...
cals are classic examples.
Spatial concentration matters for the developing world as well,
arguably to a greater degree. In Mexico ( and many other places ) , it is
common that a single art form will be found in one village or a small
number of villages and nowhere else. This geographic clustering
implies not only that the underlying conditions for creativity are frag ...
ile but also that small communities can be extremely dynamic. A vil ...
lage can take off if it captures these artistic and economic synergies.
The history of the arts in Oapan shows both such dynamism and such
fragility and thus offers a case study in the evolution of a successful cre ...
ative cluster. Oapan's ability to generate such a cluster has been essen ...
tial to its economic growth and thus to the liberty of its residents.
Creative clusters have improved the quality of life in Oapan
significantly over the last forty years. The extension of the market
nexus to the pueblo, rather than itnpoverishing the cOlnlnunity, has
provided dramatic boosts in the standard of living. Whether we look at
health, food, transportation, household conveniences, or entertain ...
ment, village residents are far better off than they were in times past.
Amate painting and the general growth of trade in Oapan illustrate the
payoffs from successful "indigenous" entrepreneurship. The episode at
hand gives us reasons to be optimistic about economic development
out of rural poverty.
The story presented in this book is not, however, one of liberty
alone. The market means of producing wealth must be distinguished
from the use of political power to extract wealth from unwilling vic ...
tims. The history of the Mexican poor reflects an ongoing race between
these differing forces.
Sociologist Stanislav Andreski, in his 1966 book Parasitism and Sub...
version, puts this distinction at the center of the Latin American
predicament. He draws on Franz Oppenheimer's earlier The State
( [ 1 908] 1999 )-a formative work in German sociology-which devel ...
Introduction 3
oped the theme of liberty versus power. Economist Gordon Tullock

( 1 967 ) provided a more general contrast between voluntary exchange
and predatory "rent ... seeking" behavior, which seeks to grab resources
from others in lieu of producing wealth. More recently, Hernando de
Soto (The Other Path, 1 989) has written on wealth creation in indige ...
nous communities. He argues that well ... defined property rights and pro ...
tection against arbitrary confiscations can mobilize indigenous entre ...
preneurship and raise living standards.
I present the case studies of this book as illustrating these intellec ...
tual traditions. The lives of the Oapan painters illustrate the continu ...
ing relevance of the distinction between production and predation.
While markets have become increasingly important in Oapan, politics
has played a significant role as well. Chapter 2 will show how corrupt
police have proven an enemy of the amate painters. Chapter 5 will
focus on politics and examine the forces that have sought to confiscate
the land and wealth of Oapan-to the detriment of the community, its
prosperity, and its creativity. Nonetheless, the story of the Oapan
painters is on the whole a positive and optimistic one, featuring growth
in living standards and creative achievements.
Cultural Globalization
Liberty is not just about wealth; it also concerns having a cultural

voice. But a cultural voice requires access to markets, access to audi ...
ences, and some degree of financial-and thus creative-indepen ...
dence.
Globalization has enabled the Oapan community and the amate
painters to find their cultural voices. High ... quality amate painting,
despite being tightly clustered in four neighboring rural Mexican vil ...
lages, relies on global markets. North American buyers, patrons, and
technologies have been essential to amate painting since the begin ...
nings of the art in the 1 960s. Whatever difficulties and compromises
the painters have had to face, amate painting has given them the
means to develop a new cultural tradition and express their older cuI ...
tural identities.
While the amate arts are but a single example, they suggest how a
U.S . ... Mexico cultural partnership might be fruitful and at least par ...
tially supportive of indigenous cultures. Critics frequently charge

that poorer indigenous societies are corroded or ruined by outside
contact with larger and richer societies. Amate markets, a case study
in globalization, show how cross ... cultural contact can mobilize ere ...
ative energies.
The history of amate production does not fit the usual story about
how globalization or cross ... cultural exchange wipes out the artistic pro ...
duction of smaller indigenous societies. Oapan residents tend to look
favorably on their contacts with the United States, which they view as
providing a counterweight to the larger national Mexican culture sur ...
rounding them. Selling to foreigners has helped them maintain,
extend, and preserve their cultural achievements. In essence, the very
large culture (United States) is helping the very small culture (Oapan)
survive against a larger surrounding culture, mestizo Mexico.1
The history of amate illustrates another twist on standard accounts
of globalization. Very small cultures often need to trade and exchange
ideas with their immediate neighbors-namely, other very small cuI ...
tures-to realize their cultural voices. Much larger cultural units, such
as Mexico and the United States, can support such a trade of ideas
across the smaller cultural units. The spread of high ... quality amate
painting from Ameyaltepec to Oapan shows this mechanism at work.
The two pueblos are very close together, both in space and in terlllS of
cultural origins. Yet the painting of complex amate "stories" (historias )
spread from one pueblo to the other only in the environments of
Taxco, Cuernavaca, Acapulco, and Mexico City, where larger market ...
places brought indigenous painters together and helped them share
ideas.
The history of amate also suggests that it is hard to draw a clear dis ...
tinction between forces preserving indigenous communities and forces
corrupting them. In this instance, contact with the outside world, trad ...
ing for the amate paper itself (from the San Pablito Indians ) , trans ...
portation to Cuernavaca, and sales to American tourists all mobilized
the creative achievements of San Agustin artisans. Forces of this kind,
however, also led to subsequent cultural declines. A ten ...hour trip on
burro, from the pueblo to the city, has become a three ... hour trip in a
car, truck, or bus. As the citizens of Oapan have had more contact with
the outside world, they have taken less care to preserve their native tra ...
ditions , such as dances and mask making. Social customs have changed
Introduction 5
or eroded. Many people have left the community, either for larger
Mexican cities or for the United States, never to return on a perma ...
nent basis. Amate production itself has ended up as largely unprofitable
for many of the artists (see chapter 6 ) .
Oapan thus provides one indication of how cross ... cultural contact
mobilizes the creative fruits of a society before transforming that soci ...
ety beyond recognition. In an earlier work, Cre ative Destruction: How
Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures ( 2002 ) , I examined this
phenomenon more generally and noted a common pattern (the "Min ...
erva model") . An initial meeting of cultures often produces a creative
boom, as individuals trade materials, technologies, and new ideas. In
many cases, a richer culture will hire the creative labor of the poorer
culture and provide financial support for its creations. Temporarily we
have the best of both worlds, at least from a cultural point of view: the
core of the smaller or poorer culture remains intact, while it benefits
from trade and markets its unique worldview. Over time, however, the
larger and wealthier culture upsets the creative wellsprings of the
poorer culture. The poorer culture is so small, relative to the larger cuI ...
ture, that it cannot remain insulated. The poorer culture ends up more
modern, richer, and often better off, but it is also less creative, if only
because it is less unique.
The question, therefore, is not whether cross ... cultural contact is
either uplifting or destructive, for frequently it is both. Cross ... cultural
contact often "cashes in" the potential creativity embedded in a cuI ...
ture. By accepting the eventual decline of that culture, we are also
mobilizing its creative forces to unprecedented levels, at least for a
while.
The field of cultural economics typically focuses on institutions in
those countries where it has evolved, namely, the United States and
Europe. It neglects poorer societies and the special problems (and
opportunities ) they face in producing and funding their creative out ...
puts. I part from mainstream cultural economics by examining what is
sometimes called "folk art," "outsider art," or "naive art." Whatever we
may take these terms to mean, the creative activities at hand fit neither
the model of Western high art nor that of Western popular culture.2
In the case of amate, we have an art popular in its society but sold
almost exclusively to wealthier outsiders. Unlike high culture, the
amate arts do not have many close or direct links with institutional
gatekeepers, such as museums, fund ... raising networks, government sub ...
sidies, and historical scholarship and canonization. In these regards,
the amate arts resemble folk art. The amate arts are not, however, a
mere generic repetition of given themes and techniques, as are many
folk arts. Many amate artists produce works of two different kinds: ( 1 )
cheaper generic works for immediate sale to uninformed audiences and
( 2 ) higher ... quality original creative works (often commissioned in
advance) for patrons and better ... informed clients.
Method
Amate painting, like so many Mexican commercial enterprises, is

organized in terms of the individual artistic entrepreneur and the
entrepreneurial family. Amate painters typically do not work through
larger firms or cultural organizations. My investigation therefore uses
the medium of economic biography, a neglected method in cultural
economics. Economists profess a strong interest in "methodological
individualism," but rarely do they take these strictures literally. Many
empirical investigations of culture move quickly to larger institutions,
such as museums or multinational entertainment corporations. In sta ...
tistical work, econolnists Ineasure the actions of particular individuals
( through panel data sets ) , but they commonly ignore individual histo ...
ries and biographies.3
Unlike many artistic biographies, this book looks at failure as well as
success. History uses paper trails, which favor well ... known artistic
episodes and highly literate eras, such as French Impressionism and the
Italian Renaissance. In reality, most artists do not have their lives
recorded on paper and do not achieve widespread celebrity, even when
their work is of high quality. This study examines how some lesser ...
known creators try to survive as artists-and the choices they face in
seeking to pursue their art and earn a living. Such a focus illuminates
aspects of art markets that a study of Michelangelo or Monet does not.4
The narratives presented here attempt to reflect broader truths
about questions of general interest. The stories concern only one small
part of Mexico and offer no proof of generality per se. Nonetheless, the
case study and biographical methods speak to generality in a number of
ways.
Introduction 7
Consider, for instance, the issues surrounding foreign buyers, cultural

imperialism, and the supposed corruption of indigenous art forms. A
narrative can offer general insight in a number of ways. First, particular
cases can weaken the plausibility of general claims to the contrary. For
instance, if it is argued that wealthy American customers corrupt third
world artisans and silence their cultural voices, the history of amate
painting offers a useful corrective. Second, cases show us what to look
for in other investigations. For instance, in a globalizing world, we find
an important role for foreign buyers in Australian Aboriginal art, Per ...
sian carpets, reggae music, and many other creative art forms (Cowen
2002 ) . Third, particular cases teach us how general mechanisms oper ...
ate. We learn how the existence of foreign buyers confers prestige on
amate art and partially counteracts negative ethnic stereotypes within
Mexico; we see that many painters start trying to market themselves to
the foreign buyers as "Aztec" and "exotic"; we better understand the role
of tourist centers, such as Cuernavaca, in bringing together buyers and
artists; and so on. Studying cases allows us to take general mechanisms
and make them institutionally richer and more persuasive.
This investigation thus stands in a broader methodological tradi ...
tion. Several essays in the volume S ocial Mechanisms edited by Peter
Hedstrom and Richard Swedberg ( 1 998) have fleshed out the idea of
lllechanisills as a central part of social science. Hedstrolll and Swedberg
there call for "an analytical approach that systematically seeks to expli ...
cate the social mechanisms that generate and explain observed associ ...
at ions between events" ( 1 ) . Jon Elster there defines a mechanism as
"intermediate between laws and descriptions." He explains , "Roughly
speaking, mechanisms are fre quently occurring and easily recognizable
causal patterns that are triggered under generally unknown conditions or with
indeterminate consequences" (45 ) .
Social science mechanisms of this kind stand on a middle ground
between pure theory and pure descriptive empirics. They tell us how
theory regulates the relationships between variables in a setting with
some institutional richness. To better understand these mechanisms ,
we need to see how they operate in practice. More specifically, we can ...
not understand the theme of liberty versus power in a purely abstract
setting. This bring us back to concrete histories and stories, informed
by a broader theoretical understanding; in this context, it brings us
back to the lives of the amate painters.5
The Protagonists
Marcial Camilo Ayala • Marcial was born in San Agustin Oapan, a

small and remote Mexican village in Guerrero populated by indigenous
Nahuas. Since the 1 960s, most households have been involved in pro;
ducing amate (bark paper) paintings and ceramics for sustenance.
Marcial is the leading amate painter in the region and the only fam;
ily member who is fully literate. Born in 1 95 1 , Marcial taught himself
Spanish in his early twenties, working from a Spanish;Nahuatl dictio;
nary. He used Carlos Castaneda's Teachings of Don Juan-still a
favorite book of his-as his reading text. Marcial reads voraciously, at
least when he has free time from art and from village politics and when
his diabetic condition does not interfere. He has read Dante's Divine
Comedy twice and has several times painted his vision of the Inferno,
Purgatory, and Paradise. He has painted the cave allegory from Plato's
Republic as well. Marcial loves Beethoven (his favorite) , Mozart,
Dvorak, and Bach. Marcial is a political leader in Oapan, in part
because of his eloquence at town meetings, and he is a strong advocate
for the rights of indigenous cultures.
Marcial admires Renaissance art, Picasso, the Mexican muralists, the
Mexican surrealists (especially Remedios Yarro ) , Henri Rousseau, and
Haitian naive art. His paintings and alnates reflect these influences, as
he has gone-more than any other artist-beyond the original artistic
traditions of the pueblo. For many years, he has worked on both his
technical proficiency and his ability to innovate conceptually.
Marcial is the only member of his family who has been to the United
States. He has visited Santa Fe ( several times ) , Miami, Chicago, Los
Angeles, and Washington-sometimes in connection with art
exhibits, once for a television program with Kevin Costner about
indigenous peoples (Five Hundred Nations, produced in Los Angeles in
the 1 990s ) , and once to consult for the Smithsonian Institution
(Washington) .
Marcial now lives in Cuernavaca, where he has a studio for painting.
His wife and four children live in nearby T axco. In the summer and
fall, he spends time in Oapan working in the fields and doing odd jobs,
such as protecting his crops against rampaging local animals. He claims
that fieldwork brings him closer to nature and keeps his inspiration
fresh for painting.
Introduction 9
Though Marcial will claim to be shy, he has the personality of a nat;

ural leader. His long;time North American friend Florence Browne
cites lack of fear as his strongest and most memorable personal quality. 6
Marcial's work enj oyed a burst of attention in the mid; to late 1 970s,
but it had been neglected for many years. Recently, interest has grown.
The Smithsonian commissioned several Marcial amates for the open;
ing exhibit of the National Museum of the American Indian (which
will include Mexico ) which opened in September 2004 on the Mall in
Washington. Amates had two shows in France in 2002, were included
in several New York City art shows, and were exhibited at Ramapo
College in New Jersey.
Marcial's life reflects the tensions between freedom and cultural
preservation. Marcial, of the three painting brothers, is by far the most
concerned with preserving the traditions of the village. He regards cuI;
tural preservation as close to a sacred duty. Yet he has spent most of the
last thirty years living outside the village. In the 1 9 7 0s, he lived with
Ed Rabkin in Cuernavaca, and in the early 1 990s, he moved to T axco,
largely because he could not tolerate the isolation, petty politics, and
lack of markets in Oapan. In his unguarded moments, he will admit he
cannot stand living in the village for any length of time. Marcial sub;
sequently found even Taxco (with a population of fifty;two thousand )
to be too slnall and too stifling, and he was glad to lnove back to Cuer;
navaca in 200 1 .
Marcial and his brothers complain that the traditional dances are
vanishing, yet none of the brothers wishes to partake in such dances.
They claim it is too much work and too exhausting and that perfecting
the dances involves too much time away from their own commitments ,
which of course include selling amates to the outside world.
Juan Camilo Ayala • Juan Camilo, older brother of Marcial, still

lives in the pueblo. Unlike Marcial, Juan is not fully fluent in Spanish.
He works every year in the fields for several months, harvesting the
family crop. In his extra time and during the winter months, he paints
on amate paper and board. Juan is quiet and soft;spoken yet powerful in
effect, carrying the air of an influential and benevolent paterfamilias.
He has five surviving children, all of whom he has taught or is teaching
how to paint. Everyone in the household contributes to the family craft
business.
Juan prefers to stay at home in Oapan, though he sometimes travels

to Oaxaca or Puerto Escondido for a month or two to sell his artworks,
usually to North Americans and Europeans. His life consists of hard
work, his art, and time spent with family. In his free time, he enj oys
walking around the nearby countryside and envisioning scenes to
paint. He has maintained a traditional artistic style and almost always
paints the pueblo, a fiesta, or a nearby landscape, typically using a eel ...
ebratory style. Unlike Marcial, he has never painted sue fios (his
dreams ) , as his brothers refer to works of the imagination.
Juan, like Marcial, adheres to an extreme work ethic. After a hard
day of work in the fields, he is still able to come home and concentrate
on his painting.
Felix Camilo Ayala •At forty ... five years old, Felix Camilo is the
youngest of the three painting brothers. He lives in the pueblo. His
wife died of fever in 1 998, so he is solely responsible for raising a family
of seven children. He is very protective and loving of his family. He
comes across as sad and world ... weary, although his friends claim he was
very different before his wife's illness.
Felix spends most of his time at home and works in the fields only
rarely. Most of Felix's artwork is now on a small scale. He paints amates
and slnall pieces on board, typically of the twelve ... by ... twelve ... inch size,
as much for his own pleasure as for sale. Given that the amates and
paintings no longer yield much of a living, he concentrates his time on
painting pottery and laminated crosses, typically for street sale to
tourists in Taxco, Cuernavaca, and Acapulco. Unlike with Marcial
and Juan, doing the highest quality of art does not seem very important
to him. Marcial and Juan think of themselves as artists, in a very self...
conscious manner, but Felix still thinks of himself as a craftsperson or a
village artisan and indeed appears more comfortable with this self...
image. When he shows his art, it is almost with apology, whereas for
Marcial and Juan it is more an act of boasting and self... congratulation.
The last of the trio to start painting, Felix has always felt the shadow
of his brothers and has been reluctant to compete on their terms.
Nonetheless, his talent has won recognition. When the group was
given a large show in Connecticut in 1 98 1 , Felix was represented more
prominently than any other group member.
Introduction 11
Felix is quiet and does not show obvious charisma. Yet he is keenly
intelligent and has a strong sense of irony, and his advice is valued
greatly by his friends. He gets along with just about everybody, is
removed from village politics, and is universally considered to be sweet.
Inocencio Jimenez Chino, Felix Jimenez Chino, Roberto Mauricio

Salazar, and Abraham Mauricio Salazar •Along with the Camilo
brothers , these two pairs of brothers are considered the artistic leaders
of San Agustin. For a number of years, they formed a "collaborative cir ...
cle" (Farrell 200 1 ) with the Camilos, painting for foreign clients under
the tutelage of Ed Rabkin, a North American supporter of the group.
The Pueblo: San Agust{n Oapan • San Agustin Oapan lies in the
center of the Mexican state of Guerrero, along the Rio Balsas. The
pueblo is five hundred to six hundred meters above sea level, where the
terrain is mountainous and extremely dry, with many canyons, large
cactuses, some deciduous trees, and a large amount of scrub. The vil ...
lage has three to four thousand people in the rainy season-when the
crops are planted-and many fewer otherwise.7
The pueblo consists almost exclusively of private homes. Oapan has
no hotels, restaurants, or full ... size stores to speak of, though there are
several one ... room cantinas, a few outdoor commercial stalls, and sev ...
eral homes that devote a few shelves of space to canned goods and local
foodstuffs. The other large ... scale structures are not commercial in
nature. A large Catholic church in an open plaza marks the center of
town. On one side of the plaza is the comisario building, containing
both the town hall and two small j ail cells. On the other side of the
square is a bus stop (with the name of the town painted on a small sign)
and an elevated building where visiting priests rest and store their
materials. The elevated building is built on top of a small pre ... Hispanic
pyramid, many of whose stones remain visible underneath the more
modern structure.
The name of the village reflects its cross ... cultural heritage. The first
two words of the pueblo's name, S an Agustin, date from the sixteenth
century, when the Augustinian religious order attempted to homestead
the religious loyalties of numerous Mexican villages. The third word,
Oapan, predates the Spanish conquest and, in Nahuatl, the native Ian ...
guage, means "where the green maize stalk abounds." The villagers
often refer simply to "Oapan" rather than using the full name of the
pueblo.8
San Agustin Oapan is part of a larger ethnic community. Along the
Rio Balsas, fifteen small pueblos share a broadly common microcul;
ture-made up of about thirty;five thousand individuals-known as
Alto Balsas Nahua. San Agustin is the historic center of these commu;
nities, the oldest and still the largest pueblo of the group.
Marcial Camilo Ayala, untitled, 15" x 22.5". This is one of Marcial's earliest
amates. Rabkin bought it from him in 1972 in the streets of Cuernavaca.
The figure is walking along a muddy Rio Balsas, near San Agustin. Collection
of the author, purchased from Ed Rabkin. The original works are in color unless
otherwise noted.
Roberto Mauricio, untitled, painted on board, approximately 25" x 31".

This early painting of Roberto's portrays himself walking along a path in the
nearby canyons. Collection of Carole Rodman, bought by Selden Rodman
from Ed Rabkin.
Felix Jimenez Chino, Lovers,
painted on board, 20" x 14".
Private collection.
Felix Jimenez Chino, Walk at Night,

painted for Maria Walsh in the
1970s, IS" x 22.5". Private
collection.
Marcial Camilo Ayala in Taxco, 2001. He is holding his picture
Electrification of the Village, painted on canvas, 30" x 23". Collection
of the author.
Juan Camilo Ayala and family, 2001. Left to right: Juan's wife, Claudia
Altamirano; his daughters, Alcividiades and Aide; his son Leonardo; and Juan.
Photo taken by the author.
Bus stop in San Agustin Oapan, 2001. On the left side of the picture is the
building where the visiting priests stay; the stones on the bottom are the rem ...
nant of a pre ... Hispanic pyramid. Note the satellite antenna in the background.
Marcial Camilo Ayala, Corrupt Bureaucrats, 2000, black ... and... white amate,
IS" x 22.5". Marcial here portrays his vision of Mexican politics. Collection
of Randall Kroszner.
Marcial Camilo Ayala, March of
Cortes, 2003, IS" x 22.5". This is
part of Marcial's sixteen ...amate
series on the history of the Nahua
people in Mexico. Collection of
the author.
Marcial Camilo Ayala, Oliva

Sleeping, 1990, 23" x 23". Oliva is
Marcial's daughter; he painted her
at the age of eight. This was one of
his latter pictures for Ed Rabkin.
Collection of the author.
Marcial Camilo Ayala,
Easter Scene, 2000, painted
on board, 23" x 31". In this
scene, a preacher is speaking
to an Oapan crowd in the
center of town. Art dealer
Gloria Frank purchased this
painting from Marcial; it is
now held in the collection of
Rosemary and Stephen
Schmelkin.
Felix Camilo Ayala, Flight

from Egypt, 2000, painted on
board, I I" x 8.5". Collection
of the author.
Felix Camilo Ayala holding a recent painting, 2002. Collection of
the artist.
T H E H I S T ORY O F OAPAN shows a growing role for the market means
of producing wealth. This chapter presents the origins of the relevant
markets and explains how the artists started in a family setting and
then stepped into broader commercial transactions. We will see that
the broader community, including the artists, has grown richer. At the
end of the chapter, we will see how the artists have had to struggle with
forces of predation, usually in the fortn of the corrupt Mexican police.
Numerous writers suggest that markets and globalization do not
much improve the lot of the poor, especially in the developing world.
June C. Nash ( 200 1 , 9 ) summarizes a common view: "Even with recov ...
ery in the early 1 990s, the sectoral imbalances in Latin America
remained, with the 33 percent below the poverty line in 1 980 rising to
39 percent in 1 985 and hovering at the same proportion in the early
1 990s . . . . The postrecovery trends show: 1 ) a rise in unemployment,
2 ) a decline in social welfare . . . 3 ) persistence of unemployment, 4)
the worldwide drop in real wages." Nash writes also of Mexicans look ...
ing for an alternative to "being subsumed in global capitalist circuits as
'people without faces and without voices' " ( 1 ) . 1
The history of Oapan, however, suggests an alternative vision more
favorable to markets and globalization. Over the last thirty ... five years ,
Oapan has been brought successively into the orbit of the Mexican
economy and, to some extent, the world economy. At the same time,
the microdata of material culture show a booming economy, neither an
13
immiseration nor a slow process of trickle down. A comparison of the

lives described in this chapter and of those same lives as described in
chapter 4 ( "The Lives Today" ) shows ongoing and rapid improvements
in j ust about every sphere of life. The areas of progress include trans ...
portation, medicine, entertainment, electricity, ease of obtaining
water, clothing, food choice and storage, ability to travel, and literacy.
Most of all, starvation is no longer a regular worry, unlike forty years
ago. However impoverished modern Oapan may appear to the North
American observer, it was formerly far, far poorer. We shall see that
global markets helped this culture to obtain a recognized voice, rather
than taking it away from them.
Oapan is only a single example, and it does not prove any conclu ...
sions about all of Latin America or Mexico. Nonetheless, it shows how
globalization can serve as a force for the better, in both material and
cultural terms. It is a model for how growing trade relations can benefit
a poor and indigenous village.
The overall region has been poor for a long time. Guerrero has
been one of the last states of Mexico to develop. A survey from the
1 950s examined all thirty ... two Mexican states and found that Guer ...
rero ranked twenty ... ninth in terms of industrialization, twenty ... fifth
in terms of productivity, twenty ... seventh in electricity capacity, thir ...
tieth in kilolneters of railroad, thirtieth in terlns of teachers per
capita, thirty ... first in terms of minimum wage , thirtieth in terms of
cars per capita, and first in terms of the percentage of the population
occupied in agriculture. Oapan, in turn, is in one of the poorer parts
of Guerrero.2
The able male villagers in Oapan, whether artisans or not, for many
generations spent a good portion of their lives working the land. They
grow corn, beans, pumpkins, chiles, watermelons, canteloupes, sesame,
green beans, squash, herbs, and onions. Agriculture is primarily for
family subsistence and for small ... scale trade within the immediate area,
rather than for sale to an outside market. Especially in earlier times,
Oapan residents identified themselves first and foremost as growers of
corn. The agriculture is not mechanized, and the fields are plowed by
human labor, assisted by burro and formerly by oxen. The eoa, a dig ...
ging stick originating in pre ... Hispanic times, remains common.
Nonetheless, the influence of cross ... cultural contact is to be seen every ...
where. The Spanish brought the plow, numerous domesticated ani ...
Early Years and the Quest for Markets 15
mals, the steel knife, and the potter's wheel and kiln, all of which
became central to village life.3
The food staples of Oapan-grown in or near the village-are tor...
tillas, beans, tamales, and chiles. Tortillas, made by hand every day by
the female members of the family, are the base for meals of chicken,
fish, and eggs. The chickens come from households, the fish from the
river. Beef is rare, and although the villagers own pigs (which roam the
streets ) , they usually sell the meat rather than eating it-with special
occasions, such as weddings , being an exception. Many of the best
foods are made only for the fiestas; the moles, complex combinations of
chiles and seeds , can take up to two days to make. In the fall, grasshop ...
pers-considered a delicacy-are gathered by the children in the fields
and toasted or fried at home.4
The weather drives a yearly cycle of activities. The fields must be
cleared in the winter and spring for the subsequent growing season. The
rainy season runs from June through September, during which time fam...
ilies work intensely in the fields, planting crops for the subsequent har ...
vest. The entire area turns green at this time, but by October or Novem ...
ber it is dry once again. The crops are gathered in the November
harvest. The heat is oppressive year ... round but peaks in the spring,
before the rains come. Anthropologist Peggy Golde described the heat
as "unbearable" and the worst thing about living in the region.5
Oapan residents have always faced a continual struggle against the
elements, especially lack of adequate rain. The rain is needed to ripen
the maize and support the other crops. Without enough rain-of the
right timing-the soil becomes too hard to plow easily or the maize
plants do not receive enough water to grow. Worry about rain and talk
about rain are common in the summer season. Poor regions tend to
have very high levels of risk, as they have small buffers of wealth and
few opportunities to diversify their investments. Oapan, especially in
its early years, has been no exception to this principle.
Until recently the Alto Balsas communities have not been inte ...
grated into the broader Mexican economy. Oapan retained a strong
indigenous feel and a unique identity. The area fell under nominal
Spanish rule in 1 5 2 1 , but it avoided the forced resettlements that the
Spaniards undertook throughout the Americas in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.6
The Oapan of the mid ... twentieth century was a world unto itself. In
colonial times, depopulation from disease, along with the growth of the
hacienda system, encouraged regional isolation in Mexico. Traveling
porters , the primary source of mobility in preconquest times, lost their
economic importance. The trade and regulatory policies of the colonial
state encouraged local self... sufficiency, rather than integration. Mexico
thus evolved into a land of isolated regions, often more cut off from
each other than they had been before the Spanish conquest. This sys ...
tern benefited small numbers of privileged elites, but it was disastrous
for the Mexican population as a whole, largely because market rela ...
tions were so stunted. 7
Oapan lies about one hundred miles from Mexico City, but the j our ...
ney to the village has never been easy (see the accompanying map ) .
The distance to Oapan from Xalitla ( a village on the main paved road
connecting Mexico City to Acapulco) is only twenty ... five kilometers,
but making this part of the trip still takes several hours, because most of
the road is unpaved, narrow, rocky, and on steep inclines. In the rainy
season, the road is sometimes passable only with four ... wheel drive.
Before this dirt road was opened in 1 980, passage was made most com ...
monly by burro, taking six hours or more. Before 1 958, no paved high ...
way connected Acapulco and Mexico City, and it was difficult to get
close to the area at all. 8
In the 1 950s and 1 960s, Oapan had no cars , no electricity, and no
modern conveniences. Most families barely had enough to eat, and few
fathers could afford to buy a complete set of clothes for all of their chil ...
dren. No one in Oapan spoke Spanish fluently, and many people did
not command the elementary rudiments of Spanish. The villagers also
had no sense of Nahuatl as a written language, despite its common use
in colonial documents.
Sickness and disease were common then. Many young children died
from snake and scorpion bites. Given the lack of motorized transporta ...
tion, it was much harder to visit doctors in Iguala (now a three ... or four ...
hour car or bus trip ) , so such ailments usually went untreated. Forty
years ago, typhoid and cholera were severe problems, claiming the lives
of many people, especially children. Meningitis was common as well.
Frequent malnutrition, combined with lack of medical care, made the
children more susceptible to sicknesses of all kinds. Diarrhea was often
fatal. 9
Anthropologist Peggy Golde, who visited the region in 1 959, esti ...
Map of Maj or Places
Mexico City
Taxco
•
Ameyaltepec
•
•
San Agustin Oapan
mates that at least half of the men were alcoholics at that time. Vil;
lagers made and drank their own mescal, a potent alcoholic drink,
using the leaves from the local agave trees (magueys ) .
I n these days, Oapan was tightly knit, but its people were hardly
cooperative in every regard. The villagers , by their nature, were suspi;
cious of the outside world and, most of all, of each other. Anthropolo;
gist Peggy Golde, who lived in the area ( in Ameyaltepec ) in 1 959, saw
the frustrating side of the culture. She refers to "the people's underlying
lack of trust and their preparedness to believe the worst, to expect dis;
appointment and loss." She went to study the pottery of the region but
continually met the suspicion that she was out to steal the people's pot;
tery ... making secrets and make a fortune. Some people thought that she
had to come to town to identify the richer residents and thus pave the
way for robbers. She felt she was never trusted, and the more she did to
help, the worse the problem became. Even after she felt accepted by
the community, all relationships were like business relationships.
When she did receive help, it was only on the basis of trade or with the
expectation of direct reciprocity. Her only encouragement was to find
that the villagers experienced these same behavior patterns among
themselves. She describes the villagers as selfish and taking no care to
disguise their envies. 1° In the language of Robert Putnam ( 200 1 ) , the
communities of the region had low levels of social capital.
The Camilo Ayala Family
In the environment of mid ... twentieth ... century Oapan, the Camilo
Ayala family gave birth to eight children, seven of whom survived. 1 1
The mother, Maria Ayala Ramirez, was a talented ceramics maker in
her younger years. The father, Cefarino Camilo, farmed, worked with
wood, made furniture, and drank heavily. The father died in the early
1 980s, falling on his head in the midst of a drunken brawl, but the
mother remains alive in her eighties (note that in Oapan, the older a
person is, the less reliable their age estimate is ) .
Childhood life in Oapan then involved few toys and little i n the way
of sports. Basketball and soccer had not yet come to the community
( the center of town now has a basketball court, and there are several
spaces for soccer fields ) . Juan Camilo recalls playing a great deal of mar ...
bles as a boy. Felix Camilo recounts that they had little more than sim ...
pIe balls and wooden sticks to play with. Other forms of recreation
included chasing after butterflies, walking around town, playing with
the animals, and swimming in the river. 12
The Camilo children had a regular circle of friends. Their cousins
Inocencio and Felix Jimenez, two other painters in this story, lived no
more than several houses away, in the Oapan barrio of San Miguel. The
family of Roberto and Abraham Mauricio was on the other side of town
but still no more than a few minutes walk. All the young boys played
together in the river and in the streets of Oapan at a very early age. Mar ...
cial cannot recall a time when he did not know these boyhood friends.
The boys nonetheless spent more time at work than at play. Juan
Camilo notes that his memories of cutting sugarcane and carrying
water from the river go back as far as his memories of playing. The
brothers helped the family with chores around the house and in the
fields and with gathering food. When the brothers reached their early
teen years, they would go out and hunt deer by bow and arrow, return ...
ing what they caught to their father.
The Camilo brothers had little formal schooling. Felix Camilo, for
instance, recalls going to school from the ages of six to twelve; he says
the school did not take older students. Marcial went for four years ,
learning only some elementary arithmetic, how to write his name, and
some very basic Spanish. To this day, the villagers do not make formal
education a priority; there is not always a teacher in the school, and the
teachers who are there are not very able.13
Bill Negron, a photographer who visited the village in 1 9 7 7 ,
described the village as "heartbreakingly spare." He recalls seeing a sin ...
gle light bulb in the Z6calo, a single Coca ... Cola sign, and otherwise lit ...
tIe else besides the homes and animals. Of course, the village had been
even sparer during the painters' childhood. Negron met the painters
and described them as "stoic but gentle and lovely guys."
How Did Amate Paper Come to Oapan?
The Camilo brothers were part of a broader spread of amate painting

around the Alto Balsas area. But to see how amate painting came to
Oapan, we must step back in time and look at the history of amate
paper. Amate provides a classic case of how global trade can resuscitate
a much older technology and put it to new uses.
The term amate comes from the Nahuatl word a:matl, which means
both "paper" and "fig tree." Amate paper is now made from a variety of
trees from the mulberry family. A machete is used to rip the bark from
the tree. The bark is soaked and boiled in a large pot until the fibers can
be separated easily. The fibers are then rinsed, pounded with a stone
into the shape of paper sheets, and left in the sun to dry until they
reach a paper form. 14
Trade routes have driven the changing fortunes of amate paper.
Amate played its largest role in the bureaucratic empires of central
Mexico, especially the Aztec Triple Alliance. It was widely used for
decorations, banners, ritualistic ornaments , costumes, awnings, flowers,
bags, fans, flags, costume parts, crowns, stoles, hats, imitation hair,
vestments, dresses, and bracelets. The Aztec Empire also used amate to
make books , now called codices, which contained the basic knowledge
of pre;Hispanic Nahuatl civilization. The largest amate library is
believed to have been in Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico and con;
tained thousands of manuscripts. These books also served as artworks,
as the Nahuas of that time used a pictographic;logographic script and
drew no clear distinction between writing and painting. Amate was a
centerpiece of bureaucratic administration in one of the world's largest
empires. In the time of Montezuma, at least forty;two different locales
produced amate, and at least two of these towns were making up to half
a million sheets of amate a year. Amate was a central medium for tax
payments and trade. 15
The Spanish conquest brought European paper to the New World.
European paper was easier to make and easier to write on than amate
paper. Furthermore, the colonial authorities, who controlled the pro;
duction of documents , were inclined to use regular paper. More gener;
ally, the Spanish conquest wiped out most of the indigenous popula;
tion, largely through disease. By the middle of the twentieth century,
the art of Inaking alnate paper had been lost ahnost entirely. Only a few
places, most prominently the small village of San Pablito Pahuatlan in
the state of Puebla, still made amate. The San Pablito villagers, part of
the Otomi people, had preserved amate production for divination and
ritual. By the 1 93 0s, however, only several families were continuing to
make the paper, mostly to supply local shamans. Even that demand was
not fully secure, as many of the Otomi were turning to industrially
made paper for their ceremonies. 16
The growth of tourism revived Otomi paper production. Trans;
portation improvements also brought the Otomi into broader trade
networks, and their amate paper found favor in various craft markets.
Still, amate production remained on a very small scale. 1 7
This story of native crafts now brings us back to the Oapan region
but not yet to amate. Prior to the 1 960s, pottery was the central
medium for pictorial creativity in Oapan and in the neighboring vil;
lage of Ameyaltepec. Almost every household, including the Camilo
brothers' home, had a matriarch who made pottery, both for household
use and for outside sale. Most households still have large water vases
made by a grandmother or by some other elder family member, usually
female. When the tourist boom came to Mexico, Oapan and Ameyal ...
tepec residents realized that they had a marketable asset in the form of
their pottery. Pottery production spread rapidly. Women still made the
pieces, but men took a greater role in painting and marketing them.
This was the primary means for participating in a broader market nexus
in Mexico. 18
While pottery production was profitable, the marketing and trans ...
port of the pots remained difficult. Typically, the pots were transported
by burro and then by truck to such tourist centers as Taxco, Cuer ...
navaca, and Acapulco. The rate of breakage was very high, given the
poor quality of the roads, the length of the trips, and the difficulty of
carrying pottery by burro for any length of time.
In essence, amate painting arose to solve the problems of pottery
transport. Amates are light and are easily piled or rolled. Glaeser and
Kohlhase (2003 ) have identified falling transportation costs as a cen ...
tral feature of economic growth; the rediscovery of amate paper is one
example of this much broader phenomenon.
Max Kerlow and Felipe Ehrenberg of Mexico City, both Mexicans of
Eastern European descent, first hit on the amate idea. Kerlow ran a
crafts shop in Mexico City (Centro de Arte y Artesania) and fre ...
quently purchased pottery from the Alto Balsas area. He knew the
problems with transporting pottery and was looking for another
medium to market to his customers. Kerlow and Ehrenberg disagree
bitterly as to who deserves the credit, but by 1 962 they had three
teenage Ameyaltepec pottery artisans-Pablo de Jesus, Pedro de Jesus,
and Cristino Flores Medina-painting on amate paper. 19
Kerlow and Ehrenberg had more contact with Ameyaltepec artisans
than with those of Oapan. The former were actively selling their pot ...
tery in the Bazar Sabado (Saturday Bazaar) , the leading high ... quality
Mexican crafts market for tourists, located in San Angel, right next to
where Kerlow had his folk art shop. The very origins of amate art reveal
the persistent differences between Ameyaltepec and Oapan. Ameyal ...
tepec is closer to the main highway, which makes the Ameyaltepec
artisans more mobile and helps make Ameyaltepec a richer commu ...
nity. This kind of economic geography has shaped amate painting from
the beginning.
Kerlow was a successful dealer and attracted a high quality of buyer

to the amate artists. In addition to the favorable location of his shop,
Kerlow was a well ... known movie actor. He starred or played in dozens
of Mexican movies (his best ...known Mexican role was in Si no te vuelva
a ver ( If I Don't See You Again) , which won the Mexican equivalent of
an Oscar; American viewers might be familiar with his role as Trotsky
in Frida) . Kerlow's clientele thus tended to have cultural stature and a
good eye for art. He was also fluent in English, which helped attract
North American customers. One of the earliest of his buyers was Mary
Price (sister of the movie actor Vincent Price) , who assembled a large
collection of early amate by buying from Kerlow. Kerlow also had the
connections to arrange for some amate exhibitions in Mexico City.20
In other words , his success in popular culture gave him the connections
to promote this new indigenous art form.
The very first Oapan painters borrowed the idea of amate painting
from the Ameyaltepec artisans. One early amate painter reports being
encouraged by the San Pablito merchants who were selling amate
paper. At first, amate paper had been obtained through middlemen, but
soon the San Pablito papermakers were traveling to the Alto Balsas
region to sell the paper to the painters. The San Pablito merchants had
had success selling their paper to the Ameyaltepec painters and
thought Oapan would be a lucrative tnarket as well. They brought the
paper around and explained to the Oapan residents how they could
transfer pottery motifs to it. Felipe Ehrenberg describes the jump of
amate painting to Oapan as "practically automatic." Soon, almost
everyone in Oapan was trying the art.21
Since those origins, amate painting has been clustered tightly by
geography. Amate painting spread from Ameyaltepec, but not very far.
The villages featuring amate painting are Maxela, Xalitla, Ahue ...
huepan, Ahuelican, Ameyaltepec, San Agustin Oapan, San Juan
Tetelcingo, Tlamamacan, Analco , and T ula del Rio-all linked to the
Alto Balsas Nahua community. Virtually all of the high ... quality amates
come from four locales: San Agustin Oapan, Ameyaltepec, Xalitla, and
Maxela. Once we get past the four main villages, the other Alto Balsas
producers of amate paintings focus on generic amate painting for the
tourist trade, rather than amate painting as a creative art.22
In part, amate painting is geographically clustered so tightly because
of how it is taught, through families and social networks. Most amate
painters learned the craft through family, relatives, or immediate mem ...
bers of their social network, rather than from outsiders. Families and kin ...
ship networks-the fundamental economic, political, and artistic units
of the pueblos-served to transmit amate painting among the best
Oapan painters. This is partly why the very best amate painters come
from such narrow circles, both geographically and socially. Amate paint ...
ing illustrates the theme of "collaborative circles," small groups of tal ...
ented individuals who are simultaneously cooperators and competitors.23
Many individuals in Oapan and the other amate pueblos decided to
pursue their fortunes as painters. No other comparable means of suste ...
nance was available, so in the 1 960s and the early 1 970s, the return to
painting amate, relative to alternative endeavors, reached a peak. The
development of the Oapan group is best understood in this context.
Labor was plentiful in supply; an effective training network existed,
based in families and pottery work; and amate painting was the best
available means of earning extra money. Amate art blossomed in the
pueblos and has been riding off this initial momentum for nearly forty
years. A wide variety of economists , from Alfred Marshall to Paul Krug ...
man, have written about the "learning externalities" that occur when
groups of talented individuals share the same space; amate painting
like Silicon Valley, but on a much smaller scale-illustrates this phe ...
nOlnenon.24
These origins help explain why the best amate painters are so tightly
clustered by age. Around the year 2003 , a remarkable percentage of
them were between the ages of forty ... seven and fifty... seven years old.
Some of the older top ... rate amate painters who are now dead ( e.g. ,
Francisco Garcia Simona and Pablo de Jesus ) would be about sixty
years old if they were still alive.25 Arguably the youngest amate painter
of renown is Nicolas de Jesus ( son of Pablo, the first amate painter) ,
who was forty ... two years old in 2003 . It is hard to find any notable tal ...
ent younger than forty years of age, though there are dozens of good
painters between the ages of forty and fifty ... five.
The ages of these painters make sense if we consider that amate
painting started in the early 1 960s. If an amate painter is currently fifty,
he or she would have been ten or so in the early 1 960s. Since the most
effective amate training starts at young ages, these individuals were
coming of age at just the right time. Interest in amate painting was tak ...
ing off, and outside markets were opening up.
At the same time, the villages remained immersed in traditional cuI;

ture, which provided a rich source of themes and inspirations. Unlike
today, the fiestas were replete with elaborate ritualistic dances and
high;quality wooden and leather masks. Missionaries had yet to make
inroads into the native folk religions. The pueblo was a close;knit
group, and pueblo culture was the dominant-indeed, virtually the
only-influence over Alto Balsas residents. Alto Balsas painters had a
unique perspective on the world, which they translated to their amates.
In other words , early amate painting benefited from a favorable mix
of trade and isolation. Trade gave artists the necessary raw materials,
the idea of amate painting, and a set of wealthier customers. Isolation
gave them a unique artistic perspective and a set of aesthetic inspira;
tions to draw upon.
Amate painting came along when Oapan appeared to be in decline.
The economic profile of Oapan was already changing by the 1 940s
not obviously for the better. New taxes from the 1 930s and newer roads
lowered the profitability of Oapan porters in the salt trade. For a while,
the village was left without a maj or source of livelihood, and its future
looked grim. The reach of Spanish;speaking culture was growing
rapidly, and many Mexican villages were being overwhelmed or aban;
doned. Census data show that the Oapan population was declining
throughout the first part of the twentieth century. The population in
1 895 was 1 ,644, which fell to 1 ,043 by 1 93 0 and 898 by 1 940. Amate
painting, however, allowed villagers to make a living in their native
setting and to express their love for their pueblo and culture. Village
population has been growing since the painting of amates began.2 6
Amate in the Camilo Ayala Family
The environment and the core economy of Oapan led the Camilo
brothers to art and to painting. Marcial and Juan can recall painting
pots before they were ten years old. They learned their painting skills
in part from their mother. Felix Camilo started painting pottery later,
at fifteen years of age. The making of the ceramics, however, remained
in the hands of the women, as it does to this day.
Juan, being the eldest, was the first of the group to paint amates, but
Marcial followed shortly thereafter. Both started in their early to mid;

dIe teen years, though neither remembers the exact age. In amate, as in
pottery, Felix Camilo started later than did his older brothers. Felix was
not painting amates until he was eighteen or nineteen years old. Even
then, he was painting birds and flowers when his brothers were paint;
ing more complex scenes called historias ( explained shortly) .
All the painters in the group report that their parents gave them
strong encouragement, if only for financial reasons. The mother of
Marcial, Juan, and Felix was extremely pleased when the boys started
painting amates. She saw it, first and foremost, as a good way to bring
money into the family. She also enj oyed the art itself and could see that
her sons enjoyed it as well.
The fourth Camilo brother, Fausto, has never painted amates for a
living, but he did try his hand at the craft for a while. He was the black
sheep of the family from almost the beginning and never was much
attracted to the artistic activities of the others. His mother still
describes him as excessively rebellious. In addition to working in the
fields , he works with wood, making chairs and furniture, as did his
father much earlier.
Three sisters of the family have painted amates. Carmen Camilo
Ayala is younger than Felix, the youngest of the painting brothers. She
painted alnates for lnany years, with her tutelage cOIning lnainly froln
Felix, whose style she has to a large extent adopted. She claims that her
status as a woman provided no obstacles to becoming an amate painter;
during the height of her amate painting career, she painted about fifty
amates a year, though none of extremely large size or ambition. Several
years ago, however, she gave up painting amates and moved into the
more profitable line of pottery production. A second sister, Francisca,
the very youngest of the group, also paints amates and pottery, which
she sells in the market of Morelia in central Mexico.27
An older sister, Amalia, never painted amates, but she painted pot;
tery from the age of twenty;five. She reports learning much from her
brothers but claims she never had the materials-paper and paints-to
set out on her own as an amate painter. She is respected for the high
quality of her pottery, especially her sculpted musicians. The shapes
show real motion, and the painting has subtle hues in contrast to the
garish colors of most current Oapan ceramics painters.
Painting "Stories"
The first amates of Juan and Marcial were paintings of birds and
flowers , a genre from the early days of amate. These pieces took their
visual themes from the pottery of the region, which in turn drew on
pre; Hispanic styles and motifs. Oapan, of all the Rio Balsas pueblos,
has had the longest and closest experience with pottery production.
Oapan ceramics , with their relatively simple scenes of animals (deer,
rabbits, foxes ) , birds ( eagles, hawks, owls, hummingbirds ) , and flowers,
have a feel that is wispy, charming, and childlike. Juan and Marcial
lifted this aesthetic directly into their early amate works.
Marcial was the first Oapan resident to make the breakthrough to
painting larger and more ambitious works. He first started painting
"stories" (historias in Spanish, or tla: katsintsi:ntih, which is Nahuatl for
"little humans" ) in his later teen years (Marcial estimates he was eigh;
teen ) . He was in Acapulco selling the pottery of his mother when he
saw numerous high;quality amates from nearby Ameyaltepec. A week
later, he attended an amate "tournament" in Mexico City. Both times,
the work of Francisco Garcia Simona impressed him the most, virtually
entrancing him. Garcia, one of the most renowned amate painters from
Ameyaltepec, was one of the first artisans to portray complex pictorial
scenes, usually building up cotnbinations of the sitnpler eletnents frotn
the earliest amates into grander and more complicated schemes.
The distinctive Ameyaltepec historia style fills the paper with detail
and stacks various layers of village activity vertically, in the form of
bands. One band might show agricultural work, another band might
show a wedding, another band might show swimming and fishing in
the river, and so on. The bands run unevenly and perhaps fall into each
other. Rows of corn sometimes separate the distinct planes within an
amate. The sky is sometimes nothing more than a narrow band running
along the top of the picture, and the distinction between the horizon
and the earth is often not clear. The sky tends to be filled with the sun,
moon, and stars all at once-and perhaps with comets as well. Individ;
ual figures tend to be less prominent, and colors tend to be sponta;
neous, almost shocking. Harvests, fieldwork, hunting scenes, weddings,
and festival offerings are among the most common themes. The viewer
senses from the works that the Ameyaltepec painters live in a crowded,
medieval;style town, built into the side of a mountain.
Marcial immediately imagined how he could tell similar "stories"

about Oapan. He reports being piqued when he saw that one of Garcia
Simona's amates portrayed his beloved Oapan, even though the artist
was from the very different Ameyaltepec. Marcial thought he should be
the one painting the historias of Oapan. Most of all, Marcial recollects
having become very bored with painting birds and flowers , noting that
sometimes he was painting the same obj ect the same way a thousand
times in a row. Marcial later owned a poster portraying a black ... and ...
white amate by Garcia Simona, and he referred to this image for subse ...
quent inspiration.28
The role of this poster and the Taxco exhibit illustrate the com...
plexity of cross ... cultural exchange and the many kinds of interdepen ...
dence that are possible. We did not observe the larger Mexican culture
wiping out the smaller Nahua culture of Oapan. Instead, we saw that
the commerce of the city and the intervention of advanced printing
technology helped tie together the artistic traditions of two very close
N ahua villages.
Marcial and the other group members drew on the styles of other
Ameyaltepec artists in addition to Francisco Garcia. The earliest works
of Pablo de Jesus, the very first amate painter, were highly conceptual,
with an emotional flavor bordering on the manic. Some portrayed mur ...
der, the hunting of anitnals, and general scenes of chaos. Cristino Flo ...
res Medina and others commonly painted just a few central figures,
rather than a whole crowd scene. Marcial also recalls having been
influenced by Alfonso Lorenzo (who later painted amates using oils, in
a pointillist style) , Eusebio Diaz (who painted complex scenes of the
apocalypse, suffused with millenarian fervor) , and Gabriel de la Cruz
(who painted field scenes ) , all from Ameyaltepec.
Marcial's historias, however, did not fit the traditional Ameyaltepec
model. He drew on Ameyaltepec inspirations while adding more
ethnographic detail, a greater concern with fiestas, and a sweeter, more
mystical, dreamier mood. He developed a distinct Oapan style of
amate, frequently portraying fiestas, masks, Holy Week ceremonies ,
and other ethnographic themes. In Ameyaltepec, in contrast, fiestas
were ( and remain) less spectacular, less frequent, and less central to vil ...
lage life. The emphasis on ethnographic themes was in part Marcial
portraying what he knew. But it was also a conscious decision to record
and commemorate a culture that was changing and vanishing rapidly.
Each painter reports and rues that traditional dances and masks have
been disappearing since their childhood.
Typically, there are only a few figures in Marcial's early historias ,
unlike the dozens of smaller figures that might b e found in some o f the
Ameyaltepec historias . In Marcial's amates, lines tend to be sharply
drawn, planes are angular, and perspective is distorted, with everything
appearing excessively flat. The work is detailed, though not to an
extreme, as might be found in an Ameyaltepec amate. Colors tend to
be sharp yet earthy.
The Rio Balsas provided an especially important theme for Marcial
and the other Oapan painters. The river, with a span ranging from ten
to fifty meters, plays a central role in the life of the pueblo. In the dry
season, the river can be quite shallow; in flood times ( typically sum;
mer ) , it can be strong and dangerous. The river also fertilizes and
replenishes nearby growing grounds.29 Villagers go to the river to play
and to bathe or simply because other people are there. The Rio Balsas
serves as a center for socializing. These river meetings become forums
for discussion, gossip, politics, and constructing social alliances. Mar;
cial and the others painted many different aspects of life in or along
the river.
Landscapes with figures were another prominent motif and remain
so to this day. Early alnates of the Oapan group showed people working
in the fields , cutting sugarcane, planting or cleaning corn, gathering
the harvest, or walking in canyons.
But these portraits were never fully realistic. Instead, they were delib;
erate works of the imagination, fantasies, an idealized representation of
how the world might be or a vision of a hidden paradise. Compared to
the reality, the work appeared less hard, the landscape appeared less dry,
and the canyons appeared less desolate. Group members frequently use
the metaphor of their dreams when describing their work.
Marcial recalls receiving frequent criticism from other pueblo mem;
bers for painting his historias . They told him he was painting "things
from another world" [cosas del otro mundol instead of painting reality.
At times , they would cut him off and walk in front of his steps on pur;
pose or tell him that his work was no good.3o
Marcial's amates also reflected Nahua cosmology more explicitly
than did the works from Ameyaltepec. Louise M. Burkhart ( 1 988, 48 ) ,
in her study of sixteenth;century N ahua thought, wrote: "An essential
feature of the Nahua cosmos was its animate character. Mountains ,

bodies of water, the wind, the moon, stars, sun, and heavens, as well as
the earth itself, were animate beings . . . . The Nahuas did not set
humanity off from the rest of nature like Christianity does. Human
beings were a part of the world; the world was not something to be
rej ected or striven against." Roughly five hundred years later, Marcial
reflected such a vision in his amates.
Religious and quasi ... religious ceremonies have provided rich mater ...
ial for the amate painters. Oapan residents usually profess an allegiance
to Catholicism, but Catholic doctrine has been superimposed on tradi ...
tional beliefs with strong animist components. The villagers multiply
the saints into a complex pantheon of deities and do not place those
saints beneath Jesus or the traditional Christian God. In effect, the vil ...
lagers treat Jesus Christ as simply another saint. Village lore still sug ...
gests that the saints can influence and foretell the amount of rain that
will come. Villagers therefore court the saints with processions, music,
and flowers, especially during the times of fiestas, which is when the
people are most worried about the rain.3 1
The year remains crowded with fiestas and sacrificial offerings, few of
which are predominantly Catholic. The fiestas in particular provide
the closest equivalent to a village religion. As is common in much of
the Latin world, Easter (Semana Santa) is the most important holiday
and the most important fiesta. The villagers stage a multiday Passion
play (representing the death and resurrection of Christ) , dating from
the Spanish Passion plays of the seventeenth century. The bad guys ,
such as Judas and the murderers of Christ, are played by live village
"actors," whereas Jesus and Mary are inanimate statues (s antos ) . These
Easter plays provide the maj or source of what the villagers know about
Christianity.
Many villagers also believe in nahuales , creatures roughly analogous
to "were ... animals," or people who temporarily take on animal spirits.
These spirits of metamorphosis may be good, bad, or comic. They
include foxes, bats, rabbits, cats , burros, j aguars, owls, and lizards.
Other nahuales take the form of animated dolls. The notion of nahuales
dates at least as far back as the Aztec Empire, where it served as a cen ...
tral religious concept. Most villagers will profess a belief in nahuales ,
though they will admit they have never seen them. The concept has
long been common in Oapan amates.32
The Spread of Historia Painting in Oapan
Marcial's interest in painting more advanced amates spread quickly.

Brother Juan and cousin Inocencio were the first to copy Marcial. Felix
J imenez and the Mauricio brothers followed shortly thereafter, with
Felix Camilo coming later. Juan, in addition to being influenced by
Marcial, came into direct contact with Francisco Garcia Simona. Juan
met Francisco when the two were selling amates in Cuernavaca. Juan
saw Francisco's complex historias firsthand-including his black;and;
white works-and loved the new style as did Marcial. His own works
quickly became more complex, and he moved beyond the early simple
styles, j ust as Marcial had. Marcial's influence and strong personality
helped develop a cadre of historia painters in Oapan, drawn largely from
Marcial's friends and relatives. Again, we see talented individuals sur;
rounding themselves with a circle of able collaborators and allies.
The painters Inocencio and Felix J imenez also came from a tradi;
tional Oapan family. Seven of the family's children survived, all boys,
another of whom (Marcelino ) paints pottery. The family members'
early biographies are typical of the region. The father worked in the
fields, especially cutting and carrying sugarcane, and the mother
painted pottery, in addition to her household duties. Many of the pots
were for the local houses, but others were sold in tnarkets in the nearby
city of Iguala.
Inocencio started painting amates when he was fifteen years old. He
had seen some of the older people in the village painting, took a liking
to the task, and was formally introduced to the idea of painting by a
friend of the family. The family encouraged him from the start. At first,
Inocencio painted on cardboard for practice, but he moved quickly to
amates, the standard medium of the time. Like the other painters dis;
cussed here, his first amates were of animals and birds. He reports hav;
ing a great passion for amate painting since the very beginning of his
connection with the art.
Inocencio started painting more complex amates (historias ) through
his contact with Marcial. After Marcial started painting historias ,
Inocencio quickly followed his lead. Inocencio, like the other group
members, has felt the strong shadow of Marcial. He looks up to Mar;
cial, sees Marcial as a source of authority on virtually all things worldly,
and has been much influenced by Marcial in his art.
Felix J imenez started painting amates a short time after his brother
Inocencio did. He started relatively late, at the age of sixteen, moving
on to historias by the time he was eighteen. For the most part, he was
inspired from watching his older brother and, later, through his contact
with Marcial. He had little experience painting pottery in his earlier
years. This weaker background in pottery and relatively late start in
amates may explain why his pictures are often more "painterly" than
the works of the others and why he now prefers painting on board to
amates.
Roberto Mauricio was born into a family with six surviving children
(two sons and four daughters ) and recalls his childhood as spent in
extreme economic want. He had been painting ceramics since the age
of eight and turned to amates by the age of twelve. Roberto first started
painting historias when he was fifteen years old. He saw the work of
Marcial and some posters of historia amates in Cuernavaca. Like Mar ...
cial, Roberto fell in love with the new style and moved beyond the
depictions of birds and flowers that comprised the amates of his youth.
Roberto's older brother, Abraham Mauricio Salazar (forty ... eight
years old in 2003 ) , also learned to paint historias . His career did not fol ...
low that of the others, however, as he never painted larger pictures for
North American clients. Instead, Abraham Mauricio is best known for
illustrating a 1 979 Mexican book, El ciclo mag{co de los dias , which fea ...
tures a short amount of text about the customs of Oapan and many
reproductions of amates by Abraham. The book, edited by Antonio
Saldivar, a bank director ( at Banamex) in Cuernavaca, helped expose
the educated Mexican public to the amate painters and their locale.
The styles of the group members have diverged over time and con...
tinue to do so, but in the early works of all the group members, it is pos ...
sible to see a consistent Ur ... style, rooted in the early historias of Marcial.
By the very early 1 9 7 0s, the Camilo brothers, their cousins, and the
Mauricio brothers were all painting in this style.33
The development of a unique Oapan style was part of a more general
development in amate markets. As the amate market grew in the mid ...
1 960s, it became profitable for painters in the differing pueblos to
develop new styles. This is a simple illustration of Adam Smith's
famous dictum that division of labor is limited by the extent of the
market. As the market grew, amate painters from the nearby pueblos,
rather than following the early Ameyaltepec model, developed their
own signature styles. A quick examination of any quality amate work

usually gives away the village of origin, as the viewer can see which
style it draws from.
Xalitla painters use a greater amount of open space and emphasize a
central figure or scene. In a Xalitla amate, unlike in many Ameyaltepec
works, the viewer can easily discern where the ground and the horizon
begin and end. Techniques of composition and perspective, while they
remain "naive," are more orthodox in Xalitla than elsewhere. In Xalitla
pictures, one sees that the painters live in a less crowded town and on
flat earth.
Maxela amates are usually long rather than wide. This may reflect
the multiple vertical levels of that pueblo, which is built into a steep
hill. In contrast with the other amate pueblos, women are the most
active painters in Maxela ( see chapter 6 ) . In amates from Maxela, the
sun is often shown rising or setting behind a mountain, as one might
see from the pueblo. Themes tend to be sweeter and are rarely contro ...
versial or ambiguous. The colors are softer and use more pastel than
would be found in amates of the other pueblos. Weddings, dances , and
pinatas are common in the pictures. Flora and fauna are emphasized,
and agricultural work is deemphasized, as it plays less of a role in village
life in Maxela, even for the men.
Marcial started signing his alnates when he was about eighteen years
old, essentially once he started painting historias . Other group members
followed suit. Marcial saw that buyers started asking for amates of par ...
ticular artists, knowing some of the artists' names, and wanting more
from the same person they had bought from previously. Buyers were
starting to think of the amates as works of art, not just paper trinkets.
By the 1 970s, amates were no longer curiosities but, rather, became a
well ... known genre throughout Mexico, especially in the major tourist
centers. Not only were more people buying amates, but regular cus ...
tomers had developed, which encouraged painters to maintain high
levels of quality.34
As noted earlier, almost all the amate buyers were North Americans
or Europeans. The amate painters sold few works to Mexicans. The
prices of the historias were too high for most Mexicans. Marcial also
notes that most Mexicans , especially those with money, thought that
his drawings were worth less than European art simply because they
came from an indigenous culture. Wealthy Mexicans frequently collect
art-arguably more than many other national elites-but their tastes

run toward abstract art, Mexican surrealism, modern Latin American
art, and European modernism. They do not generally collect Mexican
indigenous creations. They generally buy them as decorative folk art,
rather than caring about the individual artist.
Mexican society, like many of the other Latin American countries ,
places a premium on fair skin and European or U.S. cultural habits.
Mexican television programs illustrate the maxim that fairer skin
means higher status. Mexicans commonly try to cover up or downplay
any indigenous roots they might have. Amate paintings, in contrast,
remind buyers of the true Mexico-namely, a deeply indigenous and
mestizo society only recently emerging from extreme poverty. Not only
are the artists and sellers obviously indigenous, but the paintings por;
tray indigenous scenes, such as fieldwork. In contrast to most wealthy
Mexicans, many foreign buyers regard amate themes and origins as fas;
cinating or exotic. Amates portray a world that the foreign buyers have
never seen, suffered under, or tried to run away from. For these reasons ,
the amate painters have found much greater acceptance from outsiders.
The going rate for an amate of the historia form in the early 1 970s
was about twenty to forty pesos, roughly between two and four Ameri;
can dollars (the exchange rate was twelve and a half pesos to a dollar
until 1 976, when it fell by 40 percent overnight ) . Most of the group
members sold at this price. Marcial, however, demanded eighty to one
hundred pesos ( in the range of six to eight dollars ) for his amates. Mar;
cial also refused to bargain or lower his price (he became known for this
stubbornness ) , despite receiving continual advice to bargain with his
potential buyers.35
The group did not face fully favorable market conditions, as the sell;
ing prices for normal street amates had been falling. At the beginning
of the 1 960s, a good amate might sell for three hundred pesos ( about
twenty;four dollars at that time ) ; at the end of the 1 960s, a comparable
amate might sell for only about seventy pesos (five to six dollars ) . In
essence, amate painters flooded the market, causing prices to fall. By
the early 1 9 70s, the normal price for a good amate had fallen to about
twenty;five pesos , or no more than two dollars. In later times, the good
painters earned a living from high;quality amate painting only by cuI;
tivating some special niche, such as by developing a network of foreign
buyers, which the Oapan group was to do.3 6
In those very early years, the brothers had no trouble justifying the
time they spent painting amates. They were teenagers living at home
and had not been expected to earn much in the first place. Anything
they could bring home was a luxury. Indeed, all the painters in the
group brought the money home to their families, to help supply bare
essentials for the household. They did not spend it on their own con;
sumption. It was not a question of whether the painters were earning
enough to make a living. Now they were earning something rather
than nothing at al1.37
Low prices were not the only problem. Most of all, the group feared
the Mexican police. The police demanded bribes, confiscated wares,
and generally made life difficult for traveling artisans. They engaged in
strategies that economists have described as "rent creation." Many
locales require permits from sellers of arts and crafts. In reality, these
permits give police a means to extort bribes. A common tactic is for the
police to claim that the permit has expired (whether or not it has ) and
then require an extra payment on the spot. Sometimes the permit will
never be made available to the seller in the first place. The especially
corrupt police in Acapulco were the reason why the group of painters
discussed in this study settled on Cuernavaca as their primary market
( there will be more discussion of this locale shortly) . 38
Police problems, while worse in some areas than others , proved to be
ubiquitous. Inocencio Chino had one of his first experiences selling
amates in Mexico City in one of the town markets when he was a
teenager. Inocencio had taken a bus to Mexico City to sell his work,
but he had no license to sell in that locale, a common problem for
amate painters. He was arrested by a policeman, placed in jail for a few
hours, and brought before a judge. The judge pronounced him guilty
and then told him not to sell there again. The j udge then asked
Inocencio how much the amates cost and purchased two from him
before letting him go.
Roberto Mauricio, in his early days of amate selling, was hauled
before the police in Oaxaca, as they claimed (correctly) that he did not
have a permit to sell in Oaxaca State. Roberto made a lengthy speech
to the police ("I am not in another country. I am in Mexico. I can sell
here . . . to my countrymen . . . " ) ,39 which he claims required extreme
bravery at the time. He then paid the necessary bribe and was released
to sell again on the streets.
Felix J imenez also experienced regular problems with the police, and
he offered them periodic bribes to stay in business. He reports receiving
five pesos for a bird amate and ten pesos for a historia during his earlier
years (this translates into about forty and eighty cents , respectively, at
that time ) . Roberto Mauricio concentrated his early selling efforts in
Cuernavaca, due to its proximity, population, and wealth. Marcial first
tried selling his amates in Acapulco, but police harassment was such a
serious problem that he quickly switched to Cuernavaca.
Until recently, Acapulco has remained notorious among amate sell ...
ers for its corrupt police. In Acapulco, an amate seller might have to
pay off hotel employees, police, inspectors, security guards , and the
officials in charge of the beaches.4o Looking toward more recent times ,
the greater honesty of the police in Cancun is one reason why sellers
are gravitating toward that region.
Markets
The growth in markets allowed Oapan to develop the tradition of the

itinerant crafts merchant who paints and sells amates, ceramics, and
other craft works. A family will work to build up a sufficient stock of
amates and crafts and then will send one family member out to sell the
material. The sellers typically stay several weeks outside the pueblo,
depending on the time of year and how business is going. They sell in
the artisan markets, in the street, on the beach, or wherever buyers can
be found. While selling, they live in shared apartments in cheap hotels
or boarding houses, where they cook their own food and speak N ahu ...
atl, forming a mini ... island of their culture in the larger urban setting.
These marketing efforts account for most of the extra income in the
village and have driven village growth over the last forty years.41
These craft merchants piggybacked on the broader phenomenon of
Mexican and North American economic growth. To see who bought
amates and supported the painters, let us step back for a minute and
look at the general trends in the area.
Throughout the twentieth century, the economy of Oapan and sur ...
rounding villages developed closer links with the neighboring urban
centers-namely, Iguala, Cuernavaca, Taxco, Acapulco, and, of
course, Mexico City. In the twentieth century, Mexico grew at the
average rate of about 5 percent a year, extending the reach of large and
midsize cities into very remote rural areas.42
The Porfirio Diaz regime ( 1 8 7 6-1 9 1 1 ) , which started a long;run
trend of improved transportation and infrastructure, drove this growth.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, most "roads" were passable
only by foot or with beasts of burden, each Mexican state levied its own
tariffs, and a traveler could expect to be robbed at least once on any
journey of length. All of these conditions were to change. In the early
1 870s, Mexican railways were virtually nonexistent, but by 1 9 1 0 Mex;
ico had over twenty;six thousand miles of railroad track. Transporta;
tion improvements allowed regions to trade with each other and made
many backwaters into thriving urban centers.43
The urban centers of import to Oapan have their economic roots in
this era. The first train came to Cuernavaca in 1 89 7 , connecting the
town to Mexico City. The city grew rapidly, becoming a tourist center,
a weekend getaway, and a business and service center for the region.
Sugar production in Morelos ( the encompassing state) boomed, form;
ing the economic base of the region and allowing Cuernavaca to serve
as the maj or city for the surrounding agricultural communities.44
Iguala had not traditionally been the most important city in central
Guerrero; Tepecoacuilco had held that role since Aztec times.
Nonetheless, in the late nineteenth century, the railroad was built to
reach Iguala, causing that city to boom. Migrants streamed into the
city, merchant houses were set up, and the town became the service
city for the surrounding region, much as Cuernavaca did for Morelos.
The economy of Iguala had been based on vegetable oil and soap fac;
tories, which were no more than cottage industries, but the railroad
enabled the town to grow and diversify.45
Taxco, a colonial city in a lovely setting, had been a backwater since
its heyday in the seventeenth century. Most of its mines had shut down
by the late nineteenth century. Taxco boomed later than did Cuer;
navaca and Iguala, as it relied on growing tourism in the first part of the
twentieth century. In the 1 93 0s, American expatriate William
Spratling revitalized its silver crafts and marketed them widely to
Americans, often through the medium of department stores. Spratling
moved to Taxco in 1 929, and by the 1 940s, the city was a well;known
tourist stop with an American artist colony. Mining was never to
regain its former importance there, but the city managed to trade upon
its past.4 6
In the early twentieth century, the new road network and the car
made it possible to drive from one city to the next. The first car had come
to Cuernavaca in 1 905 . The road linking Taxco to Cuemavaca, which
proved essential to the revitalization of Taxco, came in 1 93 1 . In 1 933
Cuernavaca was connected to Mexico City by federal highway. In 1 950
came the Pan;American Highway, linking the United States and Mex;
ico by car; in 1 954 another highway linked Nogales, Arizona, to
Guadalaj ara, Mexico's second largest city. Both roads made it much eas;
ier for American travelers to reach Mexico or drive around the country.47
Acapulco bloomed late. The city became less important after Mexi;
can independence, when large Spanish ships stopped carrying their
supplies from Asia to Mexico. After the end of the Second World War,
however, the area was revitalized, as the spectacular beaches and
mountains drew numerous flights and cruise ships. The Mexican gov;
ernment had built a new airport for the town and promoted it heavily.
John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra,
and Sammy Davis Jr. were among its prominent visitors. Johnny Weiss;
muller filmed ten Tarzan movies in the immediate area. Elizabeth Tay;
lor had a wedding there, and Jack and Jackie Kennedy took their hon;
eytlloon in Acapulco. By 1 960, Acapulco was a world;class resort, yet
it was cheap enough to attract large numbers of middle;class Ameri;
cans. Mexico proved to be a convenient neighbor, offering exotic
sights close at hand.48
In the beginnings of the 1 93 0s, about thirty;three thousand Ameri;
cans visited Mexico each year. By the 1 950s, there were convenient
connections by rail, air, and road. The first American commercial flight
to Mexico came in 1 943 , and the routes were opened up to competition
in 1 95 7 . Greater ease of transport, along with growing prosperity,
caused the number of yearly American visitors to rise to about half a
million by 1 960. By the mid; 1 9 7 0s, this number was close to three mil;
lion a year. American tourists spent almost two billion dollars a year in
Mexico. The Echeverria government ( 1 970-7 6 ) took deliberate steps
to promote tourism, and by the 1 9 70s, Mexico ranked fourth in the
world in terms of gross receipts from tourism, mostly due to visitors
from the United States.49
Of course, visitors wanted souvenirs and mementos from their trips.

Since the 1 920s and 1 930s, American magazines had been running
articles about Mexican folk art, creating the basis for future demand.
Dwight Morrow, American ambassador to Mexico, organized a travel ...
ing exhibit of Mexican folk art in 1 93 0 ( including a stop at the Metro ...
politan Museum of Art in New York ) , with the assistance of the
Carnegie Corporation. Nelson Rockefeller started collecting Mexican
folk art en masse in the 1 930s and helped organize a show of Mexican
art, including folk art, at the Museum of Modern Art. Spratling's pub ...
licity for Taxco has already been noted.50 All of these developments
bore their fruit in the later American tourist boom to Mexico. As
Americans flocked to Mexico, the production of masks, woven gar ...
ments, ceramics, and straw hats rose dramatically. Many of these items
might be considered kitschy j unk, but in other cases, as with amates,
creators used the new market opportunities to make a living with qual ...
ity work. Rather than destroying Oapan, tourism helped it survive and
helped it reach new artistic heights.
The Oapan amate painters sold most of their work in Cuernavaca,
largely because of its numerous North American residents and visitors.
The sellers sought out North Americans in the streets, in the market,
or near the cathedral. Commonly, an amate seller would stand outside
restaurants that were popular with foreigners and offer alnates to indi ...
viduals on their way in and out of the door. Marcial recalls carrying
fifteen or twenty amates (the work of a month) until all were sold, then
going back home to paint more.5 1
When the Oapan painters were to return back home from a sales
outing, they would typically be met at Xalitla, the small town on the
main road j ust at the entrance of the high path up to Oapan. Friends or
family members came to meet them with burros. Usually, the painters
needed help getting back up to the pueblo, since they would be carry...
ing loads and packages. At that time, the village had no phones at all,
not even a central village phone (caseta) . When an individual was to
return to the pueblo, he would inform one of the Iguala radio stations
of his identity, and the station would announce the coming arrivals to
Oapan residents at prespecified times. Individuals in the pueblo would
listen to the broadcast and thus know when to meet their compatriots
down below with burros. At that time, the entire trip from Cuernavaca
back to the pueblo took about ten hours, the last six on burros, often on
steep upward inclines.52
The Oapan painters (with the exception of Felix Camilo ) recall
being terrified during their first trips to Cuernavaca. They did not yet
know how to speak Spanish, whether they would find a place to sleep,
whether they would encounter other pueblo members to help them
out, and whether they would have enough money to get back home. A
common early fear was that they would be hit by cars, which were
largely new to them and appeared to be extremely dangerous.
Nonetheless, the wealth of Cuernavaca made the trip worth the
trouble. By the 1 970s, Cuernavaca had developed as the most popular
residential spot for Americans in Mexico, because of its near perfect
climate, lovely flowers and gardens , proximity to Mexico City ( about
ninety minutes ) , and good supply of American goods and conve ...
niences. Cuernavaca is relatively rich in medical facilities, movie the ...
aters, and modern shopping malls. By 1 970, over 97,000 Americans
had retired in Mexico, with Cuernavaca as the leading destination. By
1 980, this number had risen to over 1 5 0,000 (and by 1 990 to 463 ,000 ) .
The American community in Cuernavaca had been long ... standing
since the early part of the twentieth century, when the railroad made
the town accessible. Retirees, however, were driving the new migra ...
tion. Alnericans were becolning Inore adventurous, and longer life
spans and greater wealth made retirement a more significant phenom ...
enon. The city first came to the attention of Americans when Dwight
Morrow fell in love with the place and spent much of his time there in
the 1 930s. Once Morrow's daughter married Charles Lindbergh, talk of
Cuernavaca spread in the media and in celebrity circles.53
As Mexico became wealthier in the postwar era, Cuernavaca
became a central destination for Mexican tourists as well. It is esti ...
mated that several hundred thousand Mexicans visit the city every
weekend, typically from Mexico City. These tourists provided further
financial support for the amate revolution. 54
To sum up, this chapter ends with the painters' lives in parallel. The
brothers obtained their first foothold in the marketplace and their first
set of clients. All the members of the broader group except for Felix
Camilo report having achieved a mature style by this point in time.
The Camilo brothers were earning some money from amate painting,
though not enough to sustain large families. They were all good friends
with the Jimenez and Mauricio brothers, their most important artistic
peers in Oapan. The Oapan painters were reaching a critical mass
where they taught each other on a regular basis , compared work, and
exchanged ideas. Yet they all had little sense of what was to come for
themselves or for their community. Oapan was standing on the brink of
both greater achievement and cultural dissolution.
O U R GROUP O F OAPAN PAINTERS next encountered North Ameri ...
can art markets. Rather than selling to tourists, they would sell to art
collectors, through the medium of a gallery. The painters, most of all
Marcial, acquired a North American patron. Ed Rabkin proved to be a
formative influence on the painters' lives. In terms of the theme of lib ...
erty versus power, the group suddenly was able to bypass the limitations
of the Mexican scene and reach tnuch richer and better ... developed
markets.
Rabkin's efforts on behalf of the group were heroic. The group, while
they remained poor in North American terms, earned a better living
than before. They were able to paint on a larger scale and in a variety
of media, while enj oying their artistic freedom. Rabkin encouraged
them to find their cultural voices rather than simply painting what
would sell. The group members had American exhibits, sold works to
American museums, became known by American collectors, and were
written about in books, catalogs, and magazine articles.
The group was able to leap over many of the constraints they faced
in Mexico. They were able to sell more than before, as Rabkin bought
large quantities of their work. Dealing with police and facing other
local hassles became a much smaller issue in their lives. Rabkin served
as the group's protector, even helping them with medical expenses or
advising them on how to deal with the outside world. His patronage
shows how cross ... cultural contact can increase diversity and artistic
41
quality in both the selling country ( in this case, Mexico ) and the buy;
ing country (the United States ) .
That being said, global art markets did not solve all of the group's
problems in the long run. As will be discussed in this chapter, Rabkin
could not become wealthy selling the group's pictures, and he could
not afford to pay the sums the painters felt they deserved. The artists
had their expectations raised, but the long;run reality disappointed
them. As each artist broke from Rabkin, he returned to the initial
problem of trying to make a living selling in Mexico, without the
benefit of international connections. Let us now see how the story of
Rabkin and the painters unfolded, with an eye on the benefits of trade.
The Turning Point
In 1 9 7 2 , Marcial, on one of his amate sales trips, encountered Ed

Rabkin. Rabkin and his wife, Carolyn, had j ust moved to Cuernavaca.
Rabkin was born in Montreal but grew up in Coney Island. At the
beginning of his career, Rabkin taught emotionally disturbed children
and pursued music. He sang in a group called The Tokens with Neil
Sedaka and, for a while, was the road manager for The McCoys (who
had the hit "Hang on Sloopy" ) . In 1 966, he and a business partner
started a Manhattan clothing store that was a leading supplier for many
1 960s clothing trends, including unisex styles. The store was
sufficiently renowned that it was asked to supply the clothing for the
Broadway play Hair .
Ed's beautiful wife, Carolyn Mae Lassiter, had been a fashion pho;
tography model. African;American by descent, she was one of the first
models to successfully cross the "color barrier." She came from a share;
cropper family in North Carolina, moved up north, and ended up
working as an assistant to a photographer. She and Ed met when he was
singing for Columbia Records in 1 968 and she did his makeup.
By the early 1 970s, the Rabkins were looking for further adventure.
They felt that something was missing in American culture. Like many
individuals of that time, they sought they own version of "dropping
out." Bill Negron, who visited Ed in Cuernavaca, described him as a
"flower child" at the time. The Rabkins had sold their clothing bou;
tique in New York City and moved to a farm in upstate New York.
American Discovery 43
Most of all, they wanted new experiences. 1 Upstate New York bored
them, and they considered moving abroad. They finally settled on
Mexico and Cuernavaca, once they discovered that they could not
bring their Great Dane to Afghanistan. They moved to Cuernavaca
without any firm plan-simply to see what would happen. The Rabkins
were hardly old enough or rich enough to retire (Ed was sixty;five as of
2004 ) , but the American community in Cuernavaca gave them a nat;
ural base.2
When Rabkin first met Marcial in 1 9 7 2 , he and Carolyn had j ust
arrived in Cuernavaca a few weeks earlier. At the time, Marcial was
twenty;one years old. When he ran into Rabkin, Marcial was in the
Z6calo (the city center) of Cuernavaca, selling a pile of his amates.
Rabkin was struck by Marcial's charisma, friendly demeanor, and self;
confidence. He was impressed that Marcial refused to bargain over price.
He ended up buying all of Marcial's amates on that first encounter, but
according to Rabkin, it was Marcial's personality that struck him.
Rabkin, new to Mexico, was looking to strike up a friendship, and Mar;
cial appeared to be a suitable candidate. At the time, Rabkin had no for;
mal background in the world of art, Mexican folk art, or amate. He real;
ized, however, that Marcial's amates had "more integrity" than the
others he had seen around Cuernavaca. Rabkin bought Marcial's entire
pile of alnates as a gesture of friendship and invited hitn to visit the
house. This kind of openness was new to Marcial.
At the time, Marcial spoke only a little Spanish, and Rabkin spoke
even less. Nonetheless, the two struck up a conversation at a very basic
level. Marcial told Rabkin a bit about his village and his culture. At the
end of the meeting, Rabkin gave Marcial his address with an invitation
to return, which Marcial did several months later.3 The absent;minded
Marcial had in fact lost the address that Rabkin gave him. He was
walking around Cuernavaca, searching for where he thought he had
visited. As a matter of pure chance, Rabkin spotted him while driving
in his car.
The relationship between Rabkin and Marcial developed rapidly.
Rabkin liked amates but thought Marcial should try painting on board
as well. He knew a Mexican painter, Ana Luisa Prida Ramos (discussed
further later in this chapter) , and he asked her what the next step
might be for someone like Marcial. Ana Luisa suggested that board
treated with gesso would provide a smooth surface somewhat akin to
ceramics. Rabkin then volunteered to provide Marcial with oil and

acrylic paints and masonite board if he wished to try more traditional
media of painting.
At first, Rabkin asked Marcial to make a simple black;and;white
drawing on board, akin to an amate. Afterward, Rabkin asked him to
paint something with two colors and then something with three colors.
At that point, Marcial simply said, "Now I understand." Rabkin never
gave him any more instructions; he simply let Marcial paint as he
wished. Suddenly Marcial was pursuing new artistic directions. He
showed Rabkin his pictures, and the two talked at length about the
direction of Marcial's art.
Rabkin and his wife then invited Marcial to live in their home. It
was their basic temperament to pursue things and see where they would
lead. Furthermore, unless Marcial had a permanent base in Cuer;
navaca, the Rabkins would have found it difficult to keep in touch with
him, given the difficulties of reaching Oapan. Most of all, they wanted
Marcial to have the time to paint and to realize his visions. The
Rabkins knew they had discovered something unique, and they
stepped into the multiple roles of patrons , supporters , and friends.
Marcial accepted the offer to live with the Rabkins. He is by nature
curious , eager to learn, and in search of adventure. He saw this as a
chance to pursue his art further, and he had taken a strong liking to the
Rabkins. The tradition of traveling merchant and salesman, well estab;
lished in Oapan, meant that a Cuernavaca residence was already a
familiar idea to Marcial. He thought it was possible to live in another
locale while maintaining his roots in the village and someday returning
there to live. Finally, Marcial knew that if he turned down one lucky
break, he could not count on another coming along. However, Marcial
had trouble leaving his responsibilities in Oapan. It became possible
only when the Rabkins paid for a peon to take Marcial's place in the
fields that year. 4
For the first year, only Marcial was painting in Rabkin's house.
These paintings were, at first, for Rabkin's own collection. In addition
to supporting him, Rabkin supplied artistic materials , hospitality, inspi;
ration, and stimulating conversations. Marcial recalls that Rabkin
explained the difference between artisan work and art and that these
discussions were vital to his own ideas about being an artist. The
Rabkins gave Marcial permission to develop his true identity, and they
validated the worth of that identity.
In addition to helping Marcial with his art, the Rabkins wanted
Marcial to feel as comfortable as possible with the outside world. They
also asked Marcial what he would need to be happier, and Marcial
mentioned that he missed his younger brother Felix. Shortly thereafter,
Marcial brought Felix to the house to paint. Felix had already met
Rabkin once briefly in a Cuernavaca restaurant, when he was selling
amates to restaurant clientele, as was common practice in Cuernavaca.
Felix came and began to paint, but by a number of accounts, the
work was dull and unimaginative. According to Marcial, Felix was very
timid at that time. Marcial talked to Felix, and six weeks later, Felix
returned with beautiful scenes of village life. Marcial claims he told
Felix to paint from the heart and to paint what he feels. Marcial
stressed to Felix that there was no contest between the brothers. Recall
that Felix had had little prior experience painting historias , as most of
his amates were still in the simple mode of birds and flowers. Felix
Camilo was jumping right into painting with less background than
Marcial had. To this day, it is apparent that Felix is a painter on board
first and an amate painter second. His amates look like painted pictures
on the amate medium, rather than resembling traditional amate styles.5
Marcial recommended that Rabkin consider the works of his other
friends and family, and Inocencio J imenez Chino was next to join the
group. The artists are fuzzy on the exact chronology of arrivals, but
shortly thereafter, a group of six-two groups of brothers and Roberto
Mauricio-was painting in Rabkin's house. Rabkin invited each of
these individuals, including his spouse (where applicable) , to live in
Cuernavaca. The artists lived in an adj acent cottage rather than in the
house proper.
Marcial notes that when he alone lived with the Rabkins, they ate
all kinds of food, which he enj oyed. Once his two brothers arrived, the
demand was for food Oapan style, such as rice, beans, tortillas, and
chiles.
Like Marcial, the other group members started painting on masonite
board. Rabkin's group was the first group of amate artists to experiment
systematically with a nonamate medium and stick with it as a preferred
means of painting.6
Rabkin never intended to be an art dealer, but suddenly he had

many pictures. He was not wealthy enough to subsidize the artists
indefinitely, so he went into the art business, if only because it seemed
like a logical step. He founded Galerie Lara in 1 9 7 3 , named after his
daughter, Lara, born in January of that year. The gallery had no sepa;
rate physical locale but, rather, was part of the complex in Cuernavaca
where Rabkin was living with the artists.
Rabkin told the group that he wished to have an exclusive dealing
arrangement with them: they were not to sell their paintings to other
galleries or other customers without his intermediation. Inocencio and
Juan Camilo maintained an independent status, usually by selling
amates on the side in Cuernavaca. For the most part, however, Rabkin
succeeded in receiving the bulk of the group's output, especially on
board.
The group was as much about the fusion of personalities as about art.
Rabkin had taken on a set of strong, attractive, and stubborn individu;
als, and the rest of the story cannot be understood without this context.
Long;time Mexican friend Maria Walsh describes Felix J imenez as
"imaginative and daring." All the group members cite him as the one
with the best sense of humor. He has always been organized, alert, and
outspoken. He speaks in a serious tone when he is joking and delights
in sarcaSln. He takes pride in blurting out the truth when no one else
will. He has always worn the neatest dress of the group. Today he is the
only group member to have a cell phone. Of the group, he has always
had the weakest ties to the village, and he has always wished to assim;
ilate into broader Mexican culture.
Inocencio Jimenez Chino is the older and heavier of the two broth;
ers. He is hardworking and known for his many friends. Marcial
describes Inocencio as shy and reserved relative to Felix J imenez. Maria
Walsh describes him as more serious and more traditional. Roberto
Mauricio says Inocencio is the group member who relaxes the least. But
like his brother Felix, Inocencio is pragmatic in temperament.
Roberto Mauricio, who grooms a mustache, is spontaneous,
extremely charismatic, and a "sweet talker." He comes across as a
dreamer at heart, and his strong personality fits the lay stereotype of an
artist. Everyone thinks of him as a "character," and he is much loved by
his friends. He says that he only seems crazy but in fact is very respect;
ful of others, a self;description that commands assent from those who
know him. He is a left;wing Zapatista, very fond of the Mexican Revo;

lution and Emilio Zapata's willingness to speak up for the Mexican
poor. Roberto is likely to see politics in black;and;white terms, as a
struggle between good and evil, with himself on the side of good. He
will flamboyantly offer opinions and tell lengthy stories at the slightest
invitation.
The Rabkins, who had found a group of people and a cause they
believed in, took on the dual task of managing these personalities and
selling the group's paintings. At the same time, the Rabkins also
designed leather goods, including bags, from their house in Cuer;
navaca, selling their designs to buyers in the United States. The
Rabkins thus had their core businesses; life with their daughter, Lara;
and life with the Oapan painters, most of all with Marcial and his fam;
ily. Bill Negron, who visited the house for a week in the mid; 1 970s,
described it as "a wonderful communal situation" and noted that the
artists were like "members of the family."
Stylistic Developments
All of the group members praise the artistic freedom that Rabkin
granted them. He would sometimes make suggestions as to themes or
give them feedback on their output, but he consistently told them to
paint their innermost feelings. He also wanted every picture to be dif;
ferent, rather than asking them to repeat the same scene many times.
He did not ask them to dumb down their work for the marketplace. In
terms of style and quality, Rabkin was close to an ideal patron. He
loved the work of the group and wanted to see it develop artistically as
much as possible. In essence, by increasing the market for the group's
work, he was able to support an increase in its creative diversity.
Marcial's paintings drew on the amate tradition but moved beyond
it rapidly. One of his most fully realized early paintings on board was a
nocturnal procession. The black background of the night and the radi;
ant sources of light coming from candles and stars would not have been
easy to paint on the thinner, amate paper. The varying thicknesses and
luminosities of the paint required the sturdier surface of board.
Another early painting of Marcial's, dating from 1 974, shows villagers
knitting and playing together in an outside space. The scene is simple,
with animated figures and muted pastel colors distributed into clear
and distinct fields. Overall, it is reminiscent of the Cap Haitian school
of Haitian pictures. Both of these pictures were much larger than the
previous amates of the group.
One commentator described Marcial's style as follows: "Camilo
paints in a style art critics call 'primitive' or 'naive' : the colors are
bright as Indian calico, the perspective is two ... dimensional, often sur ...
real. Camilo paints doll ... like portraits, fantastic and minutely detailed
landscapes-images of village life as innocent and at the same time as
complex as a visual fable."7
Marcial explored themes new to the world of amate. In his picture
The Dream, Marcial placed three dreaming heads at the bottom of the
painting and two ethereal spirits on top. The center of the painting,
enclosed in an incomplete and irregular oval, showed an idealized ver ...
sion of fieldwork and nearby landscapes. Another picture, a self... por ...
trait, showed Marcial as a proud young man, carrying a stack of amate
papers on his back and a small picture he had painted. The background
showed a canyon, his house in Oapan, and landscape, while the fore ...
ground showed strewn amates and works of pottery, all painted in
Oapan style. What the Sun Sees portrays a parched and desolate earth,
devoid of life. The sun sits in the sky, represented as a small bubble, in
which a circle of life still flourishes. Marcial also painted Adalll and
Eve, Rabkin's daughter with her cat, portraits in a quasi ... colonial style,
and various surrealistic experiments, some of which verged on the
abstract. He remained the conceptual leader of the group.
Felix J imenez Chino, often considered the second most sophisti ...
cated Oapan painter, developed a signature style. Rabkin encouraged
him to develop his own ideas , which meant an ability to conceptualize,
to delineate character, and to present irony. Felix Jimenez is the only
group member who paints the sardonic. When it comes to individual
portraiture and capturing emotions within a face, he is arguably the
most advanced of the group.
Felix Jimenez experimented just as Marcial did. Selden Rodman
(n.d. ) wrote of Felix: "[he] is attracted by very complex schema, bring ...
ing together segments of his life and dreams enclosed in flowing 'win ...
dows.' " These "windows," or paneled pictures, offered multiple per ...
spectives on a single event or character. Felix also painted his dreams,
as did Marcial, and inj ected them with an element of fantasy. His Aea,
puleo Imagined offers a young man's expectation of what a large city
resort might look like. Lover's Dream showed the gods offering children
to a blissful young couple. Cabaret showed the rich dining in a Cuer;
navaca restaurant, with the poor coming and begging for alms. One of
Felix's best;known paintings, Cousins , showed him and Marcial sitting
together in a room, playing guitars together.
Each of the artists developed a trademark style. Juan Camilo spe;
cialized in landscapes and joyous fiesta scenes. He filled his night skies
with sparkling stars. Inocencio is strong with detail and used that tal;
ent to portray mystery and depth. He painted large landscapes with a
surging Rio Balsas in the center and nighttime scenes filled with
urgency or danger. Selden Rodman ( 1 982, 202 ) noted: "Inocencio's
brush drawings in Chinese ink are beautifully adapted to conveying the
poetic rhythms of village life. But on occasion Inocencio has painted
moonlit landscapes with overtones of violence and magic." Roberto
Mauricio painted fiestas, local legends, witches, canyons, and night;
time scenes, all with a dreamy feel. As a draftsman he is the only group
member who can rival Marcial. He is a natural artist, and his works
come across as effortless. Felix Camilo painted flowers, nighttime
scenes, self;portraits, and his dreams, among many other themes. He
integrated ideas froin the others, including Juan's sparkling skies and
Felix Jimenez's sense of irony. Usually, his colors were bright and
cheerful.
Roberto Mauricio claims that his Catholicism has influenced his
painting very much, but in reality the painters relied more heavily on
their N ahua religious heritage. When asked for an example of Catholic
influence, Roberto cited his numerous amates of the Santa Cruz fiesta,
celebrated on the third of May. But this fiesta, which revolves around
ensuring a good supply of rain for the summer growing season, does not
fit the standard model of a Catholic holiday. Six days before the fiesta
begins, designated individuals begin to pray. The day before the fiesta,
special dishes are made, including moles and tamales. On May third,
the villagers, accompanied by local musicians and dancers, walk up a
steep mountain, called Cerro de la Cruz ( in Nahuatl, mis we : weh, or
"big cat" ) , carrying these food dishes. Upon reaching the top of the
mountain, they pray for rain, sometimes to the verge of tears. They also
eat the food, and they leave a large turkey in green mole sauce in a
ceramic pot as a sacrificial offering. The villagers know that birds ( zopi ...
lotes in Nahuatl ) will come and eat the offering. The villagers then
march back down the mountain, hear the ringing of the church bells,
and pray with rosaries. Afterward, those who have climbed the moun ...
tain meet in the house of the fiscal, the leading church authority of the
pueblo, where they eat chicken in red mole sauce and drink until very
late at night, while the music continues.8
The group members were influenced by the Spanish colonial art
they saw in the churches and museums of Cuernavaca. The Diego
Rivera mural in the Palacio de Cortes, near the central artisan market
of Cuernavaca, made an especially strong impression on all of them.
Marcial Camilo and Roberto Mauricio have mentioned Orozco as well
as Rivera. The Mexican muralist school gave them a sense of palette,
an artistic pride in their indigenous past, a penchant for ambitious
works, and ideas of how to portray large historical scenes.
The Palacio exhibited numerous Spanish colonial works as well,
which also influenced the painters. Marcial, when he turned to paint ...
ing on board, produced some portraits very much in the colonial style.
Juan Camilo's later pictures of saints owe much to the colonial
influence. More generally, Spanish colonial art gave them some sense
of the surrealistic and the fantastic.9
Politics was not (yet) a theme, but some of the group's pictures
developed a notion of the erotic. Both Felix Jimenez and Marcial
experimented with the portrayal of androgyny; Felix's favorite painting
from his entire career presents Adam and Eve joined together as one
creature, a man ... woman whose genitals hang beneath him/her. Other
panels of the picture contain a dead person, a church scene, a city
scene, birds flying, an animal scene, an illustration of the common
blood of the races of humankind, a woman making love to the devil,
and a more traditional rendition of Adam and Eve.
Marcial's portraits , especially his self... portraits, consistently make
the sex of the image ambiguous. His men look like women, and his
women look like boys (rather than men ) , particularly in the facial fea ...
tures. To this day, his self... portraits reflect androgyny, and his features
still have a strong feminine boyishness. A Cuernavaca street artist once
sketched Marcial's face in the mid ... 1 970s; when I first saw the portrait,
I thought it was a picture of a woman.
Splits and Fractures
The artists of the group, especially Marcial, were close with Rabkin,
but they complained about prices from almost the beginning. The
artists give differing accounts of prices , but they all report the same
general range of compensation. First, all were given free materials for
painting. In addition, they were paid between 1 5 0 and 400 pesos per
painting, depending on the size of the picture and its quality, with a
typical picture being twenty .. four by twenty inches in size. Marcial usu ..
ally received 500 to 600 pesos, somewhat more than the others. Using
the exchange rate in the mid .. 1 9 7 0s (before the drastic depreciation of
the peso ) , the compensation ranged from about ten to thirty .. five dol ..
lars per picture, forty to fifty dollars for Marcial. For purposes of per ..
spective, the daily minimum wage in Mexico ranged in the neighbor ..
hood of fifty pesos around 1 974. This translates into a little more than
four dollars a day, or twenty .. eight dollars for a seven .. day week. 10
Rabkin's financial burden was greater than what the painters
received, as he incurred many other expenses. He paid transportation,
fed them frequently, and often faced emergency expenses, such as
when he helped pay the dowry for Marcial's wife, Gloria, or gave the
artists money when they were not painting.
Rabkin told the painters that he would help them out if they ever
became ill, and this earned him special favor in their eyes. When Felix
Camilo needed medical treatments that cost about three thousand
pesos, he simply did not have the money. Rabkin stepped in to help,
and Felix Camilo was cured. To this day, Rabkin helps Felix with doc ..
tor bills, though Felix has not painted for him in a long time.
Roberto Mauricio narrates how Rabkin helped him with his medical
bills. When Roberto was about thirty, he suffered from nervous depres ..
sion for a while and was unable to muster much energy or desire to live.
According to Roberto's account, he had severe shakes on a regular
basis, his veins hurt him badly, and he was extremely listless after
episodes of illness. He stayed in the Rabkin's house and received med ..
ical treatments , largely herbal supplements and some acupuncture,
again at Rabkin's expense. Roberto recovered within a month's time
and still holds this episode as a very fond memory, one of the fondest of
his life. Rabkin helped out with an illness of one of Roberto's children
as well.
At one point, Felix Jimenez and Inocencio cultivated other Ameri ...
can clients in Cuernavaca. In particular, they pursued their relation ...
ship with Robert and Maria Walsh, which gave them independent
access to North American buyers. Robert was a literature professor at
Georgetown; Maria was his Mexican wife. They typically spent July
and August of the year in Cuernavaca. In 1 973 they met Inocencio
while he was selling his amates near the cathedral. They decided they
had come across something very special. They bought Inocencio's
amates and quickly developed a relationship with Inocencio and his
brother Felix ( and with Marcial, but to a lesser extent) .
Each year, Robert and Maria bought ten to fifteen amates from
Inocencio and Felix J imenez and resold them to their friends in the
United States. Typically, such an amate sale would bring about twenty ...
five dollars , and the couple sent the surplus back to Inocencio and
Felix. This allowed them to earn ten times or so per amate than they
would have otherwise received. At first, the Walshes bought the
amates themselves; later, they relied on intermediaries (first a Senora
Guerrero and later Ana Luisa Ramos Prida, who worked with the
Rabkins and later dealt in Marcial's art ) . This way they could receive
amates during the course of the year, not j ust in the summer. Maria
Walsh reports that all their friends were delighted with the amates and
that she and her husband kept buying and reselling for tnany years,
until they ran out of friends who wanted more amates. 1 1
Further outlets failed to develop, however, which sent the group
members back to Rabkin. Group members kept on asking for more
money, but Rabkin was reluctant to raise their pay by a significant
amount. Rabkin never made much money selling the group's works,
and he could not run down his capital indefinitely. A quick look at the
numbers illustrates the basic predicament. Had there been no disputes,
we can imagine each artist painting a picture a week for Rabkin. This
would have cost three hundred dollars a week in cash reserves, or about
fifteen thousand dollars a year-considering the greater value of money
in the 1 970s. This sum in no way includes the costs of selling and mar ...
keting the work. The Rabkins never turned away or criticized a picture.
So they would have had, each year, about fifty pictures by each of the
six artists, a difficult quantity to sell even under very favorable circum ...
stances. The Rabkins were generous, but they simply did not have
indefinitely deep pockets.
Group members became increasingly frustrated with their situation.

As tensions rose, Juan Camilo and Inocencio Chino were the first two
to leave the circle. Juan Camilo was unhappy with his pay, but more
important, Rabkin was unhappy with the quality of Juan's work. He felt
Juan was painting too many generic scenes and repeating the same
themes too many times. He also felt Juan was not taking sufficient care
with the details. Juan's very early pictures were among the best of the
group's works. But he started to paint with increasing speed and
decreasing care. His figures became larger, grosser, and less carefully
drawn. Repetition replaced the sense of magic. Other group members
accused Juan of not having enough patience. Inocencio has criticized
Juan's paintings as sloppy, and Felix Jimenez claims that Juan tried to
paint "two pictures in a day."12
Juan reports that Rabkin never talked with him but, rather, that
Marcial simply told Juan one day that Juan would no longer be paint;
ing with the group. Juan believes it displeased Rabkin that he was sell;
ing his work in other locales. Juan received five hundred pesos from
Rabkin as a severance payment and had no further relations with
Galerie Lara. Juan still feels very sad about this outcome. He also won;
ders what role the other group members played in his departure and
whether Marcial led a move to oust him.
Inocencio left the house after several tllonths, for strictly pecuniary
reasons. He found that Rabkin did not pay him enough to make his
time there worthwhile. He went back to working the land in Oapan,
while continuing to paint amates in his spare time, as has been the cus;
tom since the beginning of amate painting. He also continued to paint
pictures for Rabkin, though on a much less regular basis than before. In
this regard, his break was less extreme than Juan's. Inocencio tried to
sell some of his smaller pictures in Chilpancingo and found that they
reaped about four hundred pesos, precisely the amount that Rabkin had
been paying him for the much larger landscape pictures. Yet the exter;
nal market was not always there, and it did not help Inocencio develop
much as an artist.
Roberto Mauricio painted about twenty pictures in his first year with
Rabkin, working at a consistent pace; Felix Camilo recalls painting as
many as forty. These totals declined, however, once the painters
became aware they were not going to realize significantly higher prices.
Roberto returned to work on the farm and to live in Oapan. He still
painted for Rabkin at times, but he would no longer devote his exclu;
sive energies to the task. Roberto Mauricio estimates that he painted
for Rabkin for about eight years, though the quantity of pictures trailed
off considerably after the first few years. Roberto continued to cultivate
clients for his amate work when he was not painting for Rabkin. He
spent a good deal of time in Cuernavaca, often hanging out in the
Z6calo or in restaurants. He sold works to North Americans whom he
tried to develop into regular clients, with varying degrees of success.
Felix Camilo devoted more of his time to artisan work.
Felix J imenez stayed with Rabkin for longer than his brother
Inocencio did. In part, Felix liked to paint pictures on board more than
Inocencio did ( Inocencio favored amates ) ; in part, Felix wished to stay
away from Oapan. Most important, Felix found it easier to stay in
Rabkin's house because he was still single. Inocencio had married in
1 9 7 6 , but Felix did not marry until the early 1 980s. Felix was thus bet;
ter situated to pursue a career as a full;time painter, at least until his
marriage.
Felix stopped painting for Rabkin almost entirely by 1 98 1 . The rela;
tionship with Rabkin allowed him to paint in the style of his choice,
but now he needed to support a family. Felix painted only a few pic;
tures for Rabkin after this date, with the very last coming, by his
account, in 1 983 .
Overall, the group rarely had a good sense of what was happening
with the pictures. Inocencio reports they felt too uninformed to ask
about the price Rabkin was receiving in other markets. They never
knew what kind of American markets Rabkin was cultivating or about
the large collection of their work that the Thompsons were assembling
in Connecticut ( these points are discussed further later in this chap;
ter). The group discovered their history in the American market only
recently, when this author told it to them.
Despite the periodic disputes over money, most of the group mem;
bers have fond memories of their time painting for Rabkin and of their
time in Rabkin's house. Marcial developed the closest connections
with Rabkin and painted the most for him. Marcial ended up living in
the house for over ten years , until Rabkin returned to Santa Fe in the
early 1 980s. Marcial reports missing his work in the fields and missing
his pueblo but, nonetheless, enj oying his time in the house very much.
His family and Rabkin's became increasingly close. Maria Walsh

describes Marcial as "very devoted to the Rabkins."
Marcial first discovered the outside world through Rabkin. It was in
Rabkin's house that Marcial came into contact with art books and
learned about Western traditions in art. Marcial also heard classical
music there for the first time. He once noted, "When you [Rabkin] first
played your records of classical music it was like hearing an echo of my
life, something I'd been waiting for." The Eroica became his favorite
symphony and Beethoven his favorite composer. 13 Marcial still reports
having heard "musica celestial" in Beethoven, like the music he had
imagined in his own head as a child, many years before. The whole
group, in fact, listened to classical music with "intense affection" (to
quote Bill Negron) , although only Marcial has kept the habit.
Marcial rapidly developed other interests while living in Rabkin's
house. He taught himself to play the guitar, and more important, he
taught himself Spanish. He studied a Spanish;Nahuatl dictionary and
a Spanish;language copy of Carlos Castaneda's Te achings of Don Juan,
and within a year, he understood Castaneda's entire book and was reI;
atively fluent.
Marcial recalls reading whenever he had spare time from painting
and family. His friend Florence Browne describes him as wanting to
read "everything and anything." In addition to Castenada, he recalls
reading about the Aztecs , reading about the history of Mexico, and
reading National Geographic magazine to learn about other countries
and locales. He recalls starting many more books than he ever finished,
being so excited at the beginning of the book but later finding his
attention drawn away to yet another one.
Marcial married his wife, Gloria, while he was living in Rabkin's
house. In Oapan, marriage follows from a combination of mutual
attraction and practical considerations, such as the earning power of
the man and the woman's apparent willingness to work hard in the
house. Couples rarely know each other well before making the mar;
riage decision, but the parents play little role in choosing a partner.
Marcial jokes about the frequency of "love at first sight" in Oapan. Typ;
ically, a male will decide it is time to marry and then make several
(simultaneous ) offers, only later deciding which one to follow through
on. Women may court and accept several offers as well, waiting until
the last minute to choose the best available option. Most of the men
are married by their mid ... twenties , most of the women by eighteen or
nineteen and possibly as early as fifteen. 14 Gloria, however, was no
more than thirteen or fourteen when she married Marcial, and she had
not yet started having her period. He met her when the two were car ...
rying water from the Rio Balsas to their homes, the classic Oapan
romance story. One day, Marcial simply called up Rabkin from the bus
terminal in Cuernavaca and told him he was married. He brought Glo ...
ria into the house. Their two daughters, Dahlia and Oliva, were born in
Cuernavaca and spent their early years living with the Rabkins. They
grew up with Rabkin's daughter, Lara, as if they were sisters.
In addition to his friendship with "Edmundo," Marcial also had a
strong connection to Carolyn. They both faced racial and skin color
prej udice throughout their lives. Carolyn, in addition to her rural ori ...
gins , learned to read later in life; these features of her life brought her
closer to Marcial.
Marcial was excited by his new life, but other individuals in the
pueblo did not understand what was going on. Many thought that Mar ...
cial was not being true to the real world. Even Marcial's mother, who
had supported his amate painting from the beginning, did not under ...
stand. She told him he was losing the customs of his people.
Villagers also noticed that Marcial had changed. Marcial recounts
that when he returned to the village and played Beethoven, the other
villagers could hear the music from the windows of his house. They
regarded him as extremely weird. He recalls receiving both envy and
respect.
Rabkin and Selden Rodman
Rabkin was keen to spread his discovery to others. Yet, at first, he had
no significant connections in the art world. In the Mexican market,
Rabkin sought the assistance of Ana Luisa Ramos Prida, a Mexican sur...
realist painter who worked in the naive style. Maria Walsh (her close
Mexican friend ) described Ana Luisa as very mystic and very spiritual
and interested in yoga and meditation. Ana Luisa had married an
American and thus had strong contacts with the expatriate community
in Cuernavaca. She also came from an aristocratic background in Mex ...
ico (her father had been the equivalent of attorney general ) , which
gave her many contacts. She helped Rabkin stage some exhibits, some;
times lending her large house, Castillo de la Serena, for this purpose.
Ana Luisa also was to play a role in Marcial's later career (as will be
explored in chapter 4 ) .
I n the American market, Rabkin worked with Selden Rodman, at
least initially. Rodman was an author, adventurer, poet, and playwright
and was part of the New York intellectual scene for decades. He was
friendly with virtually every leading New York intellectual or artist of
his day. Rodman was perhaps most renowned for his early support of
Haitian art. He oversaw the painting of the Haitian murals in the Port;
au;Prince Saint Eglise Cathedral in the late 1 940s. To this day, these
murals remain the high point of Haitian artistic achievement. Rodman
picked the artists who were to paint, helped them choose themes ,
found an appropriate venue, and arranged proj ect finance from the
United States-by approaching Mrs. Vincent Astor.
Rodman also wrote several early books about Haitian art, which still
serve as the most popular introduction to the field and which helped
establish Haiti's reputation as a leading center for naive art. He also
wrote the first maj or work on Horace Pippin, the renowned African;
American artist. Rodman had longstanding connections with Mexican
art, lllOSt notably his ties to the Nueva Presencia group of artists in the
1 950s and 1 960s ( in fact, the name of the group came from Rodman's
writings ) . Much earlier, Rodman had interviewed and written about
leading Mexican artists , including Rivera, Orozco, and Siquieros. Rod;
man was a man who discovered and publicized previously neglected
artists. He also dealt in Haitian and outsider art from his home in New
Jersey, serving a wealthy and influential clientele in the New York met;
ropolitan area.
Rodman's energy was immense, and his artistic eye was highly
respected. Once interested in a proj ect, he was extremely generous with
his time, energy, and connections. For Rodman, as with Rabkin, the
desire to promote greatness came before the desire to earn more money.
One day in 1 9 7 3 , Rabkin simply showed up at Rodman's doorstep in
New Jersey with some pictures by Marcial Camilo. This happened
before Rabkin started Galerie Lara. An American contact had sug;
gested that Selden was the person they should speak to. Selden's first
question was whether the works were for sale. A subsequent letter from
Rabkin described Selden as "very impressed." Two years later, Rabkin

reestablished contact and invited Selden to a show of the work in New
York City. Rabkin figured, correctly, that Rodman, with his drive, writ;
ing skills, reputation, and connections, had the ability to help make
things happen. Selden, in fact, gave Rabkin a list of his maj or clients.
Rabkin describes this as the only time he received generous assistance
of this nature from anybody in his entire time promoting the group.
In one of Rabkin's early years, he logged fifty;eight thousand miles
on his car while driving around the United States during breaks from
Cuernavaca. He showed the group's pictures to people, hoping to find
buyers-usually making "cold calls" rather than having well;defined
leads. He needed someone like Rodman to certify the quality of the
group's work. 1s
After receiving Rabkin's visit, Rodman bought some pictures and
quickly became committed to the quality of the work. In 1 9 7 7 Rabkin
arranged to take Rodman to the village. Rodman spent one day there
and became yet more interested. He met the painters, bought some
more pictures, and decided he had found "the next big thing" in the
world of outsider art. Marcial painted this visit and Rodman; Rabkin
still owns the painting, which he keeps as a memento of the time.
Rabkin and Rodman continued to work together. Rabkin procured
the pictures, and Rodtllan recotlltllended thetll to his clients. Rodtllan's
most notable customers were Maurice and Linda Thompson of Con;
necticut-at the time, two well;known Haitian art collectors and out;
sider art collectors more generally.
The Thompsons remain well;known for the quality of their collec;
tion and the quality of their eye. They are perhaps best known for their
large, high;quality collection of Hector Hyppolyte pictures. Hyppolyte,
typically considered the best Haitian naive painter, produced major
works for only about three years ( 1 945-48 ) , until his death. The
Thompsons acquired a large number of these works before the paint;
ings rose so much in value. The Thompsons also had been collecting
other prominent Haitian and Jamaican painters, all in the naive or out;
sider traditions. The Thompsons, who lived in Connecticut, had
earned their money fixing failing companies and then selling them.
Once the Thompsons had seen some of the paintings at Selden's
house, they wanted to buy a large number of them. They commissioned
Selden to visit the village and to bring back twenty paintings. They
also bought one amate, an early Marcial, painted before Marcial's asso ...
ciation with Rabkin. After some communication with Rabkin, the
prices were revised to suit the size of the canvas, with a premium being
paid for anything by MarciaL The Thompsons paid prices ranging from
$250 to $ 1 ,250 per picture, the highest amount for the larger canvases
by Marcial.
In addition to selling to the Thompsons, Rodman contacted many
of his clients for Haitian naive art. Telling them that the Ayalas and
company were the next big thing, he persuaded many of them to buy a
painting or two. Such collectors as Fahimie Marks and Michael Slos ...
berg bought pictures by the group.
Suddenly the group was "in," and the late 1 970s brought a rapid
stream of exhibits. One early exhibit, entitled "The Village," was at the
Covo de Iongh Gallery in Houston in 1 9 7 7 ; works of all the group
members were represented. Over the next few years, exhibits followed
in the Sindic Gallery (New York City ) , Wolfe Street Gallery (Wash ...
ington, D.C. ) , Sol del Rio Gallery (San Antonio ) , Delahunte Gallery
(Dallas ) , Horchow Collection (Dallas ) , and Los Llaves Gallery (Santa
Fe ) . Other exhibits took place in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, and
New York (Jay Johnson Gallery) and on the Sanibel and Captiva
Islands off the west coast of Florida. 1 6 In 1 979 the group had a show in
the Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona. While none of these
galleries had sufficient stature to establish the artists' reputations more
permanently, each provided the group's work with valuable exposure
to buyers.
Rabkin cites an exhibit at Dade County Community College as the
first in the United States. Florence Browne, friend of the Rabkins and
Marcial's longtime friend in Cuernavaca, had a brother working at that
university. The brother arranged the show, and Marcial flew to Miami
(with Rabkin) to see the exhibit and lecture about his art to the stu ...
dents and faculty there. Florence reports how Marcial entranced the
audience with his stage presence, even though most of the listeners
could not understand his Spanish.
Marcial recounts that his plane trips to the United States have been
among the most remarkable of his experiences. The aerial perspective
on the world simply stunned him. He says that for him, flying to the
United States was as remarkable an achievement as flying to the moon.
The Rabkins recollect that Marcial almost backed out of his first plane
trip, to Florida, as he arrived at the airport. His fear of flying, however,

rapidly turned to a sense of exhilaration.
The most prestigious venue in Mexico was in the Museo Cuauh ...
nahuac of the Palacio de Cortes in Cuernavaca. This locale is one of
the leading tourist attractions in Cuernavaca and is also the leading
museum, largely because of the Diego Rivera mural located there. This
is the same Diego Rivera work that had inspired the group years earlier,
and they were now thrilled to see their pictures exhibited in the same
locale. In addition to the other Cuernavaca exhibits in Ana Luisa's
Castillo de la Serena, the Racquet Club Gallery of Cuernavaca put on
a show as well.
Publicity followed. Ron Arias published the article "Marcial Camilo
Ayala" in the fall 1 9 7 8 issue of Southwestern Art . The magazine Ameri,
cas, the official organ of the Organization of American States, wrote up
the group's show at the Wolfe Street Gallery in Washington. 1 7 The
subtitle proclaimed, "An Important New Group of Mexican Naive
Painters Enters the International Art Scene." The article praised Mar ...
cial, Juan Camilo, and Robert Mauricio in particular, noting the ideal ...
ized worldview and innovative concepts of their art. This article was no
exception, however, to the general paucity of information about the
group. Roberto Mauricio, for instance, is called "Roberto Ayala" and is
described as the brother of Juan CatTIilo Ayala.
The MIND Show
The show that received the most attention was the exhibit of 1 9 8 1
( May 4-3 1 ) in the Lockwood ... Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk,
Connecticut. This show represented the group's high watermark
within the outsider art world. When American collectors and dealers
are asked about the group, this is the show they most commonly cite,
by far.
The show was based on the MIND collection, held in the hands of
the Thompson family. Selden Rodman also had convinced some of his
clients to loan their best pieces for the show, and Rabkin lent out
numerous pieces from his inventory. Many of the pieces in the show
were reproduced in a small book put out by the MIND foundation, with
an introductory essay by Selden Rodman touting the prowess of the
group and giving a brief history and background ( there will be more
discussion on this essay later) . The show was widely attended within
the outsider art world, and opinions were extremely favorable.
Robert Bishop, director of the American Folk Art Museum in New
York City, was entranced by the work of the group. He wrote an intro ...
duct ion to the MIND pamphlet and also vowed to give the group per ...
manent space in the museum once a renovation was completed. Bishop
later passed away, however, and the plan never came to fruition. 1 s
Further Advances
The Connecticut show was followed by additional successes. Most

notably, the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, arguably the
leading folk art museum in the world, bought a work by Marcial. This
picture, called History of Mexico, dated from 1 973 and was about eight
feet long and four feet high. Marsha Bol, curator for Latin American
folk art at the time, describes the work as a "really good inclusion" that
was popular with the museum staff. She notes that the museum was
interested in the historical perspective of the work, the scale, and the
indigenous background of the artist. She viewed the work as an impor ...
tant link between the alnate tradition and "the newly ... arisen easel
painting style." In a letter to Rabkin, she noted particular interest in
Marcial's recorded explanation of the narrative of the painting. The
museum first asked Rabkin to donate the painting, but he refused. The
museum then bought the work for six thousand dollars when several
private individuals made the funds available for this purchase. This was
the largest sum of money any of the group's paintings had yielded at the
time. Rabkin invited Marcial to the museum in Santa Fe, where an
inauguration ceremony for the picture was held in 1 982 (June 1 8 ) . The
picture hung in the lobby for four years and is now held in storage. 1 9
The early 1 980s saw the publication of a children's book, El Maiz,
illustrated by Marcial, who also helped with the text. The book showed
the importance of corn-from its planting to its harvest to its con ...
sumption-in a "typical" Mexican indigenous village. The basic mate ...
rial was drawn from Marcial's upbringing in Oapan. The genesis of the
book came from Christina Urrutia of Cuernavaca, who asked Rabkin if
Marcial might be interested in doing a book with her. Marcial painted
about twenty small pictures on board for the book. He received royalty
rights and claims he has earned about twenty ... six thousand pesos from
the endeavor. In 1 984 the book received a second printing of ten thou...
sand copies, so the enterprise appears to have been a success. For a
while, there was talk of doing a version in English, but this never came
to pass.20
Rodman continued to publicize the group. Simon and Schuster, a
leading American trade house, published his Popular Artists in Tune
with the World in 1 982. This was the same written material from the
MIND catalog, although Rodman chose a somewhat different selection
of photos of the art. The focus again was Marcial.
Rodman's written treatment was enthusiastic and colorful. He pro ...
moted Marcial as a genius, able to imagine, conceptualize, and execute
at the highest levels of artistic ability. He gave each member of the
group a distinct personality and style, typically with little restraint. For
instance, he described Marcial as follows: "broadfaced, high ... cheek ...
boned, with eyes as 'Oriental' as an Indonesian's, [he] comes out to
greet us. He has a lovely smile, the kind that masks no secrets."
Although it was readable and enthusiastic, Rodman's treatment was
not scholarly in nature. Rodman makes Marcial sound like an untu ...
tored art naif who suddenly received a paintbrush and began to paint
his innerrnost feelings with great brilliance. In fact, Marcial was work ...
ing hard on his art since he was a teenager. Far from being an
"untrained" artist, he worked through extremely intensive forms of
training. Rodman discusses the amate tradition of Oapan and the sur ...
rounding region, but it is hardly central to the narrative. For this rea ...
son, many or most of the North American buyers of the group knew lit ...
tIe or nothing of amates.
In fact, Rodman, who spoke virtually no Spanish, had only passing
acquaintance with San Agustin. He had spent only a single day in the
village, at Rabkin's invitation. Felix Camilo described Rodman's visit
as "arriving at eight o'clock in the morning, leaving by five in the after ...
noon." Rodman had visited Guerrero before, but he had no back ...
ground concerning the Alto Balsas Nahua. Written literature on the
Balsas communities remains scarce, but at the time, there was virtually
nothing to read.21
Rodman was a dealer and, most of all, an art lover, publicist, and
promoter. He had an eye for the story before anything else. While he
had written several dozen books, most with an intellectual slant, none
were academic. Instead, he brought various countries and art move ...
ments to life for his readers. He adopted the same tack with Marcial
and the group. When Rabkin told Rodman an appealing story, Rod ...
man put it down on paper, sometimes adding his own twists.
For the MIND catalog, Robert Bishop, then director of the Museum
of American Folk Art, wrote a preface in which he compared the Alto
Balsas artisans favorably to the Haitian naive painters. Bishop
described the paintings as "major works of art" and as "historical and
social documents that are impossible to deny." The contemporary
reader winces, however, when Bishop refers to the "primitive lives" of
the artists. He also writes, "why they started to paint, only they will
know," never considering that money might have been a motive, that
painting had been the primary occupation in the village at that time,
or that the artists might have motives of creative self... expression.
Some of the stories in the Rodman treatment fail to receive
confirmation from the artists. For instance, Rodman wrote of Marcial,
"he is amused by his father who used to chide him for wasting his time
painting but who now, with unprecedented wealth rolling in, adj ures
him to 'Paint faster, son ! Paint faster! ' " Today, Marcial, the other
brothers , and their mother recount a very different story. They recall
initial encouragetnent frotn the boys' father. They did not see thetn ...
selves as receiving "unprecedented wealth" or think that any other
family member possibly might have had this impression.
In the late 1 970s and early 1 980s, a number of other outsider art
dealers began to promote the group. Dealer Ute Stebich, when asked to
give a blurb for the artists, offered the following: "Most astonishing
among this variety of themes are those which reveal their private
thoughts and personal philosophy. Not only are such themes difficult
to realize, but they require self... assurance, maturity of mind, and most
important, trust in the spectator. Credit for building this trust in peo ...
pIe, neglected and exploited for centuries goes to Mr. and Mrs. Ed
Rabkin, who discovered these artists. Free of any prej udice, they gave
moral and material support, thus enriching the world of art with this
important contribution."22
Leading folk art collector Larry Kent bought two pictures from Rod...
man, both of which had been in the Connecticut show: Marcial's What
the Sun Sees and Felix Jimenez's The Lovers . Kent describes these pic ...
tures as fitting into his larger collection of folk art and his collection of
Mexican folk art in particular. He praises the works of the group. Kent
notes: "Artworks I have by Marcial and Felix are refreshing and keep
me questioning what's going on in each painting. There seem to be no
definitive answers."23
Fahimie Marks was another Haitian art collector who was interested
in the group. She bought several pictures from Rodman, a number of
which were represented in the 1 982 Connecticut show. She once gave
the following endorsement: "The transcendent quality of these artists
is their continuing growth. Many artists of the naive school achieve
early pre ... eminence but most strive to maintain the superiority of their
creations by reason of the insatiable pressures of patrons and collectors.
The Aztec family seems to be an exception to the rule."24
It is no accident that the Haitian naive art dealers and collectors
took such a special interest in the group. First, the group style resem ...
bled Haitian art in several respects, such as perspective and use of
color. Not surprisingly, Marcial subsequently became a big fan of Hai ...
tian art, after seeing some color plates in Rodman's books. Buyers of
Haitian art therefore turned out to be natural candidates to collect
Marcial and the group. Second, art dealers need to have something to
promote. Most of the best naive Haitian painters, however, were either
dead, incapacitated, or in serious decline by the Inid ... 1 9 7 0s. It becalne
increasingly hard to buy from the artist at cheap prices and sell to
sophisticated collectors at much higher prices. Haitian dealers have
thus looked around for other works to sell, including Cuban art,
Jamaican art, Nicaraguan art, and Mexican art.
During this era, dealers promoted Marcial's pictures at the prices
that very good Haitian works would command-namely, in the range
of one to five thousand dollars. While sales in the upper end of this
range were infrequent, no one laughed at the prices being asked. In the
outsider art world of the late 1 9 7 0s and early 1 980s, these prices were
extremely respectable, as they predated the recent boom in the outsider
art market. For purposes of comparison, only a few leading Haitian
artists sold above this range in the time period under consideration. In
these years, Philome Obin sold in the range of five to ten thousand dol ...
lars, and even first ... rate works by Hector Hyppolyte sold for only
slightly above ten thousand dollars.25
The Santa Fe Gallery
Rabkin left Cuernavaca to return to the United States, reopening

Galerie Lara in June 1 982.2 6 The new Galerie Lara was in downtown
Santa Fe, at 2 2 7 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, New Mexico, near many of the
other downtown galleries. Rabkin brought an extensive collection of
ceremonial masks from Guerrero, many of which he had purchased in
the nearby pueblo of San Francisco Ozomatlan. He sold African masks
as wel1.27 Nonetheless, the works of the group formed the centerpiece
of his gallery.
The Rabkins cite the devaluation and economic collapse of Mexico
as their main reason for leaving. The painters offer differing, but
broadly consistent, accounts on why Rabkin left Mexico. Inocencio
asserts that Rabkin left Mexico once things there became "too expen ...
sive." Felix Camilo reports that Rabkin told him it was too hard to find
clients in Mexico. Felix Jimenez mentions that Rabkin simply did not
like it in Mexico anymore.
Rabkin did have good economic reasons to leave. The years
1 9 8 1 -82 marked a watershed time in Mexico's maj or economic crisis,
which had been brewing for years. Growth turned sharply negative,
and inflation rose into the triple digits, exceeding 1 00 percent in 1 982.
Mexico showed itself unable to tnake its debt paytnents , and the peso
plummeted in foreign exchange markets. The exchange rate went from
22.5 pesos to the dollar in 1 982 to 1 ,500 pesos to the dollar by 1 98 7 .
Real wages fell by 50 percent over this same time frame. Mexico
appeared less desirable as a place to live, and the Rabkins were realiz ...
ing that Mexican collectors were not about to start buying the group in
large numbers. The Rabkins, who were not making any money in the
first place, were broke by the time they arrived in Santa Fe.28
Procuring the supply of pictures was now a greater problem than
before. Typically, Rabkin met Marcial in Ciudad Juarez along the Mex ...
ican ... American border. Marcial brought pictures from the group, typi ...
cally about twenty each trip, and would hand them over to Rabkin in
Mexico. Rabkin would drive the pictures across the border in his car
and bring them back to Santa Fe.
Marcial recalls these trips as great hardships, mainly because it was
thirty ... three hours from Oapan to Juarez by bus. Marcial claims he has
never been able to sleep well in buses. Marcial also complained that
Rabkin once promised to pay his entire expenses for the trip and then
later only paid half, telling him he would pay the entire tab next time
around. He presented this misunderstanding as typical of the kind of
disputes the group had over money. Nonetheless, Marcial continued to
go to Juarez to bring the pictures to Rabkin.
By this time, however, the flow of paintings had slowed. Inocencio
sent very few paintings to Rabkin through Ciudad Juarez. Juan Camilo
had stopped painting for Rabkin. Felix J imenez had not yet stopped but
was about to. Roberto had not been a regular source of supply for a few
years. For most of the Santa Fe years, Marcial and Felix Camilo were
the only reliable sources of paintings.
Even this arrangement fell apart after a few years. It became harder
to sustain the Santa Fe gallery. Santa Fe was becoming increasingly
expensive, its art market was becoming increasingly competitive, and
the American market for the group had been slowing down. The
Rabkins had to endure the long hours of running a walk;in gallery
seven days a week. Furthermore, Santa Fe was changing; the town had
originally been a place for people seeking "something different," but it
was moving increasingly into the mainstream of tourism. By 1 989 the
Rabkins closed the walk;in gallery and retreated to selling the pictures
frotn their hotne.
The painters became ever more frustrated with the financial
arrangements. Marcial made his last trip to Ciudad Juarez in the early
1 990s. At this time, he told Rabkin that he would paint no more.
Rabkin no longer had a means of receiving fresh supply, and he and his
wife were in any case burned out from their extensive efforts.
Why Failure?
By the 1 990s, the rest of the outsider art world had lost much of its
interest in the group, which had reached its reputational peak in the
early 1 980s. Four group members-Felix J imenez, Inocencio, Juan
Camilo, and Roberto Mauricio-had stopped painting for Rabkin or
were on the verge of stopping. The outside world was demanding qual;
ity work, but supply was irregular, and Rabkin was reluctant to sell
many of his best pictures.
The market for the group also suffered from a lack of natural buyers.
The outsider art movement and art markets in general are marked by
national preferences; Brazilians buy Brazilian art, Americans buy
American art, Canadians buy Canadian art, and so on. Many artistic
eras offer a kind of "gold standard," a single national tradition that
attracts buyers of all sorts and is extremely liquid in the marketplace. In
nineteenth ... century art, the French provide this standard, and arguably
the Americans ( e.g. , Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol) provide the stan ...
dard for contemporary art today. Outsider art, however, has not devel ...
oped such a standard, which leaves the market segmented.
The tradition of "street amates" also makes it harder for high ... quality
amates to gain acceptance in the art world. When Mexicans think of
amates, they typically think of the cheap copies sold in the streets of
Taxco and in the bazaars of Mexico City. All art forms have low ... end
imitations , but most Mexicans do not know that high ... quality amate
works exist. Even sophisticated folk art collectors often identify amates
with the cheap street product-commonly seen in Texas, the South ...
west, and California-rather than with quality work or original art.
They simply have not seen the higher ... quality works.
The Alto Balsas arts also failed to achieve a critical mass in terms of
size and scope. For an area to become established as an artistic genre, it
needs a basic Ininitnuln of activity. Haitian art, for instance, is a known
genre with a well ... established set of collectors. A quick perusal of the
Internet will show that there are at least fifty or so Haitian painters
with established reputations, and there are arguably up to a hundred,
albeit of varying quality. One can collect Haitian art and follow some ...
thing with a very definite identity. While most art collectors do not buy
Haitian pictures, it stands as a well ... defined area of specialization,
attracting enough partisans to keep it going.
Haitian art is something easy to identify and classify. All educated
people have heard of the country of Haiti. The art also has the well ...
known theme of voodoo, to set it apart from other artistic genres. In
contrast, Alto Balsas art has never had the same clarity of definition.
The Alto Balsas N ahuas are one of many dozens of subcultures in Mex ...
ico. Hardly anyone has heard of them, and they never make the Amer ...
ican news. Most Mexican ... Americans do not identify with them. They
have no single cultural point of identification analogous to the role of
voodoo in Haitian art.
The initial solution to this problem was to have the Alto Balsas
painters "free ride" on the infrastructure that had been developed for
Haitian art. This succeeded to some extent and gave the artists a
needed boost in their early years, but it ultimately proved inadequate.
Too many Haitian buyers wanted Haitian art only, which relegated the
Alto Balsas painters to a secondary or side role.
Other Mexican naive painters have met similar fates, largely for sim ...
ilar reasons. Fernando Castillo ( 1 882-1 940 ) , for instance, is one the
most talented Mexican naive painters, but he has never developed a
strong following, either in the United States or in Mexico. He belongs
to no easily identifiable group, and he has only a small natural con ...
stituency of buyers. While the quality of his work is high, his name is
not widely known, even among outsider art partisans.29
No active resale market for Alto Balsas art developed. Buyers who
wanted to unload one of their Alto Balsas paintings had few opportu ...
nities to do so. The early buyers, cultivated by Rodman, already had
some works by the group. No new set of buyers was coming along to
support the liquidity of the market. Rodman's difficulties in selling the
work did not help, as they meant that Rodman promoted the group
less. Rodman's age (he was over seventy by the beginning of the 1 980s )
also made it harder to him to replenish his supply of buyer contacts.
Most generally, the Rabkins faced a difficult task. They poured a
great amount of time, money, effort, and love into a proj ect that had
strong quixotic elements. If we consider the Cuernavaca years, very few
Mexican galleries made money in those years. Mexico was on the verge
of economic collapse. The Rabkins nonetheless kept some version of
the gallery going for about twenty years, a remarkably long time in the
art world. The Rabkins's other business successes also show that they
had a good sense of how to make money. Florence Browne, their friend
from Cuernavaca, believes that both their leather business and their art
gallery were undercapitalized. She thought that both were promising
commercial ventures and that the Rabkins were talented, but ulti ...
mately the Rabkins did not have deep enough pockets to continue
indefinitely.
For an art market to succeed, a good deal of complementary infra ...
structure is required, on both the supply side and the demand or mar ...
keting side. On the supply side, Alto Balsas art required a training net ...
work and an intense native ethos. On the marketing side, success
required a thick market of sophisticated, well;placed buyers and an

active set of dealers and secondary institutions. The works of six Mex;
ican outsider art painters alone, no matter how interesting, could not
provide enough capital to sustain the needed infrastructure on the
demand side. Painters do best when they can market their work in
strong and plentiful clusters, not when they approach the world as a
very small group.
No galleries have managed to succeed by selling the works of six out;
sider painters only. The Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York City is com;
monly considered the most commercially successful of all the outsider
art galleries. That enterprise prospered by identifying and marketing
the leading American outsider artists at a time when their work rose
rapidly in value. Phyllis Kind herself is seen as a "living legend" in the
outsider art world. This gallery has carried hundreds of artists, rather
than just six. Galerie St. Etienne, also of N ew York, has dealt outsider
art with some success but also has relied on its leading position in Ger;
man expressionist art. This gallery, too, deals in large numbers of
artists, not just a few.
More generally, most outsider galleries do not meet with significant
commercial success. Often, outsider art is dealt from homes. The deal;
ers might have some accumulated wealth or a small inheritance. They
enj oy being art dealers for a living and so continue with the endeavor.
If they are lucky or especially skillful, they will be able to cover their
costs and expenses. Carrying a high quality of art does not typically
make their task easier. In fact, it usually makes it harder. A purely com;
mercial orientation will encourage galleries to carry many decorative
pieces and sell them relatively cheaply. The higher the quality of the
work they carry is, the harder it is to find appropriate buyers , and the
greater is the amount of upfront investment needed. If a gallery sells
cheaper, more commercial items on the side, that gallery is no longer a
trusted certifier of artistic quality.
Today, Rabkin continues to sell his stock of pictures from the house
and sometimes on eBay, but they do not provide a significant source of
income. His house is full of beautiful paintings by the group, but he is
reluctant to allow buyers to cherry;pick and take home his favorites.
After Rabkin stopped promoting the pictures so actively, the
remaining markets for the group became weaker. Some galleries sold off
their pictures for whatever they could get and cut their losses. In 200 1
I received an email from one individual who saw two Inocencio Chino
paintings in an antique store. He wrote to ask whether the asking price
of seventy ... five dollars was reasonable.
Ralph White of Texas came across the group's work but had little
sense of their identity. He bought eight works when a Dallas art gallery
went out of business. He could not find any information on the artists,
but he liked the paintings. In the late 1 990s, he exhibited them at the
Collin County Historical Museum in Texas, where he reports they
were "very highly appreciated." He later placed them in an art show at
a local gallery, though they were not for sale. White is not a dedicated
art collector but has since spoken of perhaps turning some of the artists'
works into giclee prints.30
Nancy Bloom has four paintings from the group, which her (now
deceased) husband bought from the gallery on the Sanibel and Captive
Islands , Florida. She loves the paintings but has had no idea what they
are or how much they are worth (one is by Felix Camilo, two by Felix
J imenez, and one by Marcial) . She is afraid that when she passes away,
the pictures "could end up getting in a garage sale." Her helper, Janie
Burke, wrote me an email to ask what kind of market could be found for
the paintings now, but I was unable to refer her to any gallery that
made a market in the works of the artists.31
When I first started asking art dealers and buyers about the Oapan
group, no one had much information. A few told me to ask Rabkin.
Others were not sure if the painters were still alive or still painting. Ute
Stebich, a leading outsider art dealer who once promoted the group,
responded: "Marcial Camilo Ayala. I haven't heard that name in a long
time."
Summary Remarks
International markets and the patronage of Ed Rabkin gave a signifi ...

cant boost to the cultural voices of the Oapan group. Group members
experienced a cross ... cultural odyssey and a rise in their living standards
and fame. In these regards , the forces of trade helped the group over ...
come the limitations of power and the deprivations of Mexico. Global ...
ization, whatever its real ... world imperfections , proved to be a kind of
personal and artistic savior in the story at hand.
More generally, Rabkin served as a classic instance of a beneficial

cultural entrepreneur. He combined a personal, cultural, humanitar ...
ian, and commercial interest in the group. His lengthy efforts brought
a significant upswing in the fortunes of the group and put them on the
artistic map in the United States. He also enabled the painters to draw
ideas from a greater number of cross ... cultural and international sources.
We saw amate painting evolve into differing and more diverse media.
The painters kept their initial inspirations but were able to realize their
visions and voices on a larger and better ... publicized scale than before.
But global markets were not strong enough to support the group at
all points in time. Each of the painters returned to his Mexican milieu
and tried to reestablish his artistic voice through other means. In sev ...
eral cases, the painters have tried to build on the foundations from
their years with Rabkin. Let us now turn to how their stories have pro ...
ceeded, with a continuing eye on the theme of how trading opportuni ...
ties shape the arts.
A FTER T H E DEALI N G S WITH R A B K I N D I S S O LV E D , the Oapan group
was left to sell in Mexican markets for paintings and amates. The size
and reach of their markets shrunk considerably, and they lost their
connection to international art markets. To the extent the painters
had stayed with Rabkin, they had been insulated from the need to mar;
ket their work. The painters, especially Juan Camilo, had sold smaller
works on the side, but always to casual buyers or to tourists rather than
to serious collectors. The absence of marketing connections and skills
now came back to haunt the group, most of all Marcial. The Rabkins
had done an enormous amount to expose him to the world, but he did
not have many independent contacts with North American customers
or dealers.
This market collapse had grave consequences for the scale and scope
of proj ects that the artists were able to undertake. Only Marcial was
able to keep painting on a large scale, and even he could not do so with
much success. As we will see, the lack of access to international mar;
kets changed the painters' lives and works dramatically.
The subsequent life stories, however, show rebuilding rather than
permanent collapse. The painters acquired important skills , both artis;
tic and cultural, during the Rabkin years, and they continued to build
on these foundations. As time passed, they found new ways of painting
to support their families and new ways of expressing their artistic cre;
ativity.
73
All the group members, with the possible exception of Felix Camilo,
have enj oyed rising standards of living. General economic growth has
made Oapan larger and wealthier than ever before. The number of ani ...
mals is multiplying, as families invest their money from arts and crafts
in mules, burros, and pigs, all frequent sights in town streets. There are
many more houses than before and many houses that are larger and of
higher quality. Many families have upgraded their homes by adding
extra rooms or wings. When the 1 960s started, all house roofs were of
palm leaves. Today, almost all of them are concrete or laminated.
The true standard of living is difficult to estimate, given how much
of the income is taken in kind and through self... employed agriculture.
Most families grow enough food to meet their dietary needs. Their
homes are already built and offer plenty of space. Clean water, while
not plentiful, is readily available from wells. Electricity came to the vil ...
lage in 1 979 and is now taken for granted. 1
On top of this base, families will earn an income from amate, pot ...
tery, and craft sales. The most successful of these families will hold
small "craft empires" and earn up to twenty or thirty thousand dollars
yearly, but these cases are rare. More commonly, these earnings will fall
in the range of one to three thousand dollars yearly for a family of five
to ten people. If the town government wishes to attract a municipal
assistant (topiles) , it lllUSt offer about fifteen hundred dollars for the
year. Hiring a day's labor for fieldwork costs about five to six dollars. A
day's work from a carpenter costs about ten dollars. On top of these
sums, some families will receive remittances from sons working in the
United States, ranging up to several thousand dollars a year, although
Oapan sons have been slower to leave than their peers in neighboring
pueblos.2
It is difficult to compare these figures to the past. Before the amate
trade of the 1 960s and 1 9 70s, for instance, a family was lucky to earn
any outside income at alL Oapan was literally on the verge of subsis ...
tence, and starvation was a possible fate. Since there was so little to
buy, it is hard to judge how much the money was worth at that time,
despite lower prices. Arguably, in real terms, the money today is worth
more than before, if only because of the road and the Iguala Wal ... Mart
several hours away. That being said, let us assume (generously) that a
family in 1 960 had an outside income worth five hundred dollars in real
terms. If a comparable family might earn two thousand dollars today,
The Lives Today 75
this translates into an average growth rate approaching 3 . 28 percent a

year over those forty ... three years. This figure does not begin to include
the in ... kind benefits that the villagers now enj oy. If we think of one ...
third of the improvement in living standards as coming from in ... kind
benefits, the rate of growth is a healthy 4.92 percent a year. If the in ...
kind benefits account for half of the improvements, the rate of growth
is an impressive 6.5 percent a year.
These in ... kind improvements are s ignificant. For instance, electric ...
ity expands the amount and flexibility of available time. The higher ...
quality road gives much greater access to goods and services. Day trips
for shopping are now common, whereas overnight visits were required
before. A child can now be brought to a doctor in Iguala in only several
hours time; in the 1 970s, the trip had to be undertaken by burro.
Oapan residents are now remarkably mobile. They regularly travel
three to four hours to Iguala (pop. 60,000 ) to go shopping, buy artisan
materials, or sell wares-or simply for something to do. T axco (pop.
5 2 ,000 ) , Cuernavaca (pop. 346,000 ) , and Acapulco (pop. 640,000) are
further away but receive regular visits as well-largely for economic
reasons, but also for a change of pace. It is common for villagers to get
up at four o'clock in the morning to make one of these trips with a
pickup truck, by bus, or in a cambi (casual vehicle) leaving town. Many
of the artisans strike out for longer trips to lllore distant locales, such as
Puerto Vallarta, Guadalaj ara, Oaxaca, Tij uana, and Cancun.
San Agustin has developed increasing electronic ties to the outside
world. The town has a central phone, or caseta. The caseta is manned
by a villager, usually a woman, from morning hours to about eight at
night. The woman responds to callers with a short "Bueno," and the
caller requests the name of the party he or she wishes to speak to. The
woman then announces a length of time, usually ranging between five
and fifteen minutes, based on experience with how long it takes that
person to get to the phone. The caller is to hang up and call back in
that amount of time. The person's name is then called out through a
loudspeaker, and that person (ostensibly) comes running to the phone,
ready to speak once the return call comes. A number of households
now have private phones, though this is a recent development.3
Many homes have small televisions, although due to the surround ...
ing mountain, they receive only two channels-offering largely soap
operas, sports, and news. A few of the richer families have a "sky
antenna," or satellite dish, which might supply up to thirty channels

and more programs. The first of these devices came several years ago.
Radio is common but by no means universal, and difficulty of reception
remains a problem.
Overall, Oapan residents have a fair amount of free time to spend
with family and friends. While they work hard at agriculture and crafts,
there is a considerable amount of downtime, often imposed by the con ...
straints of fieldwork itself, and they will rest between household tasks.
Painting, housework, talking, and watching the children are all
crammed into a typical daily hour, often with a background of Mexican
music. Craft labor allows individuals to set their own schedules and to
spend a good deal of time with family.
In this chapter, I will look first at the painters that stayed in Oapan
and then at the group members that struck out for other locales. This
contrast will illustrate the double ... edged nature of cultural globaliza ...
tion. Amates and the paintings on board never would have existed
without foreign support. In this regard, the net influence of globaliza ...
tion is strongly positive. Nonetheless, foreign influences also have
proved corrupting in certain ways. We will see how economic geogra ...
phy has shaped each of the lives and how the greater wealth of the area
has presented new choices. The painters who left the village have had
better opportunities to find clients and continue to paint for a living.
Those same painters, however, also have been forced to make greater
compromises with the marketplace and sometimes to abandon the
uniqueness and originality of their Oapan style. Insofar as they have
met with creative success, it has been through particular patrons and
specialized support, rather than in the more general and anonymous art
marketplace.
The logic behind such trade ... offs is general. At the final margin of
choice, the artist's personally preferred style would, if the artist moved
in that direction, involve lower pay (Cowen and Tabarrok 2000 ) . To
the extent that creative rewards and monetary rewards lie in the same
direction, the artist already will have exploited those moves. So the
available margins typically involve some trade ... off between creativity
and pay. Artists therefore typically feel that the marketplace is frustrat ...
ing their desires; and at the margin, it is-even if the market enables
their projects in the first place. Each of the lives has responded to cre ...
The Lives Today 77
ative trade;offs in different ways, and to the extent an individual left

Oapan, he has faced such trade;offs in especially stark form.
Those That Stayed Behind
Juan Camilo Ayala • After ceasing to paint for Rabkin, Juan Camilo
sought artisan work in Mexico City as a painter. Most commonly, he
decorated parts of homes, especially ceilings. In the mid; 1 980s, how;
ever, Juan was painting a ceiling and fell from his ladder two stories to
the ground, landing on his head. He was knocked unconscious and
almost died. To this day, he is still missing part of his skull, and he
experiences recurring ( though infrequent) pains where the inj ury
occurred. This episode discouraged Juan from pursuing ceiling paint;
ing, and he returned to amates and pictures.
Juan then tried to market his amates in Cuernavaca, as he had done
previously. Florence Browne, an American resident of Cuernavaca,
recounts meeting Juan frequently in the Cuernavaca market during
those years. She says that Juan brought excellent work to town but that
it was very difficult to sell it for decent prices , given how many amates
were circulating. Most customers did not know the difference between
lesser and better works. SOlnetitnes Florence had to give Juan a little
extra money so he had enough to get back home. She says that Juan
became extremely discouraged over time and eventually stopped com;
ing to the town market. Juan then tried selling in Acapulco, with
somewhat better results. Yet he did not make much money there either
and experienced recurring problems with the police.
Juan was hit by yet more bad luck. His oldest son died at the age of
twelve, after being bitten by a scorpion near the Rio Balsas. The next
oldest son died as well, this time of a fever that went untreated for too
long. Juan reports that after each death, he was sad for a very long while
and could not look at pictures of his deceased sons without breaking
into tears.
Juan's relations with his brother Marcial became particularly
strained in the 1 980s. By Marcial's account, his father had promised
him some of the family land. After the father died, the mother reallo;
cated that portion to Juan. Since that time, relations between Juan and
Marcial worsened. This same family fight led just about everyone to
break with Fausto, the fourth brother. Even Felix Camilo, who remains
on good terms with j ust about everybody, is distant from Fausto. At the
same time, Juan's lack of market success made it harder for him to deal
with Marcial's broader reputation. Since this time, more than twenty
years ago, the brothers have barely spoken to each other. The break
between them has been exacerbated by political differences (Juan is
the more conservative of the two ) and by an intense dislike between
their wives. More generally, Marcial has always been closer to their
father, Juan to their mother. Juan responded to the alcoholism of his
father differently than did Marcial. Juan has eschewed alcohol alto;
gether, which he regards as holding no virtues, an unusual attitude in
his community. He refers to the example of his father in convincing
him of the evils of alcohol and disapproves of Marcial's drinking. Yet
despite all these bitter differences between the two brothers, each is
eager to hear reports about the other, at least if it can seem he is not lis;
tening too eagerly.
Feuds of this kind are common in the region. Anthropologist Peggy
Golde, writing about the Nahuas, notes that when trust is broken, as it
is frequently, it is imperative to avoid confrontations and challenges,
which spiral out of control and lead to perpetual enmities. Golde
describes the villagers as having "litnited alternatives available to thetn
to handle, rationalize, channel, and cope with their feelings." She con;
tinues, "If the people appeared to have less tolerance for real and imag;
ined slights and were insecure about life in general, they had few means
to strengthen themselves or enhance their opportunities-so why
shouldn't they be defensive, self;protective, and hypervigilant ?"4
Although Juan lagged behind the artistic successes of Marcial, his
commercial fortunes finally improved. In the late 1 990s, Juan started
selling his work in Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido, two rising tourist
locales. He notes that these cities are less saturated by amates than are
many other places ; he claims that he is the only good amate painter
selling historias in either locale and attributes his success to this fact.
Typically, he will spend two months a year selling in Oaxaca State, in
winter and early spring. During the summer and fall months, he works
in the fields and prepares the harvest. His two oldest surviving children
help with painting ceramics, usually selling these works to tourist shops
The Lives Today 79
in Cancun. The combined income from these activities has been

enough to make ends meet.
To his new customers, Juan has been selling both amates and small
(twelve;by;twelve;inch) pictures on board. The amates have been
both generic scenes of birds and flora, which went for five to ten dol;
lars, and historias , which went for much more, depending on their size
and quality. The board pictures were usually landscapes or river scenes.
Juan claims that river scenes tend to be the most popular with tourists.
Juan has brought his twenty;two;year;old (ca. 2003 ) daughter, Alci;
vidiades, to Puerto Escondido to sell as well. She paints on board in the
style of her father, favoring a romantic, dreamy look and scenes of wed;
dings.
Juan recounts proudly that one of the Canadian tourists in Puerto
Escondido recognized his name and his work when he saw Juan selling
in the street. The tourist told Juan he had seen his work in a museum.
The tourist and his group then invited Juan out for dinner and bought
many of the works he was carrying. Juan and his daughter report other
requests for paintings by Juan Camilo Ayala, though this is more likely
the result of his reputation among other picture;buying tourists than
the result of individuals knowing about his prior reputation through
American exhibits or museums.
For tnany years, Juan did not attetnpt any large;scale works. The
small size of his board paintings was a matter of economic necessity.
Tourists will buy only what they can carry home easily. These small
board paintings are colorful and appealing, but they were not compara;
ble in ambition to Juan's earlier works for Rabkin.
My own role in Juan's life dates from 1 997. In that year, I visited the
home of Selden Rodman in Oakland, New Jersey. I typically went to
Selden's to buy Haitian naive art, but on this visit, I noticed several
Mexican paintings in Selden's living room-pictures by the Oapan
group members. I asked Selden if he would sell the paintings, and he
said no. I finally asked Selden how I could get a hold of other paintings
by these artists. He was not sure, but he said an old friend of his, Ed
Rabkin, might still have some. So I contacted Rabkin and bought some
pictures by Marcial, Felix, and Juan Camilo.
I liked the pictures enough that I set off to Mexico to track down the
artists. After arriving in Oapan, I asked for the artists and was led to
Juan's house (neither Marcial nor Felix were in the village at that
time) . I asked a very surprised Juan if he had any paintings to sell. He
said no, instead offering me some very small amates for a few dollars
apiece. I liked the amates but said I also wanted a much larger work,
painted on board. I left him some money and my address, which his son
wrote on a ceiling beam of the house. Juan's wife asked me numerous
times if I was a friend of Edmundo's (Rabkin) .5
The second time I came, Juan had mobilized his eldest son and
daughter to paint for me as well. They offered me a selection of more
than twenty full;size paintings, in the belief that the chance of selling
to me was the most profitable use of their time. I bought the lot and
gave away many to friends. Before my third visit, I specified that I
wanted only a few paintings, but when I visited, I was again confronted
with a selection of over twenty works , many by the eldest son and
daughter. This time I bought only the larger (forty;nine;by;thirty;two;
inch) canvases by Juan. Since that time, I have asked for more amates
than paintings, as I no longer have room for more large paintings.
Using me as a contact, numerous North Americans have ordered
works from Juan, usually paintings rather than amates. A dealer named
Martin Kroll (discussed later in this chapter) has ordered and exhibited
several works by Juan. Gloria Frank, a leading Haitian art dealer in
New York, ordered and exhibited a work by Juan as well. The Mercatus
Center, a research institution at George Mason University, ordered
some black;and;white amates from Juan, which it uses as gifts to its
donors.6
The family now runs a modest mail;order business based mostly on
the works of Juan. Juan's son Leonardo has learned how to take orders
and how to send the works out using a mailing service in Iguala with
connections to Federal Express. The family now has one of the few pri;
vate telephones in Oapan, largely to handle these orders. During the
rainy season, Juan still works in the fields , but for the rest of the year,
he is busy painting. In 2002 he finished two very large black;and;white
amates for me, each about eight feet by four feet. Juan considers these
to be his two best works.
Much of Juan's work is still radiant and life; affirming, but he has
made a distinct move to darker moods and styles , including the por;
trayal of death and sadness. Several years ago, Juan started to paint san;
tos, a new development in his art. These works show a marked Spanish
The Lives Today 81
colonial influence, which Juan picked up from a magazine reproduction

of an image from a museum. Each time I visit, Juan asks me if I can
bring color plates of other paintings, so that he may develop new ideas
for his art; I obliged by bringing a book of plates by Leonardo da Vinci,
after whom Juan had named his eldest surviving son.
Other group members have expressed surprise at seeing the quality
of Juan's recent work. Previously, they thought of him as talented but
not having the patience to paint well. Both Inocencio and Marcial,
however, have revised their opinion after seeing photos and examples
of Juan's recent work. These reactions , which I reported to Juan,
pleased him greatly.
Since the deaths of his first two sons, Juan and his family have had
generally good health and no major crises. They have enj oyed good for;
tune and now own a CD player and a television in addition to their
telephone. Juan is obsessed with investing in the education of his chil;
dren. He sent even his daughter away for schooling in Iguala, once she
reached nine years of age. This practice is unusual in Oapan, where
many children, especially daughters, receive no real education at all.
The family is now spread across two (nearby) houses, Juan's house
and the house of Juan's mother;in;law. They consider this expansion to
be a mark of status. It also gives Juan the ability to paint in one court;
yard undisturbed while the children play or talk in the other locale.
Juan's family has been upgrading their houses for several years, adding
new spaces and furniture. The homes are typical, having a large open
courtyard in the center, connecting to a backyard. This open space pro;
vides room for painting, cooking, eating, and socializing, in addition to
the family animals , which include mules, burros, chickens , roosters ,
and dogs. On each side of the courtyard is a building, with rooms for
sleeping and storage, but family members often sleep outside in ham;
mocks. Oapan residents basically live outside, using the house for stor;
age and for protection against the sun and rain.
When they have extra money, the family rents a "sky antenna" con;
nection by the month, which gives them access to a wide range of
Spanish;language channels, including pornographic movies. They
watch the news as well, and since 9/ 1 1 , they frequently ask about the
dangers of terrorism in the United States.7
The eldest son, Leonardo, twenty;six as of 2003 , has given up his
plans to emigrate to the United States. He studied in Iguala and
became fully literate and fluent in Spanish. Nonetheless, he will stay in

Oapan and take Juan's place as the head of the family ceramics busi;
ness. He also hopes to be a leader in village politics. He has had numer;
ous marriage engagements fall through, which is common in Oapan.
He now claims he would prefer to save up his money to expand the
family business, rather than spend it on a family of his own. Sometimes
it appears that Leonardo enjoys the back;and;forth of broken engage;
ments. Such a pattern of behavior has historical roots. Referring to her
1 95 9 stay in Ameyaltepec, Peggy Golde wrote, "It seemed to me that
courtship behavior, whether actual or vicarious, provided an important
form of recreation in the village: it offered suspense, a challenge to the
ingenuity, the deliberate creation of tension associated with the danger
of exposure, and ultimately, with enough perseverance and cleverness,
satisfaction and triumph."8
The eldest daughter, Alcividiades, has despaired for her future, fear;
ing she is an old maid. Until she marries, she is expected to do a large
part of the household chores and help raise the younger children. She
used to talk of moving to Houston to clean houses. The second
youngest son, Perfecto, is twenty (ca. 2003 ) and expresses a strong
desire to leave for the United States. He stands outside the family cir;
cle and has no interest in art or amates.
Juan's children, like lllOSt Oapan residents, evince a great interest in
the love lives of others , especially foreigners; I frequently receive
queries about the marriages and relationships of the other foreigners
who have visited. If any single foreigner visits Oapan, the villagers
quickly decide whom in Oapan that person ought to marry. Peggy
Golde, in her visits forty years ago, noted that area residents believe
that American women boss around their husbands and run the house;
hold.9 Leonardo and Alcividiades have a rough sense of the American
notion of "girlfriend" and ask frequently-and only half in j est
whether my girlfriends have hit me very much.
Idle chatter and gossip, typically coming during or around meal;
times, occupy much of the family's time. Juan's wife, mother; in;law,
and eldest daughter share in the cooking chores. The others come in
and out to eat, depending on their schedules and when they are hun;
gry. Almost always, somebody is at some stage in the cooking process,
although the whole family never eats together. The family is harmo;
nious but has few close outside friends and is known for its insularity.
The Lives Today 83
Juan has said that he has never wanted to leave Oapan, since that is
where he has his family and animals and where he works in the fields.
His dream is to improve his house and have more animals. He views
Leonardo as his heir apparent in the family and hopes Leonard will be
able to extend the family's amate and crafts business.
Felix Camilo Ayala • Like Juan, Felix retreated to life in the village
after Rabkin and sold on a very small scale. His family, including seven
children, earns its living by painting on ceramic, typically making dec;
orative works for sale in urban markets, such as Cuernavaca. For a
while, Felix was painting plates and laminated crosses. Felix's wife
passed away several years ago, and he is therefore extremely busy with
the immediate affairs of the family. Several of the children have not yet
entered their teen years. Felix spends little time working in the fields ,
which he does not enj oy and which takes him away from the house;
hold.
The laminated crosses have proven especially popular, but they
mean less to Felix than his pictures of Oapan. None of the three
Camilo brothers are very religious in the formal sense. They will self;
identify as Catholics and profess a belief in a God, but only Marcial has
a doctrinal sense of what Christianity or Catholicism means.
In a typical year, Felix will paint about one hundred alnates and
forty pictures on board, usually of small size (twelve by twelve inches or
slightly larger) . He does not expect to sell all of these but, rather, paints
many of them for his own enjoyment. He sells some of the amates in
Cuernavaca and is hoping to work out an arrangement to sell some of
them in Cancun, though he is not pursuing this aggressively. Lately he
has received several foreign commissions for amates from dealer Martin
Kroll.
In the last few years, he has not been able to fulfill these commis;
sions promptly, due to the illness of his young son, who suffers periodic
fainting spells. Doctors have told Felix that his son has epilepsy. Some;
times his son requires regular and close attention, but more generally,
Felix says that he himself does not have the concentration to paint well
at the moment. Felix does not know what to do about this situation.
Both Marcial and Juan are on friendly terms with Felix, though with
some distance. At neither house is he a regular visitor. In terms of art,
both Marcial and Juan regard Felix's best works as excellent, but nei;
ther gives him much artistic respect. Felix was always the "younger
brother" of the three, looking up to the others. Nonetheless, Felix is a
valued voice among his friends. He is one of the few individuals in
Oapan about whom I have never heard other people speak negatively.
Felix sees little change in his style over time, though he thinks his
current paintings are simpler than before. He would like to paint larger
and more ambitious works once again, though he does not regard this
as likely. In 200 1 I commissioned several larger works on masonite
board from Felix, though I had not yet received them as of 2004.
Felix's eldest daughter, Sinforosa, who is now twenty ... three, does
much of the work to raise the children, cook the meals, and take care
of the house. Her existence is generally regarded as very burdensome,
given the absence of the mother.
Marcial notes that Felix stands a very good chance of marrying
again, if he so wishes. But according to Marcial, Felix is unlikely to
remarry as long as he has the daughters to cook and run the household.
Once they are married off, Felix might remarry to have someone to
cook for the younger sons. Marcial notes there are enough widows and
abandoned women in the village for Felix to choose from.
The Felix Camilo household differs greatly from Juan's home. Felix's
household is typically very quiet, almost somber. Everyone appears sad
and lethargic. The elder children paint pottery when they have titne,
to support the family, but no one has a plan for how the family might
advance its prospects. When asked about politics, Felix will defer to
Marcial, saying he must speak to his older brother. Felix's dream is to
finish construction of his house, purchase more animals, and raise his
children successfully. His immediate task, however, is simply to make
ends meet and hold the family together for the next day.
Roberto Mauricio • Of all the painters, Roberto has been tied to the
land most closely. He always stopped painting to harvest the yearly
crop, returning to art only once the fieldwork was taken care of. He has
set up his home and land (on the edge of town) as a ranch with horses
and cattle. Everyone thinks of Roberto as a cowboy. He lives in Oapan
all the time, is married, has eight children, and has an especially large
piece of land.
Roberto pursued a part ... time career as a musician. For eight years, he
has played guitar and sang in an Oapan group called Organizacion
The Lives Today 85
Musical. The group plays in the other local pueblos. In a given year,
Roberto is likely to play fifteen or twenty dates, with an evening's work
consisting of about five hours of music. A night's work typically yields
six hundred pesos-about sixty;five dollars at the 2004 exchange rate.
Roberto greatly enj oys making music (just as he enj oys his art ) , and he
practices guitar on a regular basis.
By his own admission, Roberto "drinks too much" [tomo demasiadol .
Nonetheless, h e is likely to b e sober i n the summer months, when his
work is needed in the fields. He claims his eyes are very bad and getting
worse all the time. He fears going blind and now wears glasses to paint
his amates. His arms hurt him very badly sometimes, and he frequently
has nightmares about his death. According to his wife, however, he
refuses to go see a doctor or to take vitamins.
Roberto paints amates on an irregular basis. He sells some of his
lower;quality amates through his sister, typically in Oaxaca or on the
beach at Puerto Escondido. The amates sell for roughly twenty dollars
apiece. Roberto receives half of this sum, with the other half going to
his sister. At times, Roberto sells other amates at the Sunday market at
Tepotzlan, a well;known tourist town less than an hour from Cuer;
navaca. His niece handles these items, again splitting the proceeds
with Roberto. Some of these amates show very fine work, while many
others are lTIOre perfunctory.
He sells his highest;quality works to visiting collectors for much
higher prices. He keeps these at home rather than offering them in the
market. It seems that Roberto painted these for his own satisfaction,
rather than for profit, but will sell them to justify the expenditure of
time or depending on his mood that day. He makes no active effort to
market these works or to produce more of them, even when he is
offered a superior price. He simply is not oriented toward trying to suc;
ceed as an artist.
Thomas Bird, a German living in New York, sometimes comes to
visit Roberto and purchase amates. Bird has been visiting the region for
over two decades and comes periodically, especially when his work
takes him to Cuernavaca, which it does regularly. In addition to myself,
this is Roberto's only foreign buyer at the moment.
A number of other people, including art dealers, have expressed
interest in obtaining some high;quality amates by Roberto, but the sup;
ply has not been forthcoming. Sometimes Roberto pleads that he must
work in the fields or play guitar with his group. At other times, he says
that his body hurts, his eyes are failing him, he cannot concentrate, or
he is simply exhausted. For a while he claimed that he no longer has
enough energy to paint on board, although in 2003 he did paint a few
works in this medium. When Roberto paints amates for me, he gives
them to Leonardo, Juan's son, who ships them to me with works by
Juan. Unlike the other group members, he has no compunction about
breaking a previous agreement to paint; he might, for instance, claim
that he was drunk when he agreed to a previous price, then ask for
and expect-a better one.
Roberto's household appears to be happy. His own family considers
him to be eccentric, but they defer to him as leader. Unlike in Juan's
house, the family eats meals together at the same time, and they have
a sufficiently long table to do so.
The family is relatively prosperous by Oapan standards , but in the
past, they have relied on remittances from two of Roberto's sons work ...
ing in Los Angeles. These sons, in their early twenties, sent money
back home on a regular basis. Nonetheless , both became disillusioned
with their time in the United States and returned to Oapan in 200 1 .
Most of all, they complain about their treatment at the hands of other
Mexicans in the United States. They worked in the fields picking
strawberries and felt they were badly treated and underpaid, relative to
what they had expected. Both had painted amates, in the style of their
father, but found that the avocation did not pay much.
Roberto believes that his best current amates represent the artistic
peaks of his career. He says he now has more experience "with the
fight" [con la luchal, a common phrase in Oapan. His professed dream is
to arrange the house and ranch in satisfactory condition and to resume
painting on a larger scale. He recently wrote to me: "Fifty years we will
continue painting, although the vision is fading. I already use eye ...
glasses to be able to paint, and I will continue the fight, and we will die
making the fight."lo
Segmentation in Current Amate Markets
To understand the economic fates of these painters , we must look more

closely at how amate markets have developed over the last twenty
The Lives Today 87
years. In the very early years of amate, the distinction between quality
amates and street amates was not well defined. Clearly some amates
were better-some much better-than others , but all the painters were
aiming at the same narrow segment of audience, namely, those people
who bought from a few select craft shops. Later, in the Cuernavaca
years of the 1 970s, both very good and very bad amates were offered for
sale in the same street. It could be the case that both the very best and
the very worst amate painters would sell their amates in the same locale
for fifteen to twenty;five pesos (with an exchange rate of 1 2.5 pesos to
one American dollar at that time ) .
Over time, a split developed between "high" and "low" amate cuI;
ture. As the market developed, painters were segmented into tiers of
quality. Some painters aimed at wealthy and relatively informed buy;
ers. These individuals were either folk art collectors or simply individ;
uals with a good enough eye to tell the difference between cheap and
carefully done works. Other painters directed their wares at tourists
looking for a quick souvenir with bright colors. The low;quality
painters took over the street, whereas the high;quality painters sold
through private connections and pursued differing forms of quality
certification.
Growing price dispersion reflects this growing segmentation. In
1 9 7 0 , the price range for arnates was between ten and one hundred
pesos, with most amates being sold in the street. Now prices range from
thirty pesos for cheap street sales to several thousand pesos for the best
works at the upper end of the market, which are usually purchased
directly from the artist (these later figures refer to an exchange rate of
nine to eleven pesos for an American dollar around 200 1-4 ) .
If a painter does not have connections to wealthy and informed buy;
ers, he or she is doomed to sell in cheaper markets , even if the obj ec;
tive quality of the work is high. This is in essence what happened to
Juan Camilo, Felix Camilo, and Roberto Mauricio. As market segmen;
tation proceeded throughout the 1 980s and 1 990s, the economic situ;
ation of these individuals failed to show any prospects of improvement.
For reasons of geography and their limited capital, these painters could
not access buyers who had any inkling of their previous reputations.
In more general terms, the price of an amate does not correspond in
any simple way to what an art critic might consider to be "quality." The
pricing of amates depends also on the location and reputation of the
painter and on the pricing strategy of the seller, which in turn follows
from the economic situation of the producing family. Think of families
as choosing a pricing strategy in advance, depending on the role that
amates play in the family income and on their opportunities to sell,
which in turn depends on location. Buying is sufficiently irregular and
dispersed that there is no central market for amates and thus no set of
uniform prices. For this reason, it is hard to construct any simple story
correlating amates' "artistic quality" and their price.
As amate painters have greater contact with foreign buyers (or,
more generally, with wealthy buyers ) , they move to a dual pricing strat;
egy. They will sell cheaper, lesser ( though still good) works at very low
prices and better works at substantially higher prices. Once they under;
stand that the buyer can j udge quality, they know that the cheaper,
lower;quality works will not cannibalize the demand for their higher;
quality, finer creations.
Oapan artists have earned higher prices only by leaving the pueblo
and cultivating wealthier buyers in other locales. It is in this context
that the varying economic fates of the group members must be seen.
Those That Left
Inocencio Jimenez Chino •Inocencio and Felix J imenez Chino, both

pragmatic by nature, landed with their feet on the ground following the
end of the Oapan painters' relationship with Rabkin. Now they both
live in San Miguel Allende, a popular tourist destination in the state of
Guanaj uato, approximately three hours from Mexico City. One Amer;
ican writer described San Miguel as "a kind of Mexican Williamsburg"
(Cohan 2000, 1 3 ) . San Miguel also has a large and growing retirement
community of Americans-now numbering about five thousand-and
is becoming more popular than Cuernavaca among new retirees. 1 1
In San Miguel, these artists sell largely to tourists and command
prices much higher than back home in Oapan. Their full;size amates
sell for about two hundred dollars, and their full;size paintings on board
and canvas sell for more, ranging from three to five hundred dollars
depending on the size of the work, with smaller works selling for corre;
spondingly less. While neither brother is wealthy, each possesses a cer;
tain degree of lower middle;class comfort.
The Lives Today 89
Both their paths to San Miguel were circuitous. After leaving

Rabkin's house in Cuernavaca, Inocencio returned to working the
fields in Oapan. He eventually felt restless in this environment, how ...
ever, and sought more opportunities to paint. In 1 988 he moved to
Guadalaj ara with his wife, Florencia, to sell amates in the portales-an
unofficial, covered kind of crafts market in the street, near the center of
town. He stayed in Guadalaj ara three years, then moved to San Miguel
Allende in the early 1 990s to seek more customers. Inocencio found
San Miguel a more profitable and more pleasant environment than
Guadalaj ara and has remained there until this day. In a typical year,
Inocencio splits his time between San Miguel Allende, Oapan, and
Iguala, though spending most of the time in San Miguel.
Inocencio currently spends virtually no time working in the field.
Last year, he worked with the corn crop for a short while, but amate
painting consumes most of his work time. He visits Oapan frequently
but regards his trips there as time to rest and visit friends, though he
will work on amates when there.
Inocencio also spends a good deal of time painting in his cousin's
house in Iguala. He takes a spare room in the house and has much free
time to paint. At the same time, he can visit friends in nearby Oapan
when he so desires. He does not sell his work in Iguala, which is visited
by few tourists; rather, he brings the alnates he finishes there back to
San Miguel.
Inocencio sells amates-and, to a lesser extent, paintings-from a
variety of outlets. Most significantly, he has a connection with a San
Miguel Allende crafts shop, Sabia, which serves as his primary means
of finding customers. The shop sells high ... quality folk art from a variety
of Mexican states, including Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Michoacan. Along
with Inocencio's work, they also carry lithographs by Nicolas de Jesus ,
an amate painter from Ameyaltepec (who will be discussed in more
detail later in this chapter) . This same store also has a branch in Oax ...
aca, and they ship some of Inocencio's amates down there to be sold.
At any one point in time, the store might hold six of Inocencio's
amates. Inocencio also sells some of his work through Galerie San
Miguel and through the ceramics table that his wife runs near the cen ...
tral square. His wife sells most of her painted ceramic work through this
table, but some of her works are available in Puerto Vallarta as well. In
a typical year, Inocencio will sell twenty... five amates and four paintings
on fiberboard. The amates will range in price from fifty to two hundred
dollars, depending on their size.
Inocencio has contact with some North American buyers. He some ...
times paints amates for Martin Kroll, a retired schoolteacher who holds
periodic exhibits of Inocencio's work, typically in Arizona or San
Antonio. Kroll deals naive art from his house, including works from
Mexico, Yugoslavia, and sometimes Haiti. He originally established
contact with Inocencio through Ana Luisa Ramos Prida. Maria and
Robert Walsh (discussed in chapter 3 ) , introduced Kroll to the idea of
selling amates. The Walshes had read an article by Kroll on naive art
and contacted him with information about Inocencio. Inocencio also
sells to a buyer near San Francisco, through his affiliation with a San
Miguel gallery. The buyer has bought several large amates from Inocen ...
cio, with themes relating to the conquest and village politics. 1 2
Inocencio's current amate sales bring in money, but he cannot sell
very many amates for very high prices. His wife's work as a ceramics
painter therefore contributes more to the regular income of the family
( Inocencio and Florencia recently adopted a child but have no biolog ...
ical children of their own ) . Florencia receives ceramic molds from
Iguala, as do many of the households in Oapan, and paints them vari ...
ous blues and bright colors for sale in the marketplace. The resulting
ceralnics include suns, sun and Inoon cOlnbinations, cats, turtles, and a
variety of other animals. While a typical piece brings in only five to ten
dollars, the sale of ceramics is much steadier than that of amates. 13
Inocencio also has served as a language consultant to anthropologist
Jonathan Amith. Amith is working, with the assistance of Department
of Education funding, to compile a dictionary of the dialect of Nahuatl
spoken in the pueblo. In two recent summers, Jonathan has had
Inocencio and Florencia flown up to Yale to help study the vocabulary
and grammar of Nahuatl. Florencia's pay for this effort has helped
Inocencio continue his work painting amates. 14
Inocencio's amates now use bright, almost fluorescent colors. He has
abandoned the natural colors he used in his youth, in favor of eye ...
catching colors, to attract tourists in the markets and stores of San
Miguel Allende. This is particularly ironic because of Inocencio's his ...
tory as a painter. Inocencio's first exposure to nonamate art came when
he visited the Diego Rivera murals in Cuernavaca as a teenager. He was
struck by their soft and earthy colors and vowed to paint in a similar
The Lives Today 91
manner, which he did for a long time, at least until the last ten years or
so.
Inocencio reports two maj or regrets as a painter, both of which he
hopes to remedy. First, he has always had to sell his entire output to
maintain the household and thus has not been able to keep some of his
best work for himself. (Marcial expresses a similar regret. ) Second, he
has wanted to explore more different and interesting themes than his
tourist clientele in San Miguel Allende has allowed him to do. In par;
ticular, he wishes to learn how to paint "dreams and apocalypses" and
has said that he may try some of these themes in the future. In this
regard, his wishes reflect the influence of Marcial, and when speaking
to Inocencio, the listener still very much feels the strength of Marcial's
shadow whenever his name comes up.
Felix Jimenez Chino • Shortly after Felix Jimenez stopped painting

for Rabkin, he realized he needed to find other customers. In 1 983 he
started selling his work in Jardin San J acinto, which is part of the Bazar
Sabado, the same folk art center where Max Kerlow, Felipe Ehrenberg,
and the Ameyaltepec painters originally founded amate painting.
Felix's "post" is in an outdoor garden, where many other painters sell
their wares. Felix usually shows up every other Saturday, taking the
three; to four;hour bus ride froin San Miguel. The current price for this
post is forty pesos a month. On Sundays, Felix sells in another weekly
crafts market, held behind the Monument de la Madre in Mexico City.
Most of Felix's sales come from these outlets or from contacts he makes
at these stands.
At times, Felix has sold in the Galeria Berica in San Miguel, but cur;
rently he has no works there. They insisted that he agree to an exclu;
sive dealing arrangement with them, at least within the confines of San
Miguel. Felix reports not being very happy with this gallery, largely
because they sell many differing things, not just art. He would rather
sell his work in a gallery that carries paintings only, which carries
higher status in the art world, but so far he has not managed to achieve
this feat.
Typically, Felix paints five pictures in a month, of varying sizes, and
sells most of them. The largest go for about five hundred dollars (more
when they feature hand;painted frames ) , but he more commonly sells
smaller sizes for about three hundred dollars.
Seven years ago, Felix J imenez moved to San Miguel. He had

wanted to move earlier, but he waited until his son finished school in
Oapan. A cousin of his wife recommended San Miguel, and after visit;
ing, he decided he liked the idea of living there. San Miguel was also
much closer to Felix's Mexico City outlet (a bus ride of three to four
hours, rather than ten, from Oapan ) . Felix's wife paints ceramics, of the
mass;produced colorful kind, which are then typically sold in the
nearby town of Guanaj uato. She spends most of her time there, which
is about ninety minutes from San Miguel.
Felix's business does not rely on his residence in San Miguel, which is
where the family decided to live. Felix has not worked much in the fields
for many years and has the weakest ties to Oapan of the group considered
in this study. Unlike the other group members, for instance, he does not
stay in Oapan for most maj or fiestas. He is the only one who has very
deliberately tried to assimilate into broader Mexican culture.
Virtually all of Felix's clients are foreigners, even though he markets
his work only in Mexico City. Typically, his customers come from the
United States, Spain, or France. They praise his work for its "naive"
style, which Felix believes is much less popular among the Mexican
upper classes. Felix now paints self;consciously within this style. Felix
also concentrates on painting pictures more than amates. His foreign
clientele typically knows little of alnates and enj oys colorful paintings
of village life. Amates might also fail to capture the attention of the
buyers in the rather crowded and noisy park, full of other artists with
large and brightly colored canvases. In a typical year, Felix might sell
twenty pictures on board and another ten on canvas, of varying sizes.
He also will sell a few amates in a given year, typically at the Bazar
Sabado.15
Like Inocencio, Felix uses brighter colors than before, so that he
may attract the attention of potential buyers in the park. He also tends
to repeat the same kind of scene over and over again, such as a river
scene or a fireworks scene. He does not want to keep multiple versions
of the same picture in his inventory at the same time, but once he sells
a painting of a given kind, he tends to paint another of a similar nature.
He finds that brilliant portrayals of stars and fireworks sell especially
well. Felix's pictures also have become more "pretty." He has been told
that his flower scenes, replete with bright colors, are especially popular,
so he paints more of those.
The Lives Today 93
Felix admits that these developments are not positive for his art.
When Felix is asked what his favorite pictures are, he cites works in his
previous style, when he painted for Rabkin. ( His very favorite picture
is the androgynous paneled piece I described in chapter 3 . ) Felix also
claims, however, that he has become a far superior painter of detail
than before, due to continued practice.
Felix and his brother Inocencio are not unfriendly to each other, but
they keep a certain distance. They do not generally share customers ,
refer customers, or market their work together. They sell to different
customers and through different outlets, using separate and discon ...
nected markets. Despite their proximity and their mutual distance
from Oapan, they do not visit each other's homes on a very regular
basis.
Marcial Camilo Ayala • Marcial now lives in Cuernavaca, while

maintaining his traditional house in the pueblo. Marcial has a wife, two
daughters, and two sons. The two daughters are now grown and have
married. Oliva, the younger daughter, paints very actively-on amate
paper, board, and ceramics. She married in December 2002 and had
her first child late in 2003 .
After Rabkin, Marcial found several new patrons, though without
consistent cOllllllercial success. The first was Ana Luisa Prida Raillos
(already mentioned in chapter 3 ) , who had already been selling Mar ...
cial's works through Rabkin. When Rabkin left, she took Marcial
under her wing more directly. Ana Luisa had been a relatively well ...
known painter herself, largely of a naive and surrealist bent. The pic ...
tures Marcial painted for her drew from her influence.
First, she encouraged Marcial to switch the material he was working
on. Rather than painting on board or even canvas, he now was to paint
on the fibrous kwaxtli material (cuaxtle in Spanish) , as she had done for
many years. Kwaxtli comes from right outside of Oapan (from the
neighboring "enemy" pueblo of San Miguel ) , where it is sewn together
and used as a seat for riding burros and mules.
Three ... dimensionality distinguishes kwaxtli as a painting material.
The "canvas" is literally fibrous and is puffed up into dimensions. The
painting not only looks but is three ... dimensional. Marcial, who started
off painting with very flat perspective, now produced works that
explored an opposing sense of dimensionality. The dimensionality
allowed Marcial to produce many intriguing effects. But at the same

time, the material was very difficult to paint on-precisely because of
the dimensionality. Many works look striking from a distance, but up
close, the viewer sees that the paint often smears or is applied in what
appears to be a sloppy manner.
Marcial's themes changed as well. Marcial now painted animals
much more frequently than before. Many of his prior pictures had con;
tained animals ( indeed, a realistic scene of San Agustin can hardly
avoid them) , but rarely were animals the center of attention in the pic;
ture. From now on, at least half of his scenes were to concern animals
almost exclusively, as one might find in a j ungle painting by Henri
Rousseau. The colors became much brighter as well, in some instances
florid. Purple became common as a central color. The canvas became
more crowded, and the mood became more surrealistic. All of these
qualities can be seen in the work of Ana Luisa Ramos Prida as well,
except for the crowded nature of the canvas.
Felix J imenez opines that Marcial's work in the 1 990s never reached
its previous quality. With the protection of Rabkin gone, Marcial had
to paint for the market to earn a living. Felix believes that Marcial had
to hurry his work much more and that he paid less attention to detail.
Another of Marcial's later dealers , Alberto Wuggetzer, while a fan of
the work, adtnits that tnany would;be clients found it to be too kitschy.
Marcial himself, however, will admit no inferiority of this work; he
claims it simply represents another stage of his development as an
artist.
Ana Luisa helped arrange several exhibits of Marcial, some in Mex;
ico City and others in Cuernavaca. Marcial estimates that he painted
up to twenty pictures for her on coconut fiber and about ten or twelve
on board. The coconut fiber pictures sold best.
For a while, Ana Luisa had an exclusive dealing arrangement with
Marcial. She complained, however, that the artist did not paint
enough for her. More significantly, she complained that the artist
would offer pictures to her friends, thereby undercutting her attempt to
make a market for him. Later, Ana Luisa fell ill, and by the middle of
the 1 990s, her activities were seriously curtailed. She required a hip
replacement and finally died in 1 999. 16
By the middle of the 1 990s, the Bio;Arte gallery of Cuernavaca
stepped in as Marcial's new promoter. Bio;Arte is run by a Bavarian
The Lives Today 95
named Alberto Wuggetzer, who moved to Mexico in 1 955 to pursue a

career in bee husbandry. In 1 980 Wuggetzer started Bio;Arte as a very
fancy, very high;quality store for furniture and furnishings , located
near the center of Cuernavaca. Later, Wuggetzer bought Ana Luisa's
stock of Marcial paintings and ordered another thirty or thirty;five
more. He had already been familiar with the work, as Ana Luisa had
held a successful exhibit of Marcial's work in Bio;Arte in the early
1 990s. Wuggetzer is first and foremost a businessman, but he also loved
Marcial's art and wished to promote it.
Like Ana Luisa, Wuggetzer encouraged Marcial to paint on coconut
fiber. He wanted pictures that were strongly dimensional, were very
colorful, and portrayed many animals. He prefers the multidimensional
works, which he believes show far more life than the flatter pictures on
board or canvas.
Wuggetzer had great success selling Marcial's work in the first half of
the 1 990s, when he sold over thirty pictures. More recently, the pic;
tures have not been selling. Wuggetzer claims that lack of security and
numerous kidnappings have driven many Americans out of Cuer;
navaca. He also blames the growing presence of superstores (e.g. , Wal;
Mart ) , prominent in Cuernavaca, for a more general decline in his
business. Finally, Bio;Arte was probably not well suited to promote
Marcial in the first place. It reaches a broad clientele but is essentially
a high;class crafts and furniture shop rather than an art gallery. By its
nature, the store cannot credibly present itself as a place where one
would buy a serious painting for a high price.
Bio;Arte sold Marcial's pictures primarily to Americans, typically
residents of Cuernavaca or nearby environs. Like so many people
involved with the work, Wuggetzer believes that most Mexicans
undervalue their indigenous artists. So much of Marcial's work portrays
poor people or work in the fields, and Wuggetzer believes that at this
point in time, Mexicans would sooner put these themes behind them.
Mrs. France Chancellor of Cuernavaca is a good example of how
Marcial's new customers differed from his previous ones. His earlier
customers typically collected Haitian and naive art and were well
versed in art markets, and they often had some connection to Rabkin
or Selden Rodman. Mrs. Chancellor has an extensive art collection but
with no particular links to naive painting. After her husband died, she
pursued a greater interest in things spiritual, partly through the arts.
Her very upscale house, just outside of Cuernavaca, is full of works rep ...
resenting different aspects of spirituality. These include not only Mex ...
ican paintings-usually of a religious ... surrealist bent-but also Tibetan
Buddhist items and portraits of Christ. Some of her surrealist pictures
portray rather voluptuous naked women. She bought most of her seven
pictures by Marcial from Bio ... Arte, but her favorite was commissioned
from him directly. It represents Marcial's conception of God and por ...
trays a blazing ball of light, surrounded by stars. When asked why she
was first attracted to his art, France said she does not know of any
painter anywhere who so strongly sees and portrays the life forces pre ...
sent in animals and plants.
Marcial found his most regular patron, Miguel Valentine Watanabe
Uchida ("Senor Watanabe" to Marcial ) , through his cousin Felix
J imenez. Felix was marketing his pictures in the Bazar Sabado when he
caught the attention of Watanabe. Felix sold a picture to Watanabe
and later gave Watanabe's address to Marcial. Watanabe and Marcial
established contact in Cuernavaca, and Watanabe fell in love with
Marcial's work.
Watanabe is a Mexican of Japanese origin. He owns a network of
camera shops in Mexico, and his very large house, on top of a high hill
in an expensive neighborhood, suggests extreme wealth. Since having
Inet Marcial, Watanabe has ordered at least thirty ... five paintings and
numerous amates, some of very large size. Watanabe favors bright and
florid colors, j ungle scenes, a certain sentimentality of feeling, and the
bumpy kwaxtli base. Marcial notes that Watanabe likes pictures that
are "full of life" Ellena de vidal. Watanabe also has an extensive collec ...
tion of masks (not j ust Mexican) and buys a few other Latin American
artists in concentrated fashion, typically favoring works that are large,
bright, and full of detail.
Rabkin stayed in touch with Marcial. But until recently, his other
earlier promoters, such as Selden Rodman, did not know that he was
still painting or even if he was still alive.
In 1 994 Marcial moved to T axco. His daughters were getting older
and starting to paint. Taxco offered many opportunities to sell. Mar ...
cial's family runs a pottery and trinket stand in the town square, usually
manned by his wife or daughter. Marcial's son Israel suffered from a
skin disease, and Marcial believed that the cooler climate of Taxco
would be good for him, which it proved to be. Most of all, Marcial
The Lives Today 97
expressed frustration with life in Oapan and the lack of things to do

there. Taxco has an active town square, many shops and restaurants ,
and a general sense of life and vitality.
Nicolas de Jesus, an amate painter and graphic artist from Ameyal;
tepec and a close friend of Marcial's, claims that Marcial's 1 993 stint as
comis arlo also pushed him to leave the pueblo. As comis arlo, Marcial
was responsible for resolving pueblo disputes (see chapter 5 for more on
this episode ) , and Nicolas believes this caused Marcial to lose patience
with the pueblo and its inhabitants.
The 1 990s brought only a single trip to the United States by Mar;
cial. In 1 993 he flew to Los Angeles for three days. A documentary fea;
turing Kevin Costner about the indigenous tribes in the Americas was
being filmed. Through the intermediation of Cathy Good, an anthro;
pologist and longtime friend, Marcial was chosen as the spokesperson
for the Nahuas. During his time in Los Angeles, he received numerous
interviews and questions about his culture and the customs of his
pueblo. A television program called Five Hundred Nations was made
from the material and later shown on the Discovery Channel. The final
cut contained Marcial's remarks about the large pyramids just outside
of Mexico City: Marcial remarked that at first he was impressed by their
beauty and that he then realized he was viewing the equivalent of a
dead father.
Marcial's greatest catastrophe came in 1 995, when his wife, Gloria,
hemorrhaged during the birth of Miguel Angel, their last son. Gloria
almost died, as she gave birth in Oapan with only a midwife, rather
than seeing her pregnancy to an end in Taxco. 1 7 From this birth, Glo;
ria also developed severe complications from a hormonal misbalance,
which Cuernavaca doctors could not diagnose for a long time. She was
sick for several years. Marcial spent much time looking after her and
the children. His ability to paint and market his art reached an all;time
low during this period. Gloria has since recovered fully and resumed
her successful ceramics stand in Taxco. Florence Browne describes her
as a very good business manager, "the practical one in the family," and
the one whose commercial sense made it possible for Marcial to con;
tinue his career as an artist.
Marcial tried to do the best work possible while still making a living,
but times were difficult for most of the 1 990s. Marcial's wife insisted
repeatedly that they "try selling something else," other than art, but
Marcial refused to budge. He simply could not imagine life without

painting, and he assumed that someday his prospects would improve.
I first met Marcial when I went to Mexico in 1 998 to track him
down. I found him by questioning the amate sellers in the central
square of Taxco. They led me to his daughter, Oliva, who was manning
the family ceramic stand. Oliva took me to a dark room off the central
square, where I encountered Marcial squinting and painting a piece of
pottery. Two young children, a son and a grandson, were running
around the room and screaming, occasionally j umping into his lap.
Since that time, I have ordered paintings and amates from Marcial
regularly. The amates include a sixteen ... amate series on the history of
the Nahua people and an eight ... by ... four ... foot amate of Oapan superim ...
posed on the horizon of the world. At first, I requested particular
themes for paintings, such as when I asked for the painting of Dante's
Divine Comedy , but now I usually leave the choice of subj ect matter up
to him. That being said, Marcial often prefers to be given an idea to
work with; he considers it a challenge, an inspiration, and a valuable
piece of feedback from his customers. With this in mind, I recently
requested a biblical painting from him, based on the story of J acob's
ladder from Genesis.
Sometimes Marcial enjoys receiving very exact instructions from a
client. He will ask what colors he should use, what figures he should
paint, and what kind of look each part of the painting should have. He
likes the idea of pleasing the customer and also enj oys the challenge of
nonetheless sneaking in his own creativity, even with virtually every
aspect of the picture specified. At other times, he will simply ignore the
instructions and paint what he wants.
When I brought Marcial a copy of Dante's Divine Comedy , I told
him it reminded me of his work. I said it was dreamy, full of symbols,
and Christian on the surface but pagan underneath. He smiled and
laughed, then read the book twice, claiming he did not understand it
the first time. The resulting painting shows a remarkable understand ...
ing of the work, from the opening lone walk along a path, to the differ ...
ing levels of hell and purgatory, to the ascent into paradise. On the
right side of the picture, Virgil is taking Dante by the hand. The over ...
all style is reminiscent of nineteenth ... century Victorian fairy art. Mar ...
cial relates that Dante's portrayal of the levels of heaven and hell
reminds him of Nahua mythology and that he found the book so inter ...
The Lives Today 99
esting for this reason. He particularly enj oyed the "passages about
crossing the river" and Dante's entire idea of the "liberation of the
soul.,, 1 8
Some of Marcial's works are planned out i n great detail. The six ...
teen ... amate series on the Nahua people, for instance, induced him to
read several books on the history of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. I
had intended the series to be about Oapan and the Alto Balsas region,
but Marcial wished to go back further. He responded with a detailed
outline to paint the struggle between Cortes and Montezuma. The first
few of these amates concern Nahua cosmology, but the series then
rapidly moves into the history of the conquest, specifically the march of
Cortes and his siege of Tenochitlan (now Mexico City). After he did
some reading, Marcial wrote out detailed notes about each amate, and
he is painting an amate in the series every few months.
Gloria Frank, a leading New York Haitian and Outsider art dealer,
decided to order several paintings and several amates from Marcial,
which she has marketed successfully in her New York shows. Gloria
attended the original Connecticut show in the early 1 980s and still
recalls how impressed she was by the work. She owns a copy of the
MIND catalog and remarked, "I love the work of all of those guys."
Until very recently, however, she had not known that any of them
were still painting or still alive.
Marcial now earns much more per picture than he did when paint ...
ing for Rabkin. He paints fewer pictures but devotes more attention to
detail. Outsider art collectors and dealers have lavished high praise on
these works. Laurie Carmody, one such dealer, compared them to the
works of the very best Haitian painters. Friend and cousin Felix
Jimenez, never one to hold back criticism, also believes that Marcial's
work is now much better. He notes that Marcial "paints with calm"
once again.
Marcial has started marketing his amates to other venues in Cuer ...
navaca, which he had not done since starting with Rabkin. A Cuer ...
navaca gallery named Que Milagro ! now carries his amate work, along
with that of N icolas de Jesus of Ameyaltepec. Que Milagro ! is located
directly across the street from Las Manifiitas, probably the most expen ...
sive and fanciest hotel in Cuernavaca.
Marcial does business differently than does Juan Camilo. Juan works
regularly, but Marcial works in spurts. He appears to go months with ...
out working seriously, though in this "downtime," he is preparing the

canvas or board and thinking out ideas. He will then put in huge bursts
of effort for a month or two and produce many works at once. For a
definite exhibition, the painting will always be ready on time. Other;
wise, if there is any latitude in the initial agreement whatsoever, the
buyer is never sure when the painting will be ready. The only certainty
is that the painting will be late. Marcial is a perfectionist and will not
send a painting or amate unless he is fully happy with it. Often, the
buyer is asked to pay half up front and then receives repeated requests
for more money over time, before the work is finished. Sometimes a
buyer will order one work and Marcial will do two of the same, allow;
ing the buyer to pick his or her favorite. Or Marcial will do several dif;
ferent pictures for the buyer, hoping he or she will want to buy all of
them. He also will start many (noncommissioned) paintings and never
finish them. Right now Marcial has more commissions than he is able
to handle.19
Sometimes Marcial is late with commissions for more dangerous rea;
sons. He occasionally goes on drinking binges, especially when he is in
Oapan or when old friends come to visit. The alcohol makes his dia;
betes worse, and he has spells of not being able to work at all. He has
had temporary periods of dizziness, deafness, double vision, and inca;
pacitation, though none of these problems has lasted for long to date.
He faces a longer;run danger of liver and kidney failure. Marcial has
taken care to see doctors in recent times, but he has not always been so
careful. He admits that he is afraid of doctors and that he would rather
ignore his medical problems than deal with them.
His amate commission from the Smithsonian, Marcial's most
significant recent success, came in the summer of 200 1 . The opening
exhibit for this museum is to concern the maj or indigenous groups in
the United States and Mexico, and the Alto Balsas Nahua were
defined as one of those groups. The curators decided to give that cuI;
ture a space in the opening exhibit. A Smithsonian employee and assis;
tant curator, Alexander Benitez, was told to research the Alto Balsas
arts, and naturally his attention was drawn to amate. An Internet
search put him in touch with a Cuernavaca dealer, Lilia Quiroz, who
has sold high;quality amates and pottery from Oapan and the sur;
rounding pueblos. Quiroz referred him to me ( I had previously bought
ceramics from her and corresponded with her by email ) . Benitez visited
The Lives Today 10 1
my house, took numerous photos, and brought the results back to the
senior curators. The decision was made to commission two joint
amates, painted by Marcial and Nicolas de Jesus. A further decision was
made that the amates should concern two significant recent struggles
in the region: ( 1 ) a protest against a dam and ( 2 ) a land dispute
between San Agustin and the neighboring community of San Miguel
(see chapter 5 on these struggles ) . In 2002 the Smithsonian flew Mar;
cial to Washington for a week, to consult about the nature of the
exhibit.
Despite these recent successes, Marcial's economic position remains
fragile, given how many pictures he must sell each year to make a good
living and how much time he is putting into each work. He is always
short of money. In part, it costs him money to maintain residences in
Oapan, T axco, and Cuernavaca. Marcial also finds himself drawn into
other people's causes. When a relative gets into trouble or has to pay
for a funeral, Marcial is there to help. He is willing to run down his sav;
ings, believing that he is invincible in a fashion and that more money
will always be coming in sooner or later, through some means or
another.
Marcial has largely abandoned the florid style he used during most of
the 1 990s, though it still surfaces occasionally. His current works are a
hybrid of tnany styles, with closer attention to detail than before. His
perspective has become less flat and more cubist. He is more versatile
in his use of color and draws on a broader range of artistic styles. Mar;
cial claims that he learned much from Ana Luisa, including how to mix
colors better and how to prepare a board or canvas for the application
of subsequent paint. His current work is superior technically to his ear;
lier work, without having lost his sincerity, imagination, dreaminess, or
fundamentally naive style.
Very recently, Marcial has reestablished a more active friendship
with Rabkin, who came in January 200 1 to visit Marcial in Taxco. He
and Rabkin have made plans to exhibit some art painted by Marcial's
daughter Oliva. Rabkin has also talked of flying Oliva to New York.
Marcial's family life differs greatly from that of his brothers. He and
Gloria now live apart, although they see each other frequently and are
loyal to each other as a couple. Recently, Marcial moved to Cuer;
navaca to set up a small studio and pursue superior opportunities there.
His wife and family still live in Taxco. Marcial found it impossible to
paint rapidly in the Taxco apartment, given its poor light and limited
space and the carousing of his young son and grandson. His patron
Watanabe offered him free apartment space in a building Watanabe
owns in the center of Cuernavaca, and Marcial accepted the offer. He
now has four good ... sized rooms, one very large for painting. The apart ...
ment is otherwise bare, containing only painting materials, a single
bed, and some of Gloria's ceramics for sale in Cuernavaca.
Marcial's family also has more dispersion in age than does Juan's
family. Marcial has two young boys and two grown girls , with no child
in the middle. Of all the children, Oliva is the closest to Marcial. She
looks like him, looks to him for approval, and is following in his foot ...
steps as a naive painter. While Dahlia remains close to the family, she
pursues her own directions to a greater extent. Juan's family remains all
gathered in Oapan. Marcial's family relations, though emotionally
close, are more like a series of temporary bilateral connections.
Nicolas de Jesus • It sheds light on Marcial's career to contrast it with

that of Nicolas de Jesus of Ameyaltepec, the Alto Balsas artist with the
greatest commercial success. Nicolas has pursued commercial strategies
distinct from those of his peers and, in fact, is no longer considered an
amate painter at all.
It is difficult to estimate Nicolas's exact income, but his standard of
living far exceeds that of the other amate painters. Though by no
means a millionaire, he has modern electrical appliances in every room
of his Ameyaltepec house and maintains alternative residences in Aca ...
pulco and Chilpancingo. An owner of a nice new white car, he plans to
send his three daughters to English ... language schools.
N icolas started off like most other amate painters of the region,
painting pottery and simple bird amates. He was the son of Pablo de
Jesus, arguably the first amate painter and still one of the most highly
regarded. Pablo trained Nicolas from a very young age. When Pablo
was murdered making a sales trip to Iguala, Nicolas took over the fam...
ily amate business.2o
Whereas the Oapan painters tended to focus their sales in Cuer ...
navaca, Nicolas and his family were more entrepreneurial from the
beginning. Relying on Ameyaltepec social networks, they sold as far
afield as Tij uana, Guadalaj ara, Cancun, Cozumel, and numerous other
locales.21
The Lives Today 103
By the early 1 980s, N icolas was widely recognized by the other

amate painters as one of the best in the region. Nonetheless, Nicolas
realized he had few opportunities for advancement as a standard amate
painter. In 1 982 Nicolas traveled to Mexico City, where he came in
contact with a print shop called Artegrafias Limitadas. He participated
in the making of a print portfolio and learned how to make his work
into aquatints. Felipe Ehrenberg, who had first worked with Max Ker;
low in Mexico City to introduce amate paper to the village artisans ,
had maintained contact with Nicolas. Twenty years later, in the early
1 980s, Felipe taught Nicolas the basic techniques of etching, graphic
work, and lithography. Nicolas learned how to turn amates into "mul;
tiples" of various kinds.
In 1 988 Nicolas seized yet another opportunity and set out for the
United States to earn a better living. He spent time in San Francisco
and Los Angeles before finally setting in Chicago for six years with his
wife. At first, he had no visa, but he later obtained a legal visa through
his art exhibitions. His three daughters were all born in the United
States and thus are American citizens. In Chicago, Nicolas joined an
artists' workshop, where he learned more about graphic techniques. He
recalls working at night and sleeping during the day so that he could
obtain scarce studio space. While he admits to drinking very heavily
during this titne, he also worked very hard and focused his efforts
toward marketplace success.22
Nicolas then decided to buy his own equipment and go into business
as an independent artist. He rented space in Oak Park, Illinois, and
found numerous American buyers interested in his work. Commonly
he would make a print run of 1 5 0 to 250 for a single amate and then sell
these works on his own, without relying on gallery intermediation. The
works were a big success, and Nicolas exhibited his material in numer;
ous places around the United States, including the Mexican Fine Arts
Center in Chicago, various universities, and the Chicago Public
Library. Many of his reviews were very favorable, and his presence
coincided with a time of increasing American interest in Mexico.
Along with Marcial, Nicolas received the Smithsonian commission for
amate painting in 200 1 .
In addition to selling works, Nicolas received a variety of other
opportunities to earn money. In the early 1990s, for instance, he was
commissioned to draw the illustrations for a cookbook of dishes from
rural parts of Mexico, Cuisines of Hidden Mexico: A Culinary Journey to

Guerrero and Michoacan . 23
N icolas returned to Mexico in the early 1 990s, largely so his daugh;
ters could grow up in the pueblo rather than in Chicago. Since that
time, his American success has given him entree into Mexican mar;
kets. Indeed, N icolas claims that without his years in America, his
commercial success in Mexico would not have been possible.
Now Nicolas has turned his Ameyaltepec house into a studio and
has trained his wife and daughters in the techniques of printmaking.
He and his family make all of the works themselves and need not hire
any outside parties. He sells these works to a variety of galleries
throughout Mexico, including in Mexico City, Oaxaca, San Miguel
Allende, and Cuernavaca. In a typical year, he might make ten prints,
each with a run of at least 1 50. Of course, not all of these works sell, but
if we think of a typical print as selling for $ 1 50, with Nicolas receiving
half of that, we can see that his yearly income far exceeds that of the
traditional amate painters. If he sells half of these works in a given year,
that amounts to about $56,250, which goes a long way in rural Mexico.
N icolas notes that his American market connections have dried up
since he left the United States, though he has recently moved to
reestablish them. He now sells to Steven Clark (Quetzal Gallery,
Kingston, New York) and to Fourth World Artisans in Chicago. In any
case, Nicolas earns a good living selling through Mexican galleries, and
his clientele remains almost exclusively American, albeit in a Mexican
locale. Since working at lithography, Nicolas has spent little time
doing traditional amates, though he still paints a few large murals on
amate paper, which he exhibits and sells to private customers.
Unlike many of the amate painters, including the Oapan group,
Nicolas was never much influenced by Diego Rivera or the other Mex;
ican painters. Instead, Nicolas cites Posada, a Mexican printmaker
from the early twentieth century, as his dominant influence. To this
day, the work of Nicolas reveals a strong Posada influence with regard
to both themes and techniques.
Nicolas's access to foreign buyers allowed him-indeed, required
him-to expand beyond the traditional themes of amate painting. He
takes a special interest in Day of the Dead scenes, which he paints as
more strictly Mexican than as Nahua or Alto Balsas in the narrower
sense. Nicolas also paints political works of general interest. Many of
The Lives Today 105
the amate painters have painted political works, but these have tended
to involve local disputes (see chapter 5 ) . Nicolas's political works aim
at larger audiences and thus have more general themes. He commonly
portrays the struggles of the people against various oppressive dictator ...
ships in a more general Latin American context, not necessarily in a
Mexican setting.24 Nicolas also makes multiples-based on amates
showing explicit sex (either intercourse or oral sex ) , typically within an
Ameyaltepec dwelling. N icolas notes that he deliberately set out to
break all the old taboos of amate painting.25
Despite these successes, many amate painters in the Ameyaltepec
(though not the Oapan group of this study) grouse at the work of
Nicolas. His pieces are seen as too slick and not sufficiently traditional.
Most of all, the other Ameyaltepec painters complain because he sells
copies rather than original works. They do not think or talk of him as
an amate painter.
Nicolas is a great admirer of the art of Marcial, whom he believes to
be an artist of the first rank. The two are close friends and talk fre ...
quently about art and politics. Nicolas believes that Marcial has not
met more success for several reasons. Most important, he believes that
Marcial's work is not held widely enough. This makes it hard for Mar ...
cial's reputation to spread. He has encouraged Marcial to make litho ...
graphs to relnedy this deficiency. He also thinks it is a probleln that
Marcial works relatively slowly. He praises the careful attention that
Marcial gives to each work, as well as the resulting quality. Nonethe ...
less, he feels that Marcial never has enough finished paintings on hand
to mount a finished exhibit if a gallery should again be interested.
A visit to Nicolas and Marcial quickly reveals further differences of
importance. N icolas, for instance, has an entire press kit ready to hand
out to visitors, with photocopies of reviews and press coverage, both in
English and in Spanish. Marcial does not even have on hand a resume
or a complete list of his previous exhibits. Nicolas also comes across as
a consummate businessman. Marcial does not.
I asked Marcial and Felix Jimenez whether they wished to make lith ...
ographs. Marcial described his continuing attachment to the idea of an
original work of art. In economic terms, he believes that simply making
lithographs would not be enough to succeed and that Nicolas's
achievement is how he constructed a distribution network. Marcial
also worries that selling copies would lower the value of his original
works; he notes that none of his customers have asked for copies. Fur ...
thermore, switching to multiples cannot be done overnight but would
require a substantial investment of time and effort in learning new
techniques. When asked about N icolas , Felix J imenez smiled and said
"to each his own path" [cada quien su propio senderol. He indicated that
all successful people think that others should follow in their footsteps,
and he seconded Marcial's comments. That being said, in recent times,
Marcial has flirted with the idea of making multiples and has had some
exploratory conversations with Nicolas in this direction.
Rabkin and Rodman • Ed Rabkin and his wife, Carolyn, still live in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their daughter, Lara, lives in New York City,
where she is working as a singer. Carolyn has pursued a career as a
sculptor. She describes Marcial as her teacher. One of her greatest suc ...
cesses has been having a work exhibited in the High Museum in
Atlanta. In 2002 she was interviewed by the Discovery Channel for a
television program on her sculpture.
Since having discontinued the storefront version of Galerie Lara, Ed
Rabkin has expanded his connection to amate markets. He now sells
numerous amate products, including the raw paper, books with quality
amate covers, lampshades, decorations , and amate wall hangings. He
sells through Inail order and through eBay.2 6
Rabkin has dealt in amate paper to some extent for a long time. In
1 9 7 8 he asked Marcial to visit (twice ) the Otomi village of San Pablito,
where the paper is made. Marcial helped Rabkin set up business con ...
nections and procure supply. Marcial recalls his shock when visiting
the pueblo and seeing that all the men carried machetes for martial dis ...
play, rather than for work in the fields. The Otomi have had a reputa ...
tion of being warlike since pre ... Hispanic times and have continued
martial traditions to the present day. Marcial was able to help Rabkin
get the paper. Today, Rabkin has expanded these connections and
turned them into a profitable business.
In 1 999 Rabkin and Selden Rodman held a weekend exhibit of the
group's work in Selden's New Jersey house. He accepted some pictures
from Rabkin on consignment and publicized a show in his home. The
results, however, were less than auspicious. Carole Rodman, Selden's
wife, claims that the exhibit failed because the quality of the work was
not high enough. Rabkin did not let his best paintings go to Carla Rod ...
The Lives Today 107
man (Selden's daughter, who picked out the pieces for the show) when
she visited his home. Carole Rodman also remarked that the clientele
on the mailing list for the show consisted mostly of Haitian buyers.
These individuals wanted Haitian works, not Mexican ones. The only
picture sold was a music scene by Felix Jimenez, which was sold when a
photo of the piece was put on a postcard and mailed to a client in
Texas.
Since that time, Rodman showed no further interest in marketing
the group's works. He passed away at the age of ninety ... three in Novem ...
ber 2002, when he slipped while walking to his mailbox. He fell on the
back of his head, went into a coma, and died shortly thereafter at a
local hospital. Historian Gary Fountain of Ithaca, New York, is now in
the process of writing a biography of Selden. Before his death, Rodman
frequently proclaimed that the Oapan group was underrated and was
due to make a comeback someday.
Juan Camilo Ayala, Amate Painting, approximately 1980, IS" x 22.5". This
early amate of Juan's originally sold to FONART and is now in the collection
of the author.
Juan Camilo Ayala, Patron Saint of Guadalajara, on amate paper, IS" x 22.5".
Roberto Mauricio, Self-Portrait, black--and--white amate, IS" x 22.5".
(above left) Juan Camilo Ayala, Offering and Fiesta, on amate paper,
15" x 22.5". Collection of the author.
(below left) Roberto Mauricio, Women Eating Watermelon, on amate paper,

15" x 22.5". Collection of the author.
Inocencio Jimenez Chino, segment of an amate mural on the conquest of the
Aztecs, 2000, 15.5" x 67". Collection of Alec Giaimo.
(above left) Inocencio Jimenez Chino, Fieldwork, 1998, on amate paper, 7.25" x
11.25". Collection of Alec Giaimo.
(below left) Inocencio Jimenez Chino, Rio Balsas, 1997, black ... and ... white amate,
7.25" x 11.25". Collection of Alec Giaimo.
Marcial Camilo Ayala, Oapan, 2003, on amate paper, IS" x 22.5". Collection
of Vernon and Candace Smith.
(above left) Felix Jimenez Chino, Cousins Playing Guitar, 2002, on board,
27" x 35". Felix is on the left in this self.-portrait; the cousin on the right is
Marcial. Collection of the author.
(below left) Marcial Camilo Ayala, Fireworks, 2003, on amate paper, IS" x 22.5".
Private collection.
Alcividiades Camilo Altamirano, Mermaid, on amate paper, 22.5" x IS" .
P U B LI C C H O I C E A N D L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T
I N O W RETU RN M O RE EXP L I C I T LY to the theme of liberty versus

power. We have seen the history of the painters in markets both within
Mexico and abroad. The question remains how politics and power rela ...
tions have shaped their lives. In Oapan and in Mexico more generally,
we observe a largely dysfunctional politics. This has limited the
progress of the painters and has threatened to undo Oapan's material
progress. Much of Mexican politics has been about extracting wealth
from productive individuals, rather than supplying public goods to
rural communities. Let us look at this political side of life more closely.
Throughout the narrative, we will see the contrast between productive
marketplace exchange and "parasitic" relations through state power,
referring back to the distinction of Stanislav Andreski ( 1 966 ) , men ...
tioned in chapter 1 of this study.
Rural Mexican municipal government as found in Oapan and
numerous other pueblos presents some special features of interest.
-Local governmental structures are extremely weak, relative to

the outside forces they confront.
-Corruption is a paramount danger.
-Under the cargo system (explained further in this chapter) ,

local office holding is a cost rather than a benefit.
1 09
1 10 MARKETS AND CU LTURAL VOICES
-Local democracy is participatory.
-The political spectrum is usually defined along issues of preser ...

vation versus change, rather than along traditional left ... and
right ... wing ideologies.
-The lines between politics, religion, and kinship are blurred;

personal quarrels dominate politics.
These features, taken together, have created a political environment

that discourages the production and accumulation of wealth. This
chapter will look at the central political issues of the last fifteen years,
how they have influenced the lives and careers of our artists, and the
burdens they have created. But first let us see in more detail how local
politics operates in Oapan and what kind of incentives it creates.
The Cargo System
The system of town government in rural Mexico is derived from both

pre ... Hispanic and colonial influences. Town politics are participatory
and democratic. Political decisions consume significant resources and
time, in part because further lobbying remains possible right up until a
decision is implemented. A decision to involve oneself in politics
therefore places one's time and money at the mercy of community
demands. Furthermore, the community is sufficiently small that a per ...
sonal relationship or enmity usually precedes a political one. In effect,
weak systems of local government are superimposed on social and kin ...
ship ... based quarrels. Politics, religion, and personal relationships can ...
not be separated from each other but, rather, form an interwoven
whole.
Unpaid volunteer labor, under the threat of community pressure, is
the core form of political service. The comis arios , the may ordomo, and
the fiscal are the most important political posts. In addition to these
maj or offices, volunteers are used to record village transactions (the
secretario) , serve in the village band, perform songs and prayers, and
help the major officeholders prepare for fiestas. This activity includes
sewing, making candles, baking bread, repairing public buildings,
cleaning wells , and carpentry, among other tasks.1
How the Outside World Shapes Politics 111
Fiscal affairs in rural Mexican communities differ from North Amer;

ican municipal systems. Public expenditures often come directly from
the pocket of the officeholder, rather than from the general till or from
tax revenues. Holding political office is more of a cost or a form of
coerced contribution than a means of enrichment. Officeholders, for
instance, pay for most of the town fiestas, one of the most prominent
public goods. This practice, common to many Mexican and Central
American pueblos, is known as the cargo system .
Most duties in the cargo system are organized around local public
goods. The comis ario is the political leader, akin to a mayor. The comis,
ario is responsible for acting as town ambassador to the outside world,
making sure town affairs run smoothly, organizing the fiestas, enforcing
the laws, deciding when a tribunal (juzgado) should be called, prevent;
ing disorderly behavior, and, most of all, resolving disputes among the
townspeople.2
A mayordomo takes care of the chapel of his barrio, opens and closes
the doors of the church at the appropriate times, and contributes
expenses toward the fiestas. He buys fireworks, skyrockets (cohetes ) ,
flowers, chicken, beef, corn, and beer for ceremonial events. In these
tasks, a mayordomo is assisted by his padrino, whom he chooses each
year. The most significant obligations are for carnival in the winter and
for the fiestas of Santiago (patron saint of the village) held in both May
and July. The most regular obligation occurs every Sunday, when the
mayordomo and his padrino must make sure that the church rosary cer;
emony is supplied with flowers. When the town "authorities" (dis;
cussed shortly) pick a new may ordomo, they show up at his house with
beer and cigarettes. Accepting the offering signals a willingness to do
the j ob.3
The fiscal organizes some religious festivals and takes care of the
church. He is responsible for opening and closing the church every day,
caring for offerings, keeping the church clean, taking care of the
church "saints" (santos, or statues, used in some fiestas ) , coordinating
the activities of the church singers , and receiving offerings to the
saints.
The powers of these officeholders are tightly circumscribed, and we
can think of Oapan government as constrained and responsive to pub;
lic opinion. Individuals serve a one;year term, which typically is not
repeated. Maj or officeholders must meet the informal approval of those
whom pueblo members call "the authorities" (las autoridades ) . These

are respected individuals, typically older, who have held important
pueblo posts in the past. They are the ultimate court of opinion
through which all political decisions must pass if those decisions are to
command long ... run support within the community.4
The cargo system appears strange to the American observer, but it is
not without economic and political sense. In lieu of using tax revenue,
the community conscripts labor and forces a few individuals each year
to pay an especially large part of the total tax bill through "donations"
of their time and money. This system, due to its implicitly coercive ele ...
ments, gets the better candidates at relatively low expense. Further ...
more, in the long run, most families would rather donate more of their
labor than more of their money, given their limited earning opportuni ...
ties. Jonathan Amith estimates that the current yearly tax burden at
the village level runs about eighty dollars a family; at this margin, most
villagers would rather work more than pay more. Furthermore, assess ...
ing higher taxes could be problematic given how much of village
income is paid in kind or produced within the household.5
The cargo system eases monitoring costs. The authorities assess the
lifetime contribution of each family head and then decide which sub ...
sequent burdens would be appropriate. Most of the cargo expenditures
take the form of highly visible outputs , such as fireworks, beer, can ...
dIes, and flowers. During a fiesta, all villagers can see how good a j ob
the officeholder has done. Monitoring the labor contribution in the
form of the cargos is not much harder than monitoring additional tax
contributions. 6
The cargo system also makes it easier for the community to imple ...
ment discretionary taxation. The inj ured, the sick, the alcoholic, and
the totally destitute are not typically expected to execute major cargos.
No one wants these people to hold maj or offices, so the decision to
excuse them is noncontroversial and "incentive ... compatible," to use a
phrase from economics. It would be harder, however, for authorities to
use discretion to adj ust the tax burden of each family each year. Every ...
one might agree that an alcoholic should not hold a maj or cargo, but
not everyone will agree what, if anything, alcoholism should imply for
a pecuniary tax burden. The cargo system thus helps an inevitably dis ...
cretionary system to economize on decision ... making costs.
We should avoid trying to find a "functional" reason for every village
practice, the cargo system included. The cargo system appears to have
How the Outside World Shapes Politics 1 13
evolved for complex historical reasons , having to do with the combi ...
nation of earlier Hispanic and pre ... Hispanic systems of local govern ...
ment (see Carrasco 1 96 1 ) . In this sense, the particulars of history,
rather than any theory, account for the practice. Functional explana ...
tions, however, play some role in explaining the persistence of institu ...
tions, rather than their origins. Cargo systems change and evolve all
the time ( see Smith 1 97 7 ) , and a system that did not benefit anybody
probably would not last. So we should think of these explanations as
showing why there are some benefits to the system, not why the system
is an optimum or best possible practice.
Some anthropologists writing about other Mexican villages have
treated the cargo system as a means of purchasing social status and ris ...
ing in the hierarchy of the village. This hypothesis, however, overrates
the value of the status returns in Oapan relative to the expenditures
and the hassles.7
The operation of the cargo system resembles a university depart ...
ment in some regards. High ... status individuals are seen as eligible for
cargos, much as an academic department might pressure successful
members to become department chair for several years. Senior mem ...
bers of the department think about who has not yet been chair and
who might serve as a plausible candidate. (Given that power seekers
are dangerous, the individuals who lllost want the j ob are not necessar ...
ily most wanted by others. ) They then try to recruit this individual
with a mix of pressure and persuasion, most of all appealing to guilt and
a sense of community service.
Being chair offers some kinds of status but not others. Saying no
when one is a due to be chair or is an eligible candidate involves a neg ...
ative stigma. Furthermore, there is status in being asked, even though
the j ob itself brings little status. Nonetheless, being a good chair is not
the primary means to status in academia, just as being comis ario is not
the primary means to status in the pueblo. In Oapan social networks ,
wealth, articulate speaking, and effective politicking produce more
prestige than does office holding. Whether as a department chair or as
a comis ario, it is easier to lose prestige through one's service than to
gain it. Both jobs are more of a burden than a blessing. In both cases,
individuals almost immediately look forward to the end of their term.
Most individuals accept the cargos simply because they have to.
They could leave the village altogether, as many people do (see chap ...
ters 4 and 6 ) , but otherwise an eligible candidate is expected to take
the job. Failure to take the job would result in a loss of all personal
standing within the village. While the job is costly, until lately many
individuals have not expected to accumulate much wealth in any case.
In other words , the feeling was that a person could either lose his
wealth through a cargo or lose it in some other fashion.
Performing a major cargo duty does, of course, bring some rents. A
comis ario, for instance, has considerable influence for his year in office
and some influence beyond that, at least if he has been successful in
building coalitions. People come to him to ask for favors, much as they
might go to a department chair. There is little doubt that many comis,
arios take pleasure in being a center of attention in this fashion. We
should not, however, think of the office as a vehicle for personal
enrichment; as we will see, it is more likely a road to bankruptcy.
For better or worse, a cargo system is hard to get rid of once in place.
Most of the minor cargo burdens fall on the young, individuals between
twenty and thirty years of age. The major cargos fall on individuals who
are somewhat older but still relatively young, in the range of thirty to
fifty years old. The elderly typically have served their maj or cargos at
some time in the past. This demographic distribution of the tax burden
makes the system very stable. The elderly already have paid their taxes
for life and are receiving a steady stream of benefits from the labor of
others. Thus, they tend to oppose change, for the saIne reasons that the
elderly in Western democracies oppose changing social security sys ...
terns. Reformers have found age ... linked social security systems to be
among the most difficult institutions to change or improve, and the
cargo system is "sticky" for similar reasons. Marcial, for instance, hav ...
ing served as comis ario, is now off the hook for life if he wishes. ( He was
asked to serve again in 2003 but declined, citing his previous service. )
At this point in his life, he would not fare better if the community
relied more heavily on direct taxation and assessments, which he
would not be able to escape.
Marcial as Comisarfo
Marcial is the only group member to have served as comis ario, as he was
primary comis ario in 1 993 . In this year, he was the political leader of the
pueblo, and he combined functions of a mayor, police force, and cuI ...
tural preservation agency.
It is widely agreed that serving as comis ario is more than a full;time

job. Everyone in the village brings their complaints to the comis ario.
Marcial reiterates that he received no pay for hearing these opinions
and resolving disputes. In theory, the comis ario receives payment from
the fines he collects, but very little of this income actually ends up in
his hands. When individuals are censured for disorderly conduct, they
are to pay a fine, at the discretion of the comis ario, but no more than
one or two hundred pesos (ten to twenty dollars ) . This does not repre;
sent corruption, as it is widely understood and accepted that officehold;
ers capture the fines. But Marcial, like most comis arios , saw little of this
money. The helpers of the comis ario, the comisionados , ask that the
money be spent on them. For instance, if they bring someone to j ail,
they will ask that the comis ario give them soft drinks or something to
eat. The more wrongdoings they uncover, the more they will get paid,
thus giving them an incentive to work. Usually there is little or noth;
ing left over for the comis ario from the fines, and half of what is left goes
to the segundo, the comis ario next in command beneath the primary
comis ario . 8
Social pressures also discourage the comisario from levying excessive
fines. If a comis ario appears to be collecting too much money, residents
start talking about how the comis ario is intent on building up his house,
rather than governing the town.
Accepting the comis ario office is therefore a very costly decision.
Marcial notes that 1 993 , the year he held office, was a disastrous year
for his art. He did not have time to finish a single picture, and he also
had no opportunities to travel to sell his work or obtain future com;
missions. In addition to these opportunity costs, Marcial estimates that
the cargo cost him direct expenditures of at least ten thousand pesos
( in this year, the exchange rate ranged from three to four pesos per dol;
lar) , j ust about all the resources he held at that time. He describes the
decision to accept the post as a great compromise.
Marcial believes that his selection as comis ario involved more than
just his leadership abilities. At the time, Oapan residents thought he
had enough money to do it, considering what they thought he had
earned from his art. Given his international reputation, "the authori;
ties" thought he was much richer than he in fact was.9
Neither Juan Camilo nor Felix Camilo has held a maj or post in the
pueblo. Sometime between fifteen and twenty years ago, Juan was one
of the regidores helping the comis ario. Much earlier, when he had j ust
reached maturity, he was a topile , assisting with the fiestas. Felix

Camilo has never served as comis ario or may ordomo, but he was a topile
six years ago. He spent a good deal of his time as topile helping to build
the school and to build the basketball court in the center of town. He
says the cargo cost him a good bit of time but not very much money.
For the foreseeable future, the passing of his spouse and his associated
home responsibilities give him plausible excuse from maj or duties.
Juan claims there has been talk of his becoming comis ario, but it is
not clear when, if ever, this will happen. Juan has mixed feelings about
the prospect, but his family is opposed to the idea. They do not want
the expenses and aggravation that such a post would bring. Roberto
Mauricio, in contrast, expresses no reservations about wanting to be
comis ario, and this is in part why he probably will never be suitable for
the j ob. When asked why he wants to do the j ob, he responded,
"Because I like j ustice."10
Inocencio Chino once served as may ordomo, which he estimates
cost him about twenty thousand pesos ( about two thousand dollars ) in
direct expenses, not counting the opportunity cost of his time. 1 1 The
may ordomo's family and social network will help him bear these costs to
some extent, but the mayordomo must repay these favors with future
reciprocal assistance. Inocencio's work as may ordomo also altered his
lifestyle and work practices for the year of his term. His duties kept him
tied to Oapan virtually all of that year; rather than living in San Miguel
Allende and visiting Oapan occasionally, he lived in Oapan and vis;
ited San Miguel Allende only occasionally.
Felix Jimenez has had less involvement in the cargo system and in
village politics. Twenty years ago, Felix served as an assistant to the
fiscal. Eight years ago, Felix served as assistant to a village may ordomo.
Another time, in the early 1 980s, j ust after his marriage, he served as a
topile . Felix recognizes that his burden has been relatively light. He
says, "They haven't touched me yet" [Todavia no me tocan] . He notes
that he stands ready to serve if called on, but he evinces no great
enthusiasm for the possibility.
Marcial understands Felix's attitude very well. While Marcial loves
politics, he did not love being comis ario. He enj oys speaking out, orga;
nizing, and exercising informal influence, but he hates office holding,
the associated busywork, and the need to hear everyone's complaint.
From his point of view, the comis ario office brought all the worst aspects
of politics into his life. In 1 995 Marcial was tentatively assigned

another burdensome cargo (leader of the Comisariado de los Bienes
Comunales, dealing with land rights ) , but he refused the post, claiming
he knew his rights and that he had served the community enough.
Church Disputes
Marcial's tenure as comis ario came at an especially tumultuous and con ...
tentious moment. Issues of religion, politics, development, and exter ...
nal relations were all reaching crisis points during this time.
The most vitriolic internal dispute concerned the nature of church
service. In Oapan, there has been a modern priest (a charismatic) and
a traditional priest ( a Lefebvrist) , both of whom visit the pueblo. The
villagers have fought over whether the ways of the modern priest or the
traditional priest should reign, and the disagreement came to a head in
1 993 . Today, this still represents the most significant fracture within
the Oapan community. 1 2
Relative to the tastes of many Oapan residents, the modern priest
has an extremely charismatic sense of the Catholic religion. In partic ...
ular, he is known for playing the guitar during church services, for
encouraging dancing, for encouraging clapping, and for holding Mass
in Spanish rather than in Latin. Many townspeople, especially the
elderly, consider these practices to be distasteful and irreverent. They
can recall being told that these same practices were the mark of the
devil. Marcial notes that these people cannot change their ideas
overnight. They were brought up to oppose these practices and do not
want to see them in their church. The opponents of the modern priest
sought to limit his presence in Oapan as much as possible.
The dispute reached a head in 1 993 when the local church official
(the fiscal) from Oapan would not let the modern priest into the town
church to give Mass. Most townspeople chose sides, and feelings
exploded rapidly. The dispute manifested itself by public arguments ,
shouting, episodes of pushing and fighting, and many hard feelings ,
often among close friends. Some of the combatants had to serve short
(one ... day) stints in the pueblo j ail. A town assembly was held to discuss
the issue, with Marcial presiding as comis ario. It was decreed that music
and dancing would no longer take place in the church.
Marcial notes that he personally favors guitar playing in the church,

having enj oyed guitar music since he learned the instrument at
Rabkin's house in his early twenties. Nonetheless, Marcial feels that it
is unfair to subj ect the elderly residents of Oapan to guitar music, given
that many of them feel it is a tool of the devil. He maintains that if the
church service can be done only one way or another, it should be done
without the charismatic flourishes. Marcial obj ected that the charis;
matic faction gathered in small groups and behaved in conspiratorial
fashion. Rather than taking their case to the pueblo, they first went
around and tried to organize as much private support for their case as
possible. Marcial regards this as unhelpful factionalism. Marcial's ideal
solution would be a compromise to allow both sides to have their way
at different times or in different chapels. The villagers were willing to
accept such a compromise, but the bishop of the modern priest vetoed
the agreement. According to Marcial, the bishop has close ties to the
government, is very inflexible, and wields considerable power.
The church disputes simmered for years, then heated up again in
September 1 999, when the modern priest showed up to perform a wed;
ding service, even though he was not scheduled to appear. The tradi;
tional priest was saying Mass for the wedding when the modern priest
climbed up on stage to give Mass as well. The modern priest then tried
to push the traditional priest off the pulpit, but he failed in this
endeavor. (Oapan residents refer to this episode as "la lucha de los
altares" [the struggle, or fight, of the altars] . ) Village members, includ;
ing many supporters of the modern priest, then scolded the modern
priest for acting in such an impolitic manner. A modest melee ensued,
during which the modern priest hid in a car to avoid being hit; some
mariachi musicians had to hide in a car as well. The next day, the mod;
ern priest showed up to celebrate a modern mass, in Spanish rather
than Latin. Many villagers then entered the church and pulled the
priest out by force, ending the mass.
For a while, it was decreed that no priest would come to Oapan, and
the church effectively was closed. Later, a temporary compromise was
reached. Currently, traditional Mass, in Latin, is held in one of the
capillas (chapels ) , but not in the central church. The mass in Spanish
has been canceled altogether, and no mass is held in the central
church. Marcial doubts, however, whether this solution will last long.
All of the brothers and the other leading amate painters regard these
disputes as ridiculous. They wish for unity of the village and resolution
of the dispute, without caring greatly about whether the guitar is played
or what language is used for Mass. Given the villagers' almost complete
lack of knowledge about Christian doctrine, it is unlikely that disparate
theological visions lie at the heart of the church disputes. Felix and
Juan Camilo both cite the silliness of the argument and reiterate that
"people simply like to fight," especially because they are bored. This is
the core theory of politics that the amate painters hold about other vil;
lage members and sometimes about each other.
Marcial sees the dispute in terms of a modernization faction and an
antimodernization faction. In essence, the two sides are arguing over
the future of the pueblo and its relation to the outside world. It is a
common pattern in Latin America for the more charismatic or Protes;
tant religions to support commerce, a strong work ethic, and modern;
ization, while turning their back on many indigenous customs, includ;
ing costly fiestas. In the Alto Balsas region, the charismatic factions are
much stronger in the more modernized pueblos of Ameyaltepec and
Xalitla and in the larger cities. The pro;charismatics of Oapan reiterate
that other locales have the priest play the guitar and perform Mass in
Spanish, and they ask why Oapan cannot do the same. The anticharis;
matic faction understands these associations with modernization and
resents theln. So even if the villagers do not have well worked;out the;
ologies, the church has become a symbolic forum for disputes over how
Oapan should develop.
Felix Jimenez, ever the skeptic, offers a more cynical explanation.
He sees the disputes as rooted fundamentally in envies among different
group leaders, each vying for leadership in the town. He believes they
have used the issues to manipulate the public and to enhance their own
power, without necessarily caring much about the matter at hand.
Many villagers worry more about the fact of dispute per se than over
which side is right. These "believers" (creyentes , as Marcial calls them)
think that the disgrace of the fight gets put on the entire pueblo. They
worry that this will lead to a lack of good rain and other harmful con;
sequences. In essence, they have pagan reasons for worrying about
Catholic disputes.
Throughout the 1 990s, these religious disputes have mapped into
party disputes, causing the village to split into competing factions. The
village has two main parties , Partido Revolucionario Institucional
( PRI ) and Partido de la Revolucion Democratica ( PRD ) , correspond;

ing to the two maj or parties on the Mexican national scene ( President
Fox's party, Partido Acci6n Nacional [PAN] , is j ust starting to have
members in Oapan ) . On the national scene, PRI has the image of the
establishment party that ruled in the past, while PRD is more left;wing.
The role of these parties in the village does not map tightly to their ide;
ological reputations at the national level, but the divide is nonetheless
real. The choice of party signals a stance on internal village politics.
Interestingly, in Nahuatl, the word partido, Spanish for "political
party," also means "split" or "schism."13
Marcial, Inocencio, Roberto Mauricio, and Felix J imenez all belong
to PRD. At the village level, PRD should be thought of as favoring
indigenous rights and opposed to the Mexican national establishment.
The Oapan branch of PRI is less confrontational toward the national
establishment. While PRI is generally a conservative party, its rela;
tively pro;establishment stance often puts PRI members on the side of
modernization rather than preservation of older ways, given that the
national party establishment favors the economic development of
Guerrero. The village branch of PRI is also less aggressive, compared to
PRD, in speaking up for indigenous rights. In this regard, it corresponds
to the national party.
Ironically, the opponents of the Inodern priest tend to COine froin
the left;wing PRD party, and his supporters tend to come from PRI.
This makes some sense, since PRD supporters tend to attach greater
importance to preserving indigenous cultures. That said, most individ;
uals of the pueblo do not have a good idea what either party is about at
the national level, so party membership should not be considered an
explanatory variable in these disputes. If anything, party membership
results from a position in the disputes, rather than vice versa.
The split in the pueblo has grown more extreme over the last
decade. Currently, the PRD forces control village politics, as they have
a solid majority within the village, including among the elders. They
hold most of the maj or political offices. The PRI followers are reluctant
to accept village posts, on the grounds that they would have to work
with the other party. Inocencio fears that the PRI followers no longer
regard town governance as legitimate, on the grounds that they do not
have adequate representation.
The political fracture has influenced the fiestas of the pueblo and
split their audience. The PRI followers are now seeking to stage their
own fiestas, typically to be held after the fiestas of the PRD followers.
They want to have a different castillo (fireworks structure ) and different
bullfights. So far, the PRD forces have resisted this potential split in the
fiestas. When the PRI supporters tried to bring in their own bulls for
their own bullfight, the PRD forces blocked the road and would not
allow it. Disputes over the castillos , the bullfights, and the fiestas have
exacerbated the underlying tensions in the pueblo.
Marcial is in the PRD camp largely because of his dislike of PRI and
its role in the dam crisis in the 1 990s (discussed shortly) . Marcial feels
that PRI pays less heed to indigenous rights than does PRD; thus, he is
a (reluctant) member of the latter. During my interviews with him,
Marcial insisted that I write that he is unhappy with both parties and
does not like politics, although the latter proposition does not com;
mand assent from his friends and does not fit his behavior. Inocencio
also belongs to PRD, but he stresses that neither party offers a consis;
tent ideology, political program, or vision for the future of San Agustin.
Felix Jimenez holds a cynical attitude as well, though again ending up
on the PRD side of the ledger.
Felix Camilo claims to value peace and unity above any partisan
struggle. He looks back to earlier times when the village was more
united. He belongs to PRI rather than PRD, though he claitns he is not
a strong partisan of the former. He says that the politics of PRD bother
him-that despite party claims to stand for "the people" and for indige;
nous rights, many of the party members are rich and "drive cars" rather
than fighting for the people. He believes that PRD is based on a lie and
hypocrisy, for which reasons he will not join it. He blames "the teach;
ers" of Oapan for stirring up the recent troubles.
Roberto Mauricio takes the most aggressively left;wing stance of the
group. He proudly identifies himself as a Zapatista, and he describes
himself as fighting for "j ustice" [justicial and "right" fderechol against the
forces of evil. He belongs to PRD and hates PRI, which he identifies
with previous and corrupt Mexican governments. When pressed, he
will reiterate cliches rather than give substantive answers to political
questions. Within the village, he has the reputation of enj oying a fight
for its own sake.
Both Inocencio and Felix Jimenez believe that the fracturing of local
government derives, in part, from the recent democratization of Mex;
ico and the arrival of parties in the village. Democratization means that
voting now matters, unlike in the past when PRI held a virtual monop;
oly. In earlier times, outside politicians never visited the village, as
they had no need to. Today, political candidates come to the village to
obtain votes and support. This tends to politicize the village, create fac;
tions, and split opinion. The outsiders are perceived as having access to
resources that the villagers cannot access, if only the ability to pave the
road down the mountain. 14
Inocencio Chino partly attributes the political disputes to the
women of the village (he is not the only Oapan male to hold this opin;
ion ) . Inocencio claims, for instance, that the women on each side of
the dispute get more politically agitated than do the men. He narrated
how the women on each side make fun of each other, brag and boast to
each other, and engage in a kind of "trash talking" over the political
disputes. One woman was even taken away to the state j ail in
Chilpancingo, primarily for her extreme insults , although she was
released within the day.
The greater wealth of the village might be another reason why poli;
tics has heated up, although the villagers do not themselves cite this
factor. In earlier times, there was much less of a surplus to fight over, as
residents were living much closer to subsistence. In contemporary
titnes, the fiestas involve tnore tnaterial resources, the land is worth
more, the church has more money, and there are more public proj ects
to be funded and thus more charges to be assessed. At the same time,
the increasing wealth of the village has created more free time, includ;
ing free time to pursue politics. Villagers need not spend all their spare
time working the fields to hold off starvation; they now enj oy a surplus,
albeit a modest one. 15
We can think of the village as having a set of social networks and a
set of conventions for how those networks operate. Those conventions
evolved over many decades when Oapan was a much poorer and much
more isolated place. The conventions may have produced stability in
an earlier time, but in the more modern environment of greater wealth,
more free time, more contact with the outside world, and more democ;
racy, they have led to quarrels and disunity.
More generally, the Oapan experience suggests a modification to
extant theories of cooperation. A wide variety of writings in the social
sciences argue that cooperation is possible when interactions are
repeated, anonymity is absent, and the number of participants is rela ...

tively smalL 1 6 These same conditions, however, are precisely what
have damaged cooperative behavior in Oapan, at least once people
could find the time and energy to fight. When individuals are driven by
envy and the desire for status, their behavior will not fit models of
material self... interest. They will seek to feel good about themselves and
to hold a feeling of self... righteousness , rather than striking a quick and
simple bargain or compromise. In part, the various parties are locked
into ongoing bargaining games and are always looking to maximize
their share of the surplus. Simple favor trading no longer suffices, as
everyone cares about his or her bargaining position for the future. In
part, the participants simply do not like the idea of giving up their his ...
toric grudges and enabling their enemies to benefit as welL Excess
familiarity becomes the root of conflict rather than the solution. Since
neither party will find a cooperative solution to be fair or acceptable in
terms of local prestige, repeated interactions only escalate the emo ...
tional import of conflict. 1 7 For these reasons, the so ... called Coase theo ...
rem does not apply to village politics. Disputants cannot eliminate
their problems simply by sitting down at the bargaining table and cut ...
ting a deaL The principle of identity-a person's sense of who he or she
is and what he or she stands for-often interferes with the principle of
mutual benefit through trade.
Although the costs of political chaos in the village are high, Oapan
residents sometimes benefit from having a weak and disunified govern ...
ment. Limiting the power of the pueblo officials makes it both harder
and less worthwhile for outside parties to purchase the loyalties of those
individuals. The pueblo faces periodic confrontations with the outside
world, during which time the entire future of the pueblo may be at
stake. Material interests from the outside world, such as the Mexican
federal government or General Motors ( in episodes discussed in this
chapter) , are immense relative to the resources of the pueblo. To the
extent that individuals in power are corruptible, the pueblo will never
have the resources to purchase their loyalties. By checking their polit ...
ical power so tightly, the pueblo ensures or tries to ensure that corrup ...
tion cannot be used against them. During normal times, this may lead
to ineffective government with weak powers , but during critical peri ...
ods, the system may pay off by allowing the loyalties of the leaders to
stay connected with the interests of the pueblo. The village has little
unity and weak leaders, but these same features also help the village to
survive. 1 8 With this background in mind, let us look at two of the
maj or political crises that Oapan politics has faced.
The Fight against the Dam
The possible construction of a dam was the most important political

event in the region in the 1 990s. The dam would have been built at
San Juan Tetelcingo ( a Nahua pueblo between Oapan and Ameyalte;
pec ) , to meet the growing national demand for electricity. It was hoped
that the World Bank would come through with a loan for the proj ect.
The proposed dam would have inundated the Rio Balsas, flooding most
of the local Nahua communities and requiring their relocation. Oapan
residents would have lost their homes, their growing fields, their ances;
tral graves, and their cultural identity. They would have been lumped
together with displaced individuals from other villages-including
their historic enemy San Miguel Tecuiciapan (discussed later in this
chapter)-on a nearby piece of unpromising mountainous land with no
water. Marcial has described the proposed relocation repeatedly as
"murdering us." As the best known amate artist of Oapan and as camis,
aria for part of the protest period, Marcial was a leader in the fight
against the dam. 19
Oapan residents likely would have received little compensation for
a resettlement. Earlier in the 1 980s, the giant Caracol hydrodam had
been built on the Rio Balsas, some forty kilometers downstream from
the proposed site. Several other pueblos were inundated permanently,
and their residents were relocated. The leaders of those pueblos, who
agreed to the relocations, received a mix of bribes, compensation, and
government jobs. Most of the displaced villagers received little or
nothing, and some of the communities disappeared entirely, as the
inhabitants left for Mexico City slums or the United States.20
The dam idea first became known in the village in 1 990, though the
Mexican government had been making plans since 1 959. The Mexican
government had not wished to reveal its hand, for fear of exciting
opposition, but the villagers finally found out when plans for the dam
fell into their hands (the carrier of this information does not wish to be
identified) . Opposition then grew rapidly, especially once the region
learned of the previous histories of other dams and other communities.

In Oapan, for instance, the villagers refused to cooperate with visiting
engineers, the town signed a formal act of noncompliance, the
townswomen started a religious vigil against the dam, and the village
sent out citizens' committees to speak to other pueblos.
Marcial was a leader throughout all these events, but Juan and Felix
Camilo did not participate in these activities. Juan believed that
Oapan residents should not resist too stridently; he claimed, "the gov ...
ernment can kill us." Although Marcial lives outside of town, he
directs his attention back to Oapan frequently, most of all for poli ...
tics-especially for matters related to the dam.
In response to the dam crisis, the Alto Balsas Nahua formed the
Consej o de Pueblos Nahuas del Alto Balsas (CPNAB) in October
1 990. In English, the name of the organization would translate roughly
as the "Council of Nahua Communities of the Upper Balsas." The
group consisted of numerous town comis arios , other local leaders of
note, including Marcial, and some sympathetic members of outside
support groups. The purpose of the council was to speak against the
dam with a unified public voice. The villagers believed that the munic ...
ipal government was corruptible and controlled by PRI loyalists. They
feared it might give away the pueblos while acting in the name of the
people. The Nahua council, they thought, would help prevent such an
outcome. From this point onward, the region, led by the council, dis ...
played a political unity unparalleled in its history. At least temporarily,
the usual squabbling was replaced by a concerted and successful
attempt at collective action. The community drew on its social capital
to work together toward a common end.
In addition to organizing demonstrations, roadblocks, and protests ,
the council drew up a petition to Carlos Salinas, then president of
Mexico, asking him to cancel the dam. The petition referred explicitly
to amates and crafts.
Mr. President, our towns are very well known, not just in the
Mexican Republic but also in many foreign countries around the
world, for our bark paintings and our artisanship in producing
pottery, wooden masks, handwoven hammocks , and other craft
items. We have given much to our country, to the point that one
of our bark paintings now appears on television with the words,
"Mexico se pinta solo," showing that our art is considered part of

the patrimony of all Mexicans. How is it possible that Mexico,
and the government over which you preside, should celebrate the
Quincentenary of the discovery of America with a proj ect that
would destroy a region of the most authentic Mexican culture ?21
Opinion began to turn in the favor of the pueblos. The council orga;
nized several roadblocks of the Mexico City-Acapulco highway, and
these roadblocks won press attention, generated support from environ;
mentalists, and caused some members of the opposition party ( PRD) to
take the side of the villagers. A march to Mexico City garnered further
attention.
Ongoing road accidents made the villagers yet more upset. The gov;
ernment was building a large bridge (now Puente Mezcala) to the east;
ern side of Oapan to create a new highway between Cuernavaca and
Acapulco. In addition, Pemex was drilling in the region. Suddenly
large vehicles were passing through Oapan pueblo streets frequently.
They ran over numerous pigs-valuable investment assets for the vil;
lagers-without showing remorse or offering compensation. One day,
they ran over a fifteen;year;old girl, which, according to Roberto
Mauricio, was the turning point in mobilizing the sentiments of the
pueblo. In the eyes of the villagers, the bridge proj ect and the datu were
part of a broader pattern of outside interference in the Alto Balsas com;
munities.
In January 1 992, Oapan residents organized a town roadblock for
nineteen days. The roadblock hindered construction of the bridge and
also the Pemex drilling activity, given that vehicles could no longer
pass to the east. Rather than responding with force, the state govern;
ment decided to negotiate. The governor of Guerrero canceled the
dam, at least for the duration of his term (one more year) , and the
immediate pressure was removed. The federal government subse;
quently ratified this decision.
The real action took place behind the scenes, when the World Bank
indicated it would not lend money to finance the dam. The World
Bank had been receiving sustained criticism for its environmental poli;
cies and for requiring the forcible resettlement of indigenous peoples
through large;scale hydroelectric proj ects. Once it became apparent
that the dam was to be a public relations disaster, the bank declined to
pursue it. From the very beginning, the bank appears to have had
doubts about the proj ect. Scott Guggenheim, who worked for the
World Bank on the potential proj ect, notes that the bank never
thought the dam a good idea in cost ... benefit terms and became even
more worried once social problems arose.22 He notes that the bank
never let the proj ect get to the appraisal phase. Thus, the proj ect was
doomed at the outset for lack of financing, though Marcial mentions
rumors that private capital, perhaps from Japan, may someday step in to
pay for the dam.
Guerrero is considered one of the more violent states in Mexico, and
it has a history of terrorism, but Oapan residents remained peaceful
throughout all of these disputes. When asked about violence, Oapan
residents unanimously proclaim their pacific nature and take pride in
this element of their culture. Even at the time of the Mexican Revolu ...
tion, the region was relatively peaceful, despite widespread turmoil in
Guerrero and Morelos.23
Marcial and ]onathan Amith
Marcial's role in the struggle against the dam involved a proj ect to pro ...
duce and publicize protest amates. For the first time in the history of
the genre, amates were used as a form of political protest. Working with
anthropologist Jonathan Amith, Marcial helped bring together the
leading amate painters, persuaded them to produce anti ... dam amates ,
distributed photocopies of the protest amates, and contributed to an
amate calendar. These amates later appeared with others in a major
exhibit at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.
Jonathan Amith directed much of this work. As Rabkin was fading
from the scene, Amith was the next American to devote part of his life
to helping the amate painters. Amith, now in his late forties, has lived
in Oapan for about a year and a quarter and in the neighboring village
of Ameyaltepec for over two years. He has made it his life's mission to
study and preserve the culture of the region, typically working long
hours on his numerous Oapan ... related proj ects.
Amith's fundamental interests are in the Nahuatl language and in
the Alto Balsas region as an obj ect of anthropological study. The pre ...
Hispanic civilizations of Mexico captured his imagination, and Amith
wanted to learn Nahuatl to study Aztec poetry. He first went to Mex...

ico in 1 9 7 5 , when he stayed in Cuernavaca and took a class in classical
Nahuatl. ( He saw and enj oyed amates there at that time but did not
think of studying them. ) He later enrolled in graduate study in anthro ...
pology in Yale, again furthering his study of classical Nahuatl.
Amith decided that if he was to study Nahuatl, he needed to know
modern versions of the language. To his mind, knowing only classical
Nahuatl is like being a Shakespeare scholar but speaking no modern
English. Amith thus set out to expand his horizons. He is by nature
thorough and willing to cross intellectual boundaries to satisfy his
curiosity. Although he is not a linguist by training, he studied linguis ...
tics intensely. For practice, he worked as a bricklayer in the outskirts of
Mexico City (for about a dollar a day) once he discovered that many of
the other bricklayers spoke Nahuatl.
Through his earlier contacts in Cuernavaca, Amith was put in touch
with some residents of Ameyaltepec who had been selling in the cen ...
tral market there. He spent four days in Ameyaltepec and loved it,
most of all because Nahuatl was spoken there on a consistent basis. He
soon returned for a longer stay to continue his study. His interest in
Nahuatl remained, but he also wondered why Ameyaltepec was rela ...
tively wealthy compared to other Mexican pueblos and what kinds of
relationships it had with its neighbors, including Oapan. These topics
led him to investigate artisan work, amates, and the land tenure of the
region.
Throughout this time, Amith lived off of graduate fellowships, two
Fulbright grants, and a grant form the Organization of American States
grant. Later, he secured a research position in Guadalaj ara, which sup ...
ported him during the time of the dam protests and the organization of
the amate exhibit.
Amith is now compiling a dictionary to preserve the Nahuatl Ian ...
guage and teach it to the villagers. He estimates that this proj ect will
require at least another ten years of labor, as much of the work consists
of very slow transcription of taped recordings of Nahuatl speech. Vil ...
lagers claim he speaks the language as well as they do; some say he
speaks it better, since he learns old and obscure words from the elderly.
Although trained as an anthropologist, Amith underwent intense self...
training in linguistics to proceed with the dictionary proj ect. He now
teaches Alto Balsas Nahuatl every summer at a language institute at

Yale University.
Amith's devotion to the village and its culture knows few bounds.
He is currently running a botany proj ect to catalog the flowers and
plants of the Oapan area. Another of Amith's proj ects concerns out ...
migration from Oapan to the United States. He spent several months
in the village in the fall of 200 1 interviewing the villagers about their
migration experiences or those of their children. He is using these same
tapes to generate Nahuatl texts for use in his campaign to record and
preserve the language. He sees all his proj ects as having a methodolog ...
ical unity, based on village involvement, the generation of knowledge
about the culture, and investment in teaching the villagers to be more
literate about their culture and more interested in its preservation.
Through Amith's work, we again see outside forces from North Amer ...
ica helping to preserve the culture of the pueblo.
Amith took almost fifteen years to produce his Yale doctoral disser ...
tation, entitled "The Mobius Strip." The dissertation studies the colo ...
nial economic history of central Guerrero, seen through the lens of
economic geography. Amith studied patterns of trade, landownership,
migration, and the construction of markets, mostly in the neighbor ...
hood of Taxco and Iguala-though he often ventured into the Alto
Balsas region. The final product reflected several years in the archives
and weighed in at over eight hundred pages of basic text and much
more in terms of appendixes , references, maps, and so on.
To this day, Amith lives from grants, an unreliable source of support,
and has his wife's salary as a backup ( she teaches anthropology in Ore ...
gon) . Amith has never held a tenure ... track job in an anthropology
department; he prefers to do anthropology rather than work to please
his peers or to follow the latest academic fad. Amith is disillusioned
with academia, and it hurts him to see many anthropologists far less
committed than he is receive regular academic jobs. Now he has built
a house in Oapan so he can live there for five months a year and pursue
his work.24
Marcial reports that he first met Amith in Ameyaltepec, through
the intermediation of anthropologist Cathy Good (who was working in
the region at the same time ) . Marcial and Amith became close, how ...
ever, only when the threat of the dam came along. When Amith heard
about the threat of the dam, he had the idea to make amate leaflets as
a form of protest. With the assistance of Marcial and some other artists,
he recruited the leading amate painters to produce anti ... dam amates.
Amith wrote a number of texts and then asked the artists to illustrate
those texts. When the amates were finished, everyone was amazed at
their high quality. All the maj or Oapan amate painters contributed
except Juan Camilo, who remained on the outs with Marcial (some
painters from the other villages contributed as well ) . The resulting
amates were then reproduced and distributed at meetings, roadblocks,
and protests. The amates served as publicity and as a fund ... raising
device. Amith, who is entrepreneurial and driven by nature, also came
up with the idea of doing an amate calendar based on those works. He
patched together funding from a number of sources and relied on some
pro bono work. The resulting calendar was shown at the International
Book Fair in Guadalaj ara in 1 992 (November 28-December 7 ) and
received many favorable comments.25
Marcial's protest amate shows Santiago, the patron saint of Oapan,
taking to his horse to fight the dam. At the same time, the dam is burst ...
ing, and the waters are sweeping away the villagers, their town, and
their animals. The amate invokes the spirit of apocalypse. Felix
J imenez portrayed the dam as a giant serpent, spewing poison and
wreckage. On each side of the amate, the viewer can see the exodus of
residents from the area. A swath of water, cutting through the middle
of the picture, comprises the serpent's body and is inundating the
churches of the region. Another Felix Jimenez amate is divided into
two panels, each with a classroom scene. In one half, a group of stu ...
dents are voting on whether the Spanish arrival in the New World
should be called a conquest, invasion, or encounter. In the other half,
an anthropologist points to a picture of a "good Indian" ( in traditional
garb ) and a "bad Indian," the latter shown protesting against the dam.
Inocencio painted the villagers carrying anti ... dam signs and taking a
bus to go protest. Roberto Mauricio showed a fiesta march entering the
church while lawyers and politicians debate the fate of the community
in a series of upper panels. Felix Camilo depicted Nahuas being forced
to carry stones to build a church for their Spanish masters , taking apart
a pyramid in the process.2 6
In the end, the dam struggle sparked publicity for amate art. The
amates gave rise to an exhibit held at the Mexican Fine Arts Center
Museum in Chicago (January 27-May 2 7 , 1 995 ) . Amith relates how he

flew to Chicago and showed the amates to the museum's director, who
decided on the spot to mount a maj or exhibit. The museum people had
known of amates, as a kind of tourist art, but they never knew that
amates could reach such high artistic quality. Amith was commis;
sioned to serve as exhibit curator, a significant undertaking, for which
he received no more than six thousand dollars plus expenses. In addi;
tion to the protest amates, he sought out the best amates from other
collections and urged their owners to lend them. Toward this end, he
took at least one thousand photographs of amates, which he retains on
file.
Amith also arranged for Marcial, Inocencio Chino, Roberto Mauri;
cio, and several painters from the other villages to travel to Chicago,
see the exhibit, and show the world how they make their art. Marcial,
of course, had traveled before, but the other painters found many sur;
prises. Roberto Mauricio cited snow (which he saw for the first time ) ,
the view from the Sears Tower, flying in the airplane, seeing the clouds
close up, the quality of the hotel (he specifically mentioned the pres;
ence of a heater in the room) , and the respect with which he was
treated. After his eight days in Chicago, however, Roberto concluded
that the United States was not a land of "j ustice and right" any more
than Mexico was.
Roberto also recalls the contrast between being feted in Chicago
and life back in the pueblo. The victory against the dam had been won,
but upon returning, Roberto faced some of the toughest economic
times of his life. He reports spending every day doing hard work in the
fields and then sometimes painting amates through the night for extra
money. It was very difficult to make ends meet, and sometimes he did
not have time to sleep during the night or did not sleep for more than
a few hours.
The Amate Tradition
The Amith proj ect and exhibit gave rise to a book called The Amate
Tradition, published with English text on one side of each page and
Spanish on the other. This book, with sixty;two high;quality color
plates of amates and many other plates of ceramics, remains the
definitive amate catalog. It represents the history of amate painting

from its beginnings in Ameyaltepec to the amates protesting the dam.
Nearly all of the major amate painters are represented. The back of the
book contains extensive anthropological and archaeological informa ...
tion, including numerous black ... and ... white photos of the dam protests,
Oapan, and its residents.
The book was published by the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
in conjunction with a Mexican publisher La Casa de las Imagenes and
marketed by the University of New Mexico Press. The print run was
three thousand, divided evenly between the two countries. The book
was funded by a grant of twenty... five thousand dollars from a cultural
fund, Fideicomiso para la Cultura Mexico/USA, which drew from both
the Rockefeller Foundation and Mexican government sources. The
book was very well received in Mexico and sold out quickly there, but
it attracted less attention in the United States. One review, in the
American Anthropologist (Leibsohn 1 997 ) , praised how Amith por ...
trayed the dynamism of the Rio Balsas communities, but the reviewer
complained that Amith used none of the artists' own words. The
reviewer noted that she "learned much" from the book and would use
some of the amate images for teaching, but she appears determined to
find obj ections, wishing that the book somehow had been done differ ...
ently.
Amith's text differed greatly from that of Selden Rodman. Rodman
was the marketer, Amith the scholar. Amith spent years in the region
and talked to everybody he could. In addition to knowing all the
painters, he tracked down Max Kerlow in Mexico City, among many
others from the early history of amate. He has tried to track down Mary
Price, the early amate collector-so far unsuccessfully. Rodman wrote
in colorful prose, Amith in scholarly prose.
Amith's treatment, while meeting high standards of scholarship, did
little to boost the market for amates. His book focused on history and
anthropology. It gave the reader little sense of the personalities
involved. Amith had no links to any gallery, dealer, or promoter and
has never viewed his enterprise as commercial. In this regard, the book
stands alone and has never fed into any broader effort.
All the painters received copies of the book except for Juan Camilo,
who saw the book for the first time when I brought it to his house. He
and his family were much more interested in the black;and;white pho;
tos in the back than in the pictures of the amates up front. They spent
hours looking at the photos, trying to identify the people in them.
Everyone in the family gathered around the book, the only time I have
seen all of them preoccupied with the same concern. Juan's wife and
eldest daughter were in particular keen to look at each photo and make
fun of the clothing of the women and the expressions on their faces.
The laughter and loud shrieking went on for hours.
Land Disputes with Other Nahuas
The dam dispute revolved around the land rights of the pueblo versus
the claims of larger political units at the state and federal level. Now
that the proj ect has been set aside ( at least temporarily) , land rights
among the pueblos have reemerged as the most important political
issue in the region. San Agustin has quarreled with its neighbor, San
Miguel, for centuries over land. These disputes have occasionally
erupted into violence, and most Oapan villagers, including the three
Camilo brothers, expect the issue to explode again.
Technically, land in Oapan is communally owned, but for most
practical purposes, including bequests, land operates as private prop;
erty. Since the eighteenth century, Oapan residents have been allowed
to homestead land simply by working or building on it. (All the com;
munal Oapan land is now taken, so Oapan residents must buy land
from another person if they wish to increase their holdings. ) Land
boundaries across the pueblos, however, have never been fully sorted
out. Land titles across the pueblos were in theory clarified in the origi;
nal series of grants (extending from 1 697 to 1 7 1 6 ) , but the relevant
documents were ambiguous. One land dispute, between Oapan and
San Juan Tetelcingo (lying to the west) , began in the early 1 700s but
was resolved in the late nineteenth century, by mutual agreement. The
land dispute with San Miguel, however, continues to the current day.
Earlier residents of San Miguel believed that an early eighteenth;cen;
tury visit by a land j udge led to a settlement that unduly favored
Oapan. Earlier Oapan residents believed that an 1 802 decision unj ustly
gave some of their land to San Miguel ( see Amith 2000, 1 0 7 8 ) . These
grudges continued and multiplied over the years. In 1 95 1 residents of

San Agustin and San Miguel shot at each other with firearms, largely
over the land issue, causing several deaths and injuries.27
Oapan residents claim that prior to the 1 802 decision, they had been
working the land since pre ... Hispanic times. In their account, Oapan
residents understood that they had to cede some land to their neigh ...
bors, but San Miguel residents kept on wanting to take more and more,
eventually threatening the harvests and the lives of Oapan residents.28
Local legend has it that San Miguel residents arrived in the area reI ...
atively recently and have a different ethnic origin. It is rumored that
they stem from the area of Tequicuilco (unlike other Alto Balsas peo ...
pIes ) and first came to the region for the fishing in the Rio Balsas. San
Miguel residents have never painted amates and, earlier, did not play
much of a role in the salt trade. Anthropologist Cathy Good believes
that the conflict is as much ethnic and cultural as about the land. San
Miguel residents are more mestizo and show less interest in Nahuatl
and older customs. They buy thin, premade white tortillas, whereas
most Oapan residents prefer homemade blue corn tortillas.29
Relations between the two pueblos remain tense. Oapan residents
typically do not have close friends in San Miguel, even though the two
pueblos are geographically very close and the cultures are very similar.
Marriages between the pueblos are uncommon and would be viewed
unfavorably by families on both sides. Oapan residents assert that San
Miguel is prone to robbery, mysterious disappearances, and foul play.
They stress that they themselves are a people of peace whereas the res ...
idents of San Miguel are more violent. They claim that San Miguel
always has been and always will be better prepared for war.
Recently, an engineer was sent to the area by the state government
to survey the land. In the eyes of Oapan residents, his measurements
favored San Miguel. Oapan residents believe that this engineer was
corrupt and was paid off by San Miguel. Felix Camilo complained that
the San Miguel residents served the engineer venison when he visited
the area, which he called a form of corruption. That being said, the
final j udgment was in fact relatively favorable to Oapan residents , who
got almost everything they were asking for, short of seventy ... seven
hectares.3o
The affected area in the land dispute runs the length of the
Oapan-San Miguel border. The contested territory is between one and
two hundred meters wide in most places, stretching to about eight hun ...
dred meters wide in a few places. San Miguel claims the entirety of this
area, and the state capitol, Chilpancingo, has suggested that the two
pueblos split the difference. (Marcial offers these estimates, based on a
study of state;level documents from Chilpancingo. ) Oapan residents
have refused this compromise adamantly, as they believe it would
amount to little more than theft. In essence, the communities are
caught in a bargaining and rent;seeking game, with little hope for res;
olution through secure property rights.
Marcial, Juan, and Felix Camilo all own land in the contested area.
Felix is especially upset, as he reports that San Miguel residents have
been harvesting his land. Most commonly, he says they collect his
watermelon without his permission, often holding arms for protection.
Marcial has plans to organize a protest movement around the dis;
puted land. He would like to paint a large mural showing the nature of
the dispute, perhaps in cooperation with other amate painters. He and
others would then take this large mural and march on the state capitol,
Chilpancingo, hoping to bring about a resolution of the dispute. He is
hoping to replicate the successful protest strategies used against the
dam, although it is not clear how he could interest anyone outside the
village in the topic. Marcial nonetheless holds such a campaign as his
current obsession. Even when I wished to talk about other subj ects ,
Marcial frequently returned to the subj ect of the land dispute, often
talking for hours, drawing maps, and explaining the nature of the
conflict from his point of view. One wonders if the earlier struggle
among the brothers over the family lands has made this an especially
emotional topic for him.
Juan has a more philosophical attitude toward the land dispute.
While he hopes that Oapan keeps the land (for reasons of obvious self;
interest ) , he does not regard the inhabitants of San Miguel as any worse
than those of Oapan. He thinks the matter is simply an issue of who is
going to get the land, rather than an issue with a moral right and
wrong. He believes that Oapan residents think of the San Miguel resi;
dents as evil simply because they do not know them. Juan thinks that
neither side is morally superior to the other.
When asked about the validity of their claims to the land, Oapan
residents continually reiterate the same phrase: "We have documents"
[tenemos documentosl . In this rare display of legal positivistic reasoning,
Oapan residents believe that if only the state authorities study the doc;
uments carefully enough and survey the land honestly, the j ustice of
the Oapan claim will be obvious. Emotionally, they treat their land
claim as virtually equivalent to a covenant with God. They do not,
however, have good legal advice, nor do they have a good sense of
where their claim stands in the broader Mexican legal system.
Felix J imenez, Inocencio, and Roberto Mauricio do not hold land in
the contested area, but the latter two have worked on the pueblo land
commission, the comis ariado. 3 1 This office governs the communal lands
of Oapan, addresses conflicts over land, and deals with the state gov ...
ernment in Chilpancingo over land issues. The office also measures
land, oversees surveying, and issues land titles. The maj or issue in the
comis ariado, of course, is the dispute with San Miguel.32
The spread of land disputes to other pueblos has made the San
Miguel issue harder to resolve. Oapan residents fear, probably cor ...
rectly, that if they give in to San Miguel, they will face other claims
against their land. For instance, the pueblo of Ahuelican, lying to the
north, at times has pressed land claims against Oapan and now is ask ...
ing for its full legal independence from Oapan. Analco, the smaller
pueblo directly across the river, has been seeking independence as well.
For a while, Analco supported San Miguel in the land dispute with
Oapan. Then San Miguel turned on Analco and tried to take some of
its land as well, at which point Analco switched back to an alliance
with Oapan.
Short of a full and fair land survey, it is impossible to tell how much
each side stands in the right or if there is even a fact of the matter. The
rhetoric used in Oapan suggests that Oapan probably does indeed hold
legal title to the land under dispute. However, at the time of the title
grants, many dating back to the eighteenth century, Oapan received
more than an even share. Oapan residents claim that they deserve
more land, arguing that they have been there longer and are the "first
pueblo," from which the others have sprung. In essence, the other com ...
munities are seeking to revise this early settlement along more egali ...
tarian lines , and Oapan residents are resisting.
Land and General Motors
The most recent controversy in the pueblo concerned a General

Motors offer to buy village lands. In 200 1 it became known that GM
was negotiating to buy land in Oapan and San Miguel. GM would have
used the land to construct a large track for testing new automobiles.
The proj ect would have occupied about two;thirds of the agricultural
lands of the village and would have changed the entire way of life in
Oapan.
The community voted resoundingly to rej ect the offer (neighboring
San Miguel showed greater interest ) . Pueblo members expect that the
outside world, especially the Mexican government, will lie to them.
They simply did not believe the talk of how a GM test track would
bring money and jobs to the town. Having heard many lies during the
years of the dam struggle, they were suspicious from the outset. The
price received by each family would have depended on its particular
landholdings, but the base rate was seventy centavos ( about eight
cents ) for a square meter. This would have put many families in the
range of receiving somewhere between four hundred and a thousand
dollars. To the villagers, this seemed like a small amount for giving up
their way of life and their land.
All of the members of the Oapan painting group opposed the sale to
General Motors, with Marcial taking the strongest leadership role. He
spoke actively against the sale in a very public manner, and his words
carried weight in the community. Marcial is known for being one of the
lnost articulate and thoughtful Oapan citizens in a public foruln.
In the final tally, fewer than fifteen villagers favored the proj ect. The
reality is that no substantial part of the community favors foreign
investment. It is not that the residents have a well;formulated account
of how such investment would make them worse off. Rather, they
know that big changes of this kind would bring them under the
scrutiny of the broader Mexican political establishment. From histori;
cal experience, they have very high levels of mistrust toward the state
and central government. Today, they can live largely undisturbed and
off the radar screen, so to speak. Since the villagers would not ever
expect to receive the offer that is made to them, it is difficult for any
constituency to favor such a proj ect.
As mentioned earlier, while Oapan landholdings usually function as
private property, the final land title is vested in the community. So the
villagers never faced individual choices as to whether they might wish
to sell to General Motors. Instead, the community as a whole produced
a firm no through a town meeting, debate, and a vote.
The government pressured the villagers to take the GM offer, but to

no avail. In fact, government pressure only made the villagers more sus ...
picious. Roberto Mauricio and Marcial claim that the government
promised to resolve the land dispute immediately with San Miguel if
the villagers would sell the land. The negative vote remained firm, and
GM moved on to look for other village lands to buy.
The villagers could not have expected to receive lucrative jobs from
the test track. They do not have the literacy, skills, or education to
contend for top or even midlevel jobs at such a concern. They might
have received menial labor jobs for the Mexican minimum wage, but
this would not have brought a significant improvement in living stan ...
dards, by the estimation of the villagers.
Marcial claims that while the offered sum was small, money was not
the chief reason why villagers turned down the offer. Marcial also cited
the frequent automobile noises the track would have brought and the
likelihood of delinquency in the village. Most of all, Marcial cited a
fear of "contamination" from the outside world. The test track would
have brought many outside influences to the village and would have
hastened the disappearance of the traditional way of life. Not only
would agriculture have disappeared, but within a generation, the pres ...
sure to speak Spanish rather than Nahuatl would have been strong.
The Oapan residents' desire to preserve the past and their suspicion
of outsiders is not new. Decades before the GM offer, textile interests
tried to set up commercial looms in Ameyaltepec, but the villagers
refused to cooperate, in large part because of their suspicion of out ...
siders. Peggy Golde notes that villagers in the region often gave pseu ...
donyms to their pueblos in the late 1 950s, so that no one from the out ...
side world could find or identify them.33
The CPNAB, which led the fight against the dam, played no real
role in the General Motors dispute. Local opinion splintered almost
immediately after the danger of the dam passed, and the villagers no
longer perceive the council as representing their interests. The
CPNAB continues to exist, but with no real mission or unifying pur ...
pose. It is simply a group of individuals with a historically important
title but with no accountability and holding no general legitimacy
within the pueblos. In fact, Oapan residents are suspicious that some
CPNAB members have been "bought" by outside interests.
Although the GM sale fell through, the villagers do not regard the
matter as closed. The villagers know that they sit on potentially valu;
able land, underused from the point of view of the Mexican govern;
ment. The Mexican government would gain economically, if only
through opportunities for corruption, if it could bring large economic
proj ects into Guerrero and push out the villagers.
NAFTA and Trade
The General Motors episode shows why institutions such as the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are problematic for many
of the indigenous groups in Mexico. While the economic case for free
trade is strong, politics matters as well. The long;run benefits of
NAFTA, most of all for Mexico, are likely to dramatically outweigh the
costs, but trade can worsen some political problems in the shorter run.
The core problem is that greater wealth sometimes brings greater
confiscation in response. Both NAFTA and economic development
more generally have attracted much foreign investment to Mexico.
The land in Guerrero is suddenly more valuable than before-or at
least potentially so. If better roads were in place, Oapan would be no
more than two and a quarter hours from Mexico City. The Mexican
governlnent would like to get the villagers off the land, whether by
legitimate means or not. The Mexican state and federal governments
also favor foreign investment when the villagers do not. Any foreign
investment that came into Guerrero would likely involve significant
payoffs-of one form or another-to the various levels of government
involved. The villagers would not expect to see any of this money.
NAFTA has therefore increased the conflict of interest between the
villagers and higher levels of Mexican government. For the reasons
mentioned in the General Motors case, there is no significant contin;
gent in Oapan that favors greater foreign investment.
The villagers may benefit economically from foreign investment by
leaving Oapan and pursuing new lives elsewhere, such as in larger
Mexican cities. It is harder to see how the village itself might have a
brighter future. Except for agriculture and artisan work, village labor is
unskilled and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. The vil;
lagers , at best, have only very basic skills of reading, writing, and arith;
metic.
At present, most of the Alto Balsas villages are in the process of

becoming remittance economies. Oapan lags behind in this process
(because outmigration has been slower) , but it is headed in the same
direction. Contact with the United States, then, can prove economi ...
cally fruitful, but this appears to involve bringing Oapan residents to
America rather than bringing American capital to Oapan. The combi ...
nation of Oapan residents and American capital may succeed more
under American legal and economic institutions than under Mexican
ones.
Oapan nonetheless may prove resilient, as is illustrated by its rising
living standards over the last forty years. Arguably, the situation
appeared far bleaker in the 1 950s, right before the amate boom. The
village was much poorer and much smaller and had lost its traditional
sources of income, such as the salt trade. A rapidly growing Mexican
economy was encroaching on many traditional Mexican communities.
Yet this is exactly when the village was on the verge of reaching its
greatest heights of cultural achievement and its greatest burst of eco ...
nomic growth.
The Oapan amate painters remain pessimistic. As part of the inter ...
views for this book, I asked each painter what could be done to improve
the village and to improve village government in particular. Inocencio
answered sitnply, "Less drinking." Roberto Mauricio detnanded "j usti ...
cia y derecho" [justice and right] . Marcial wanted an engineering proj ...
ect to raise the level of the river, so that the Rio Balsas could fertilize
more of the surrounding territory. The others cited a desire for more
unity and less fighting, a wish that all of the painters have expressed
repeatedly in their discussions of village politics.
F EW OAPAN FAMILIES see the production of amate art as playing a
significant role in their longer ... term future. Many of the best amate
painters are still working and using the full force of their talents, but
the supply of painters is not being replenished. While the young in
Oapan dabble in amate, few, if any, have come close to the best artists
of previous generations. The young in Oapan no longer find that care ...
ful alnate work yields sufficient returns. The older alnate painters COIn ...
monly charge that the young lack the necessary patience or discipline
to perfect their skills. For the most part, the young agree with this inter ...
pretation.
The themes of liberty and power continue to shape the Oapan com ...
munity, but greater economic opportunities are pushing Oapan resi ...
dents in directions other than amate. As the community becomes
wealthier and more diverse, residents have more options. For instance,
crafts have become more profitable, because Mexico has grown, trans ...
portation technologies have advanced, and Oapan residents have
improved their entrepreneurial and managerial abilities. If we consider
the Oapan artists discussed in this book, only Marcial might earn more
than does a typical family head with a good crafts business, and Marcial
still earns considerably less than the most successful crafts merchants in
Oapan. Marcial also faces riskier conditions and achieved his reputa ...
tion only after toiling many years at lower wages.
In other cases, entrepreneurship manifests itself through external
141
mobility. When the young in Alto Balsas communities think of riches,

they think of migrating to the United States. Most ambitious young
people would like to cross the border, though not everyone will have
that chance. In 2003 , it costs a pueblo member about fifteen hundred
dollars to pay off a coyote for possible passage to the United States. In
addition, the individual must endure hardships during the crossing
itself, such as a four ... day trek across desert with little water; facing
snakes, coyotes, and bandits; or swimming the Rio Grande. 1
Even if an individual does not make the trip, the mere prospect of
leaving discourages investment in high ... quality amate art. Many indi ...
viduals will bide their time, hoping to pick up enough cash to cross
over. These individuals are reluctant to invest in building careers and
reputations that may pay off only in a longer run.
Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Ontario, California (near Los
Angeles ) , have all become centers of Alto Balsas migration, drawing
mostly young men. The migrants commonly live in apartments hous ...
ing three to seven people, who come and go on an irregular basis. Alto
Balsas migrants tend to live together when possible, though they do
not refuse roommates from other parts of Mexico. The migrants then
seek out jobs of manual labor, typically paying in the neighborhood of
seven to ten dollars an hour. They live as cheaply as possible and often
send tTIoney back hotTIe. The richest hotTIe in Oapan has a catTIper and
a large television antenna. The villagers claim that the family in this
home receives money from several family members in the United
States.
One top ... rank amate painter (who does not wish to be named)
migrated to Houston. He was a prodigy, producing superb amates at the
age of twelve. His family runs one of the largest, best, and most sue ...
cessful amate ... producing studios in Ameyaltepec. His father expressed
great disappointment that his son did not stay in the village to work on
his amates. The son now works evening hours in a Houston supermar ...
ket. In recent times, he has obtained access to amate paper and paints
and has painted a few works. He has sold several good ... quality amates to
Americans, but they are not comparable to his best production from
the village. His brother claims he suffers from a "trembling hand" syn...
drome that afflicts amate painters who take time off from their art. In
any case, the artist cannot find many American clients at remunerative
prices. He speaks no English and has no plan for marketing his work.
Concluding and Summary Remarks 143
A well;known amate artist from Xalitla, Pablo Nicolas, also crossed

the border, living in Los Angeles for several years. Martina Adame,
perhaps the best;known amate painter in Maxela, claims that most of
the best or would;be amate painters left Maxela and are now on "the
other side" fal otro ladol, the Mexican euphemism for the United
States.
Not all the migrants leave for strictly economic considerations. It is
not obvious that they are happier in the United States, though they
value the opportunity to send money back home. Since the migrants
telephone back home frequently, the hardships of life in the United
States are not a total surprise to each stream of new migrants. Though
they are richer than back home, the migrants have few real opportuni;
ties for advancement. Most are torn between the decision to stay and a
desire to go back home. Staying cuts off direct contact with families ,
language, and Nahua culture. Going back home means it is very hard
to return to the United States. Given that most migrants have come to
the United States within the last five or ten years, it remains to be seen
how long they will stay. Those that return to Oapan, however, are seen
as noisy, rowdy, and disruptive of the community.2
Boredom and the desire to escape are critical factors driving the
decision to migrate. Many individuals see that they have no good
opportunities in their villages, either economically or otherwise. They
feel that nothing can be worse for them than a situation of few oppor;
tunities and high frustration, so they leave. Since they can always come
back, the downside of this decision is not obvious. Many sense (cor;
rectly) that their opportunities in the United States exceed their
opportunities elsewhere in Mexico. They would be outsiders in other
parts of Mexico as in the United States, so they determine that they
may as well go to the richer country and see more of the world.3
When Oapan residents are asked to name the best amate painters ,
the youngest individual they will cite is Salom6n Ramirez Miranda.
Salom6n, who was forty years old in 2003 , finds that high;quality
amate does not pay its way. He is represented in the Jonathan Amith
catalog with two political satires of high quality. Detailed black;and;
white works are his preferred medium. Yet Salom6n only paints a few
such works in a year, largely for his own amusement. He does not
expect to sell them, at least not for a remunerative price, and he feels
he cannot justify the expenditure of time and effort. He says no one
buys these works any more. Therefore, he spends most of his time
painting more vivid and cheaper color amates for sale in the street or
painting colorful ceramics. He would like to devote more time to high;
quality amate but sees few prospects for the development of the market.
Amate painting has fared better in the pueblos of Maxela and Xal;
itla, in part because the painters there have sought different niches.
Maxela has land of poorer quality than the other amate;producing vil;
lages, so agriculture plays a smaller role in that locale (this is reflected
in the village's amates, which portray fieldwork with less frequency) .
Rather than working the fields, the men find commercial employment
in the surrounding region. Given the proximity of Maxela to the main
highway (five kilometers along a paved road ) and the universal fluency
in Spanish in the pueblo (since the 1 930s and 1 940s ) , the villagers
have greater opportunities.
Maxela never developed the model of having male amate painters
who work in the fields much of the year and otherwise paint. Instead,
the women of Maxela took up amate painting as a household activity,
usually to earn extra income for the family. Given that virtually all
women in the village raise large families , Maxela has not developed
full;time amate painters. Furthermore, unlike their counterparts from
Oapan, Ameyaltepec, or Xalitla, the painters in Maxela make little
effort to sell outside the village. Their fatnily cotntnittnents tnake thetn
less mobile, and their income is not important enough to the family to
j ustify a several;week selling trip-as a woman from Oapan or Ameyal;
tepec might make. For these reasons, amates of good quality from Max;
ela are currently selling in the range of fifteen to fifty dollars, which is
at the low end of the scale for quality work. Given the "hobbyist"
nature of the amate;painting vocation in Maxela, the sellers tend to be
more passive, and they fail to establish the highest reputations, even
when they do very good work.
The village of Xalitla prices its quality amates in the middle range,
with good works often going for fifty to one hundred dollars. Most
( though not all) of the painters there are male, and many Xalitla fami;
lies rely on amate and related crafts for their livelihood. The Xalitla
painters have arguably the steadiest market, due to their location on
the main highway between Mexico City and Acapulco. They also have
been especially aggressive at participating in amate tournaments and
cultivating outlets in Mexico City. Xalitla, however, unlike Oapan and
Ameyaltepec, has no clearly acknowledged village artistic leaders. No

Xalitla amate painter has established a well ... known "signature style,"
nor have the Xalitla painters received equivalent support from foreign
patrons.
The Role of Pottery and Other Competing Forms of Artisanship
Increasing wealth and technological improvements have resurrected

pottery as a competitor with amate painting. Whereas amate once dis ...
placed pottery, we now see new forms of ceramics displacing amate pro ...
duction. Originally, amate was a deliberate replacement for painting
on pottery and drew the best painters away from the pottery medium.
Now the opposite is more likely the case.
Pottery techniques, involving both construction and transportation,
are becoming increasingly modern. Under the traditional methods, a
ceramicist needs several days (not full ... time ) to produce a single piece.
First the artisan must obtain mud, sand, and the appropriate binding
substances from trees and animals; Oapan residents typically take the
mud from the nearby Rio Balsas, carrying it by mule back to their
homes. The mud is then combined with the sand and the binders until
it is in easily workable fortn. Once the figures have been shaped, they
are put in a burning pit to be fired. The pit reaches very high tempera ...
tures, and managing the pit is one of the hallmarks of an effective pot ...
ter. After the cooking is done, the works are removed and soaked sev ...
eral times in water, so that the piece may dry and congeal properly.4
Though some Oapan potters still work in this tradition, it has not
proven remunerative in recent years. It takes too much time and trou...
ble relative to the available returns. A quick look at some of the
remaining traditional potters shows how unprofitable this form of pro ...
duct ion has become.
The leading traditional potter in Oapan is Angel Dominguez, but he
makes only a limited amount of money from his work. He will sell high ...
quality small pieces to visitors for five to ten dollars and a four ... foot
painted water j ug for less than one hundred dollars. Angel finds it
profitable to pursue a commercial strategy of seizing any immediate
cash, rather than investing in a longer... term reputation. The villagers
joke about Angel's dealings with customers , dealers , and intermedi ...
aries. Those who leave money with Angel for a commission find that
Angel simply keeps the money and then pretends that nothing hap;
pened. I have spoken with two ceramics dealers ( in Taxco and Cuer;
navaca) who like to sell his work, but both describe his pieces as
difficult to obtain. Cash and carry is the only way of doing business
with Angel, and his inventories are not usually high.5 Angel makes
most of his living through his work as a curandero , or shaman. He is
notorious for spending much of the day simply resting in his hammock.
He receives many visitors who pay him about one hundred pesos (nine
to ten dollars ) for cures. When he wants some extra cash, he makes a
few small ceramic pieces and waits for somebody to come by and buy
them. Occasionally Angel makes larger pieces for the villagers, typi;
cally for a wedding or to furnish a new household. The villagers wait
until the item is ready before handing over any money. Felix Jimenez
notes that Angel no longer pursues his pottery craft with his previous
interest or attention to quality. 6
Carmen Camilo Ayala, sister of the Camilo brothers discussed in
this study, is another skilled potter working in a traditional style. She
grew up painting amates but moved away from the craft in the mid;
1 990s, when it proved unprofitable. Today, she spends most of her
work time making pottery in the traditional style. In her most active
year, she made approximately fifty pieces and sold them in the range of
ten to twenty dollars apiece. Such a sum is not expected to support an
entire family but provides extra spending money. She does not sell
actively in markets but, rather, waits to be invited to exhibitions in
Cuernavaca. Occasionally Felix Camilo takes her work around and
markets it, though he has been unable to do this lately. She notes a per;
sonal preference for the older pottery style rather than the modern
mass;produced works, but she believes the art is dwindling. Most peo;
pIe do not have the talent for the handmade work, and the market for
it is not very large.
Given the limited profitability of traditional pottery production,
most of today's ceramics activity follows the model cited in chapter 4:
families buy premade ceramics from the town of Iguala and then paint
the molds at home. Suns, masks, lanterns, small turtles, small boxes,
and animal;shaped banks are popular at the moment. Most commonly,
the items are painted a bright and sometimes phosphorescent blue. The
entire household partakes in the painting, and the women have no spe;
cial role in production or design, though they paint more commonly

than do the men. Each piece is intended to be identical rather than
unique, and a household tries to make as many items as possible.
These ceramic items are sold in Taxco, Cuernavaca, Acapulco,
Cancun, and other tourist locales. In the streets of T axco, a small piece
of this kind might sell for between three and five dollars. Of that
money, perhaps a dollar or two will go for the raw materials , and the
rest will be kept as a return to labor. These pieces are typically attrac;
tive and charming, but they do not provide a base of skills that might
be used for larger, better, and more ambitious proj ects. However, this
kind of pottery is becoming more important to the economy of Oapan,
at the expense of many other crafts, including amate painting.
Improved transportation has driven this reallocation of effort.
Recall that amate first took off because the painters found it easier to
transport the paper than ceramics. In those days, the pottery was car;
ried down the mountain on burros and broke frequently. Arguably,
tourist buyers have preferred ceramics all along, but only recently has it
been easy for sellers to transport pottery. Now buses, trucks, and pick;
ups leave the village on a regular basis. The ceramics are put in sturdy
boxes and wrapped well with paper or plastic. This new ease of trans;
port means that ceramics are displacing amate just as amate once dis;
placed ceralnics.
Many Oapan families are now involved in moving and selling this
pottery en masse. Juan Camilo's oldest son, Leonardo, regularly takes
trips to Cancun, traveling up to forty hours on the bus. He carries with
him several thousand pieces of pottery, packed in fifteen or more cases,
and usually manages to sell all of them. On a typical journey, not a sin;
gle piece breaks underway.
Yet another economic factor has driven the switch from handmade
to factory;made pottery. In earlier times, Oapan women had to make
pottery for household uses, so they developed a great facility in pottery
making. Once pottery skills were already in place, it was relatively easy
to transfer them to a commercial arena. Today, households are stocked
with mass;produced items to increasing extent. The younger genera;
tion of women does not need to learn the pottery arts with equal seri;
ousness. It is easier for them to concentrate on painting premade pot;
tery rather than modeling and casting figures from scratch.
Though pottery competes with amate for the attention of the young,
pottery production has helped amate production in a few cases. For

older painters already committed to amates, a family pottery business
can help subsidize painting. Neither Marcial nor Inocencio Chino
would have been able to continue painting had it not been for the pot;
tery businesses run by their respective wives.
In addition to moving toward brightly colored, mass;produced
ceramics, many Nahua artisans have invested increasing energy in j ew;
elry made from semiprecious stones. The stones come from Mexico,
Asia, and Eastern Europe. The artisans either purchase the stones they
use to make j ewelry or purchase intact necklaces and then break them
up and rearrange them, often painting the stones in the process. These
products have become especially popular in the main market in Cuer;
navaca.
Many of the young painters have switched to other nonamate
media. Some paint on wood that is then laminated to form crosses or
various household items. Others paint on wooden trays or plates, on
wooden carved fish, or on burlap, gourds, leather, or rocks-usually in
the form of small and convenient items for the household. Many of
these works are quite pleasing and charming, but few of these artisans
have gone on to bigger and bolder works of an artistic nature.
Other economic and technological changes have hurt amate mar;
kets in recent titnes. In the 1 990s, the atnate tnarket changed funda;
mentally with the introduction of sellas , or copied sheets. Rather than
drawing new amates, some producers figured they could make more
money by copying amates that had already been made. Printing
presses were set up, and extant designs for amates were copied in large
numbers (often hundreds ) , as if they were lithographs. Once the
design has been copied, children fill in the colors. In effect, amates are
now mass;produced.
Residents of Oapan and Ameyaltepec attribute the development of
sellas to the pueblos of Maxela and Ahuelican. They claim that the
inhabitants of those pueblos cannot draw amates well and thus must
resort to copies. Furthermore, they resent that the sellers of sellas have
spoiled their markets to large degree. The best painters also believe
that sellas give amates a bad name and a low status and make it harder
to market the better works.
Typically, the ordinary tourist buyer cannot readily tell the differ;
ence between a sella and an amate painted by hand, though they could
tell if they spent a few seconds looking. The sella tends to be on thin;
ner, more porous paper and of lower quality. On inspection, the draw;
ing can be seen to be a multiple, not done by hand. The colors appear
more artificial, less artfully done (even compared to a cheap street
amate) , and often fluorescent in nature. But buyers generally do not
have these distinctions in mind when they buy. Furthermore, their
expenditure is so small that most of them would not care much even if
they knew the difference.
The rise of sellas is in part responsible for the weakening prices of
street amates. For a hand;painted amate to be profitable, the seller
might hope to get as much as five to ten dollars. Sellas can be sold
profitably for much less, sometimes for as little as two or three dollars.
The continuing survival of street amates in profitable form therefore
requires that most buyers care enough about the difference to pay the
extra dollars. Today, as the market has developed, only amate painters
with established reputations can command superior prices from buyers.
We might mourn the displacement of quality amate, but Oapan
shows a longer history of competing artistic forms. Just as ceramics are
today displacing amate and as amate once displaced ceramics, quality
mask production fell as quality amate production rose. The inhabitants
say that the last Oapan masks were made about thirty years ago. Prior
to this titne, tnany Oapan fatnilies tnade good tnasks for their own use
in fiestas. As prosperity grew and as amate painting became more pop;
ular, Oapan mask making died out. In essence, the economic and social
division of labor increased. Since that time, Oapan residents com;
monly buy their masks from San Francisco Ozomatlan, where the
masks are made for widespread commercial sale. Masks are now of
smoother workmanship, but there is less unique vision. The masks of
the San Francisco artisans are increasingly geared toward tourists and
craft shops rather than for dancing and use. This "corruption" occurred
precisely at the same time and for the same reasons that high;quality
amate painting flourished.
More generally, Guerrero mask making peaked in the first half of the
twentieth century. After this point, many fathers did not pass their
skills on. While the best masks were made for local dances, this
demand proved to be stagnant. Interest in the dances declined with
modernization. Many outsiders and tourists demanded masks, so the
mask makers switched into a high;volume, low;quality mode. Efficient
workshop production displaced individual workmanship in the artistic

sense. These same processes of modernization helped the market for
amates get off the ground. Here again, we see close links between the
creative and destructive sides of cross ... cultural contact. 7
Will Amate Be Canonized?
In recent times, we have seen amate increase its presence in the mar ...
ket for long ... term fame and reputation. Commentators, curators, and
collectors are processing the work and history of the amate painters
with an eye toward determining where amate stands in the history of
art and the history of Mexico. Obviously, this very book forms one
piece of a much larger process.
Under the least optimistic scenario, amate painting will go down in
history as one of the Mexican folk arts. It will be important to the his ...
tory of Guerrero, but it will fail to advance significantly in terms of rep ...
utation.
Under the most positive scenario, amate and other high ... quality
Mexican folk arts are in a position analogous to the arts of the Native
Americas early in the twentieth century. At that time, Native Ameri ...
can art had SOine avid partisans but no established body of collectors,
largely for social and class reasons. Most (non ... native ) Americans
wanted to forget about America's Native American heritage rather
than glorify it. Prices for Native American art skyrocketed only when
white Americans decided to embrace Native American culture as part
of the general American heritage and history. The attention given to
Native American rights during the 1 960s were critical in establishing
this shift in attitude. In American society, Native artworks have gone
from a sign of "primitiveness" to being a symbol of the sophistication
and political conscience of the collector. This shift in political world ...
views has caused Native American works to skyrocket in price. A rea ...
sonably good, but not spectacular, nineteenth ... century Plains Indian
drawing no larger or sturdier than an amate might easily sell for twelve
thousand dollars in a Santa Fe or New York gallery. Fifty years ago,
there would have been no real market for these works at all, save for
the demands of a few eccentric collectors.
Over time, wealthier Mexicans may embrace the indigenous her ...
Concluding and Summary Remarks 15 1
itage of their country just as American collectors have turned to the

Native American arts. It remains to be seen, however, when this turn ...
around might start, how many high ... quality amates will survive to this
time, and whether any amate painter will emerge as a historical leader
for the movement.
The Smithsonian Institution has taken one small step toward can ...
onization with its decision to purchase amates for the opening exhibit
of the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum, set on
the Mall in downtown Washington, covers approximately 260,000
square feet just southeast of the N ational Gallery of Art. Perhaps
because of NAFTA and the growing importance of Mexican ... Ameri ...
can relations, it was decided that the museum would include the
indigenous groups of Mexico. Native American delegates to the
Smithsonian protested this decision, wanting to keep more space for
North American works, but they have not prevailed.
The National Museum of the American Indian remained mired in
dispute for years. Congress approved the museum in 1 989, and the
Smithsonian received the authority to acquire a collection of eight
hundred thousand obj ects from the George Gustav Heye Foundation.
Even after groundbreaking occurred, lack of funding and architectural
disputes caused numerous delays. The museum opened, however, in
Septelnber of 2004. The ability to raise funds froln Native Alnerican
casinos has been essential in completing the proj ect, which faced few
further obstacles as it approached inauguration.8
The contents of the museum have been determined by consultations
with about thirty... five groups or "tribes," including the Nahua of the
Alto Balsas region. Smithsonian authorities contacted the CPNAB,
the pan ... pueblo institution that led the region's fight against a dam in
the 1 990s (see chapter 5 ) . The Smithsonian flew several CPNAB
members to Washington at government expense to talk about what
kinds of amates and other artworks from the region might be included
in the opening exhibit of the museum.
The Xalitla members of the CPNAB tried to elevate the relative
importance of their village in the history of amate. Xalitla now markets
itself to outsiders as more indigenous than it actually is. The Xalitla
representatives of the CPNAB told the Smithsonian that one of the
amates should portray the "Indian market" in Xalitla. To anyone who
knows the pueblo, this request borders on the absurd. To adapt an old
saying about the Holy Roman Empire, the "Indian market" is neither
Indian nor is it a market in anything but the most trivial sense. The so;
called Indian market consists of a small number of Spanish;speaking
mestizo Xalitla residents setting up stalls and selling small items, often
nothing more exotic than beer or bubble gum. The Smithsonian, how;
ever, took the bait and went off looking for photos and amates of Xal;
, I a' s "In d'Ian market. "
It
In earlier times, the residents of Xalitla insulted the inhabitants of
Ameyaltepec and Oapan and held them in low regard. They consid;
ered them to be primitive Indians and made fun of their Nahuatl Ian;
guage and lack of proficiency in Spanish. Though the composition of
Xalitla is mestizo, it is largely N ahuatl, but Xalitla citizens sought to
distance themselves from Nahua culture. Today, the climate of opin;
ion has changed. Xalitla residents envy the more indigenous status of
the inner pueblos. They regard fluency in Nahuatl as an advantage
and as something to be envied. Some Xalitla residents talk about
learning Nahuatl, although no significant effort has been made in this
direction.
The eventual decision of the Smithsonian reflected a greater inter;
est in Oapan village politics than in Xalitla. Rather than choosing
between Marcial and Nicolas de Jesus, the Smithsonian asked for two
joint works, one on the struggle against the datu and another on the
land disputes with San Miguel (both discussed in chapter 5 of this
book). Marcial thus worked in collaboration with Nicolas and the two
painted amates based on these themes. Marcial and N icolas also have
discussed whether they might market lithographs from this work.
During Marcial's subsequent visit to Washington in 2002, he sold
another amate to the Smithsonian, this one a solo work, a black;and;
white interior of an Oapan house. The Smithsonian talked of flying
him to Washington again so he can paint part of a cupola that will be
a permanent part of the museum.
Donation of the MIND Collection
The Thompsons, the leading collectors of the early work of the Oapan
group, donated their collection to Ramapo College several years ago. It
was then put on exhibit for several months in the school's art gallery.
The show did not generate significant external reviews, although it was
well received within the campus community. Several years later, in the
fall of 200 1 , Ramapo exhibited a portion of my amate and paintings
collection, with an emphasis on the works of Marcial, though Juan was
prominently represented as well.
Ramapo College is a state school of about five thousand students in
northern New Jersey, near the New York State border. It is only a few
miles from the house of Selden Rodman, and it is where Selden
donated large parts of his collection. Just recently, the school opened a
permanent gallery for Selden's works. Selden had pointed the Thomp;
sons toward Ramapo as a potential home for the paintings. Selden felt
that combining the MIND collection with his own donated works
would make Ramapo a central locale for outsider art from Haiti and
Mexico. Selden's own gift to Ramapo included some works from the
Oapan group, and he wanted his Mexican legacy to be in the same
place.
The Thompsons, unlike many art collectors, are not hoarders. They
dispose of works, even very good ones , on a regular basis, through either
sale or donation. They did not see that the works of the Oapan group
were appreciating in value, so they decided to donate them. The
Thompsons kept only two of the works for themselves: a painting by
Marcial of his daughter Dahlia, holding a book upside down, and Felix
Jimenez's Cousins , which portrays Felix and Marcial sitting together in
a room, both playing guitars.
A recent exhibit in the Dallas Museum of Art entitled "Great Mas;
ters of Mexican Folk Art" included an amate from Ameyaltepec, which
also has been reproduced in the eponymous catalog. The artist is
Alfonso Lorenzo, one of the most talented amate artists. Lorenzo has
been mentally ill since the early 1 980s. His paintings reflect a fervent
attention to detail, an almost pointillist use of dots, baroque elongated
shapes, and skewed perspectives. He enj oys painting the obscene,
painting furious owls, or painting God. For years, his family in Ameyal;
tepec dealt with his illness by chaining him to the wall; he currently
resides in Clinica Cuernavaca, where he paints amates for a Dr. Guer;
rero in return for his treatment. After its opening in Dallas in October
200 1 , the show traveled to Chicago and New York, receiving enthusi;
astic reviews.
The French have shown a sudden interest in amates. Two Paris
museums, including at the Parque La Villette, are organizing exhibits

of amates involving the collections of Jonathan Amith and Gobi
Stromberg ( an American amate collector, patron, and resident of
Cuernavaca) . The interest of the French stems from earlier shows orga ...
nized by Jonathan Amith (discussed in chapter 5 ) , although it remains
unclear what prompted this interest to come to the fore.
The painters take great pride in these events, which give them a
sense of accomplishment. The early years with Rabkin aside, the out ...
side world has sent them relatively few positive signals of their impor ...
tance.
Summary Remarks
The introduction of this book raised the central theme of liberty versus
power and the more specific topics of economic development and cuI ...
tural globalization. Oapan and the painters provide only a single case
study. Nonetheless, the investigation points toward greater support ( as
opposed to definitive demonstration) for the following conclusions.
1 Entrepreneurial economic development is possible

.
under adverse conditions

The village of Oapan was not obviously poised for takeoff in the early
1 960s. It was isolated, illiterate, and declining in population, and it
had few, if any, political allies within Mexico. Yet Oapan residents
have done a surprisingly good job of boosting their standard of living.
Each generation has seen a much better life than the generation that
came before it. The entrepreneurial energies of Oapan residents, most
of all in the form of amate painting and craftwork, have driven this
success.
The growth of Oapan living standards has come "off the books" for
the most part. A look at the material culture of the village reveals how
much living standards have gone up. No formal statistics mirror these
facts, as real Oapan incomes are not measured in any direct way. For
this reason, national income statistics sometimes underestimate the
gains of the rural poor.
More generally, the economic study of Oapan should revise our
opinion of globalization in an upward direction. Global markets, com ...
bined with tourism, have helped Oapan residents become richer and
freer. Non ... Mexicans have financed much of the amate movement,
whether as tourists, art buyers, or art patrons. The American financial
role, rather than corrupting or destroying Oapan, has served as a coun...
terweight to mainstream Mexican culture. Oapan has persisted
rather than disappearing through migration or starvation-in part
because of the amate arts and foreign finance.
2 . Markets enable cultural voices

By driving the amate revolution, prosperity and cross ... cultural
exchange have given the Oapan painters their cultural voices.
Through amate, Oapan residents have become more aware of their her ...
itage and their uniqueness. Amates record the fiestas, dress, landscape,
cuisine, social practices, agriculture, politics, and other aspects of
Oapan life. The painters, by recording these details , also have become
more self... conscious of their uniqueness. The outside world, as illus ...
trated by scholars such as Jonathan Amith, has taken greater interest in
the community. The amate arts also helped Oapan residents fight the
Mexican government's plan to relocate the community to build a dam.
3 . Artistic revolutions come and go through a process of

"creative destruction"
Commerce, for all its benefits , does not guarantee a creative blossom ...
ing. Commerce, on average, boosts the chances of creative artists, but
markets are blind to a number of preconditions for artistic achieve ...
ment. It is not enough to simply bring together buyers and sellers, as
markets are so effective at doing. An artistic revolution also requires
sources of inspiration, extensive networks of training on the supply
side, and favorable technologies. As these influences change, we can
expect a market economy to bring a regular reshuffling of popular gen ...
res, styles, and art forms. Culture will never be static but, rather, is a
process of growth, decline, and rebirth; in other words, culture is a
process of creative destruction (Cowen 1 998, 2002 ) .
By increasing the quantity of available resources, markets can
increase the likelihood of a strong artistic network. But in any particu ...
lar instance, market forces eventually will discourage or work against a
previously created art form, as we see with amate painting. The market
economy thus will appear to be damaging human creativity. At the
same time, though, we should not forget the broader perspective. A

market creates more artistic opportunities in the first place, which in
the long run means a greater number of declines as well.
4 . The amate revolution has required geographic con,

centration and creative collaborative work
Cultural economics is-or ought to be-closely linked to economic
geography. Spatial proximity, common training networks , and a com ...
mon worldview have been critical to the amate revolution. It is vital
that painters can learn from each other, and for this reason, we often
observe painters working together or living in close proximity. Within
Oapan, Marcial's role as group leader led to many more general con ...
nections to foreign buyers. It is no accident that good amates come
from only four villages, all in the same general vicinity.
The extreme spatial concentration of amate production has made
the production network especially dynamic but also vulnerable to
extinction. A few small changes in technology or conditions in the
pueblos can suffice to render quality amate production largely
unprofitable. The amate story thus illustrates the beginnings of how an
artistic genre can pass out of existence.
5 . State power has oppressed the painters

The influence of power in the form of Mexican politics has been largely
negative on the lives of the Oapan painters. The painters have had to
deal with corrupt Mexican police, fight off threats to their land, and
live in a general environment of political repression and legal discrim ...
ination. They are rightfully suspicious of political power and the Mex ...
ican state. Village politics has provided some public goods but also has
drained the resources of the more productive community members,
including Marcial. Life without politics is not possible, but the story of
the Oapan painters does not show politics as the natural ally of the
artistic spirit.
The Next Steps
It remains to be seen how the Oapan group will develop with time.
Two of the painters featured in this study, Marcial and Roberto Mauri ...
cio, already have recurring health problems of a potentially serious

nature. Mexican life is not very kind to an ailing person, with or with ...
out foreign financial support.
The Oapan pueblo itself, despite improving standards of living, is in
a difficult situation. Many Oapan residents feel that the world is pass ...
ing them by. Oapan residents, the painters included, are having to
come to terms with their changing place in the region. In earlier times ,
Oapan led the immediate region as indisputably the largest and most
important pueblo and one of the richest pueblos as well. Today, it is
increasingly j ust another place. The hated neighbor San Miguel, his ...
torically poorer than Oapan, now appears somewhat wealthier, largely
because its young men have been quicker to leave for the United
States. Oapan still has deeper cultural roots and more young men in the
pueblo, but these features no longer appear to be yielding new cultural
returns, unless we count the ongoing work of the older amate painters ,
such as Juan and Marcial.
The painters discussed herein see this change in the relative local
position of Oapan and rue it. Yet the same globalizing trends have
increased the international stature-in a broader art world-of both
Oapan and the painters. The Oapan painters, most of all Marcial, hope
that external publicity for amates will help preserve the village. They
know that their parallel lives retnain where they started, etnbedded in
Oapan but indisputably touched and mobilized by the outside world.
Felix J imenez notes that the villagers had one set of gods during the
pre ... conquest period and that they now have a second set of gods. He
says he likes the current gods and thinks they have done the village
well. He wonders, however, whether they might someday be replaced
by a third set of gods and what those gods might be.
CHAPTER I
1 . Benj amin Barber ( 1 99 5 ) offers a classic account of how larger cultures homog-
enize the world and wipe out many smaller cultures. J ere my Tunstall ( 1 9 7 7 , 5 7 ) defined
the cultural imperialism thesis as the view that "authentic, traditional and local culture
in many parts of the world is being battered out of existence by the indiscriminate
dumping of large quantities of slick commercial and media products, mainly from the
United States." Fredric Jameson (2000, 5 1 ) wrote: "The standardization of world cul-
ture, with local popular or traditional forms driven out or dumbed down to make way
for American television, American music, food, clothes and films, has been seen by
many as the very heart of globalization."
2. I do not like any of these terms, which imply unities that do not exist, set these
activities beneath high art (as with the term folk art) , or define the activities only in a
negative way, in terms of an opposition to something else (as with the term outsider
art) . For other studies of folk art production in Mexico and its economic aspects, see
Cook and Binford 1990; Goertzen 200 1 . Barbash ( 1 993 ) looks at the lives of some
Oaxacan wood--carvers. Parezo ( 1 983 ) studies the economics of Navaj o sand painting.
3. Giorgio Vasari ( [ 1 5 68] 1 99 1 ) pioneered the biographical approach to cultural
economics. He presented the lives of the painters of the Italian Renaissance, compar-
ing them to each other and seeking to confirm their fame. The comparative biograph-
ical approach of the present book also points to Plutarch's Parallel Lives , although
Plutarch focused more tightly on the questions of what a good life consists of and
whether one must live a philosophically aware life to be virtuous and to enj oy good for-
tune.
4. For instance, the lives of this study illustrate Vasari's maxim ( [ 1568] 1 99 1 , 4)
that most artists do not enj oy uninterrupted success but, rather, are subj ect to a wheel
of fortune.
5. On the general topic of narrative in the social sciences, see, for instance, Mink
1970; Roth 1 989.
159
160 N OTES TO PAGES 9- 1 5
6. Florence Browne is an elderly American retiree in Cuernavaca. She has known

Marcial for over twenty years and was the first person to write an article about him.
7. See Good 1 9 93 for the sea�level estimate ( 145 ) and for the population estimate
( 63 ) . Many individuals are formal residents but spend little time in the pueblo, so the
true population is difficult to estimate.
8. Nahuatl has over one million speakers, most of whom are located in central
Mexico. Classical Nahuatl was formerly the lingua franca of the Aztec Empire. Many
Nahuatl words are long, full of mellifluous syllables, and replete with sounds approxi�
mating our sh and tl . The vocabulary is rich and sophisticated and is believed by the
villagers to be superior to Spanish. Ki :xteyo : tia means "he paints eyes on it," which
refers to the last stage of painting an amate or picture. Xtihkoto :naskeh means "we will
not snap the cord"-or, more metaphorically, "we will not give up growing corn."
To :naka:yo:tl is used to refer to corn; it means both "our sustenance" and "that which
results from the heat of the sun." The word Nahuatl itself means "clear speech." I
learned the word for "he paints eyes on it" from Inocencio Chino, with assistance from
Jonathan Amith. For the other words, I have drawn from Good 1 993, 1 80-8 1 , as
amended by correspondence with Jonathan Amith. Amith's method of writing Nahu�
atl uses the colon to indicate vowel length. Classical Nahuatl offers such gems as
icnocuicatl , which means "chants of orphanhood and deep reflection"; see Le6n�Portilla
and Shorris 200 1 , 30. Le6n�Portilla and Shorris provide the etymology for Nahuatl as
well ( 8 1 , 6 6 1 ) . Karttunen ( 1 983 ) provides an analytical dictionary of classical Nahu�
atl. The dialect of Nahuatl spoken in Oapan is similar to classical Nahuatl, though
speakers of the two would not find each other mutually intelligible in every regard.
Jonathan Amith, who is currently assembling a dictionary of Nahuatl in Oapan, esti�
mates that the difference is comparable to that between English in the time of Shake�
speare and English today.
CHAPTER 2
1 . For a variety of other treatments of poverty and inequality in Mexico, see

Ravallion 1994; Tokman and O'Donnell 1 998; Lustig 1998; Yunez�Naude and Taylor
200 1 ; De Janvry and Sadoulet 200 1 ; Winters, Davis, and Corral 2002; Wiggins et al.
2002. For a general survey of the literature on global income inequality, see Firebaugh
2003 . Legrain ( 2002, chapter 2) surveys the literature on how globalization alleviates
poverty.
2. See Ochoa Campos 1 9 64, 30-3 1 . On poverty measures more generally, see
Atkinson and Bourguignon 2000; Ravallion 1 9 94. Reddy and Pogge ( 2003 ) criticize
standard poverty measures.
3. An 1 822 census noted that Oapan was growing corn, sugarcane, and platanos
(plantains ) , in addition to making cheese (see Pavia Miller 1998, 9 2 ) .
4 . Venison is eaten, but deer are becomingly increasingly difficult to catch, due to
depletion from overhunting.
5. Golde 1 986, 75, and personal conversation with the author.
6. The colonizers sought to ease their rule by relocating communities and consol�
idating smaller pueblos into larger ones. But at the time, it was argued successfully that
Notes to Pages 16-19 16 1
many differing communities were needed to ease the crossing of the Rio Balsas at dis-
tinct points; thus, the pueblos remained intact. On resettlement resistance, see Ger-
hard 1993 , 3 1 7-18; Amith 1 995c, 133-35. On the arrival of nominal Spanish rule, see
Ruiz de Alarcon 1 984, 256 (the material added by the editors in appendix E).
7. See, for instance, Hassig 1985, especially chapter 1 3 .
8. O n the 1958 highway completion, see Good 1 993, 196.
9. In addition to my talks with the villagers, see Hendrichs Perez 1 945, 2 1-22.
10. At the end of her stay, though, Golde describes herself as wondering whether
her home was really so different or whether the village simply seemed like a "caricature
because it was not camouflaged or disguised by lofty phrases and implicit fictions." See
Golde 1986 (for the quotations, 7 1 and 83 ) . I also have drawn on my conversations
with Peggy Golde for this account. Note that Golde spent most of her time in Ameyal-
tepec, the neighboring village, although she visited Oapan. Oapan is commonly con-
sidered to have a far more serious trust problem than does Ameyaltepec.
1 1 . From oldest to youngest, the children are Fausto, Juan, Amalia, Marcial, Felix,
Carmen, Vicenzia (who died young), and Francisca.
1 2. Marcial recounts playing in the river, a frequent source of danger to the young
in the community. Often the current was high and swimming skills were not very reli-
able. Marcial's mother notes that her strongest memory of the boys' childhood was
when a very young Marcial (seven or eight years old, by his recollection) nearly
drowned swimming in the Rio Balsas. She felt compelled to beat him afterward for his
daring, and she still remarks on his rebelliousness.
1 3 . The Mexican government gives education scholarships, on the understanding
that the recipients will later go to teach in the pueblos. Commonly the money is taken
but the obligation is not enforced. So a teacher may be assigned to Oapan, but he or
she will not be in residence very much. Michael Kremer ( 2003 ) provides a more gen-
eral treatment of the lack of educational participation in Mexico.
14. In contrast to the production of Western paper, the production of amate paper
preserves the longer fibers of the bark (Torres 1 980, 25 ) . This gives the paper greater
durability, despite its porous nature. The production process determines what kind of
amate will be made. The amate makers decide what kinds of trees to use, what kind of
bark to put into the mix, and how much cloro and ash to add to the boiling process.
Variations in the thickness of the paper depend on the amount of fiber beat with the
stone and on the skill and intent of the papermaker. The age of the tree also influences
the durability, flexibility, tone, and fiber of the paper. The marbleized appearance of
many amates comes from variations in fiber color. The older the tree is, the darker and
coarser will be the resulting paper. Longer cooking can make the paper finer. Corn ker-
nels soaked in lime water result in a mixture that will make the amate paper yellow
rather than white. Commercial bleach is used to lighten the color of the fibers or to
introduce marble patterns into fibers that would otherwise be completely dark. See Bell
1988, 89.
1 5 . See Bell 1988, 98; Von Hagen 1 944, 22; Lockhart 1992, 40, 3 26. Amate paper
is believed to have its origins in the tapa clothing of Central and South America,
which was eventually modified to make amate. (Tapa paper is uncooked and pounded
into shape; amate is cooked with alkaloids and then pounded. ) The Maya appear to
have developed amate paper in the fifth century A.D. and to have passed the technique
162 N OTES TO PAGES 2 0-2 1
along to Toltec, Zapotec, and Mixtec peoples. The Mixtec (ca. A.D. 668 to 1 450)
inhabited parts of Guerrero and also painted on amate, often in mural form. Several
different kinds of closely related trees are used for amate, including jonote colorado,
jonote xalama, and jonote limon, among others. On the paper and its history, see Bell
1 988, 7 7 , 97-98. A number of scholars have cited the possibility that papermaking
techniques came to Mexico from the South Pacific, which has the related tapa tech-
nique, but this view remains speculative.
1 6. See Sandstrom and Sandstrom 1986, 20, 3 1 ; Dow ( 1 9 7 5 ) offers another
account of this culture.
1 7 . I am here indebted to the remarks of Max Kerlow in personal conversation.
18. On the early pottery history of the region, see Good Eshelman 1988; Good
1 993; Hendrichs Perez 1 945 , chapter 1 2. Ameyaltepec was settled by Oapan emigrants
in pre--Hispanic times, and both villages specialize in amates and crafts. Nonetheless,
Oapan has a different feel from Ameyaltepec. Ameyaltepec is almost medieval in set-
ting, as it is built into a steep hillside. Oapan lies on the river, whereas Ameyaltepec
does not. Oapan has about twice as many families. Oapan is considered to be more
political and more contentious. It has a richer history and offers more large fiestas.
Ameyaltepec is richer, cleaner, and more orderly. It does not allow its drunks to hang
out in the town square or lie in the streets. Nor are pigs allowed to roam the streets, as
they must be corralled and kept out of public view. The streets are swept every week-
end.
1 9 . See Amith 1 995a; Kraig and Nieto 1 9 9 6 , 1 20. I also interviewed Max Kerlow
and Felipe Ehrenberg. Kerlow and Felipe Ehrenberg differ on who actually introduced
amate paper to the artists (Ehrenberg 1 9 95 presents Ehrenberg's side of the story,
which Kerlow explicitly denies). Kerlow describes Ehrenberg as his "assistant at the
time," while Ehrenberg claims the artists were painting for him before he brought them
to Kerlow. Cristino Flores, one of the first three amate painters, assigns priority to
Ehrenberg. Under another version of the story of the origins of amate painting, an indi-
vidual from Xalitla decided to paint on amate while working as a silversmith in Taxco.
Some individuals in Taxco have reported that a Chato Castillo, an artist--designer who
worked extensively in numerous media, brought amate painting to Xalitla. Some indi-
viduals have reported that the villagers had contact with amate paper as early as the
1 950s, in craft markets, although it is nebulous whether they used this paper for paint-
ing. In general, Xalitla--based stories should be discounted, especially since the Kerlow
version of the story appears to be consistent. Xalitla is closest to the main highway and,
for this reason, might have appeared to outsiders as the original home of amate paint-
ing. The origins of amate painting are most likely between Kerlow and the artisans of
Ameyaltepec. On these stories, see Stromberg 1982, 153. On the paper and cardboard
experiments, see Good 1993, 1 9 7-98.
20. The several early exhibits of amate that Kerlow was also able to arrange include
exhibition at the Galeria Jose Maria Velasco in Mexico City.
2 1 . Ehrenberg's description here comes from my interview with him. In addition to
consulting the account of Good Eshelman ( 1 988 ) , I have talked with several of the ear-
liest amate painters in Oapan. The anecdote about the San Pablito merchants comes
from Porfirio Morales.
Notes to Pages 22-28 163
22. In terms of quality, the Nahuatl--speaking Oapan and Ameyaltepec are the two
clear leaders from the four main villages, with the Spanish--speaking Xalitla and Max-
ela next on the list. This ranking is robust whether we consider illustration in catalogs
(Amith 1 995a; Good Eshelman 1 988 ) , price commanded in the marketplace, or abil-
ity to command foreign buyers.
23. On collaborative circles, see Farrell 200 l .
24. On clustering and location theory, see, for instance, Krugman 1 9 9 7 and Fuj ita,
Krugman, and Venables 1 999.
25. Age estimates are from conversations. No formal birth records were kept. Even
today, many pueblo residents do not know exactly how old they are.
26. On the end of the salt trade, see Good Eshelman 1988, 1 83-85 ; Amith 1 9 95c,
1 43 . For census data, see de la Pena 1949, 2:282. In colonial times, the villagers spe-
cialized in carrying and muleteering. Until Mexican independence, Asian goods
arrived in Acapulco on a regular basis, frequently in December. Oapan villagers helped
carry these goods and the trade with Peru to the rest of Mexico. Starting in the nine-
teenth century and continuing up until about 1939, many of the Alto Balsas villages
specialized in salt commerce in addition to their subsistence agriculture. They bought
sea salt on the Pacific coast, usually near Acapulco, and resold it in the interior of the
state of Guerrero. This experience in the salt trade gave them commercial skills that
later were used for marketing amates. The villagers knew how to establish outside trade
contacts, how to deal with middlemen, and how to deal with a frequently hostile Span-
ish--speaking outside world. San Agustin and Ameyaltepec, two of the leading amate
villages, also have strong backgrounds in the salt trade. N on--amate--producing villages
tend to have weaker historical connections with the salt trade. On the role of the salt
trade, see Good 1995. On the early economic history of the area, see Good Eshelman
1988; Good 1 993, 7 5 ; Amith 2000.
27. I was not able to interview Francisca for this book, due to her distance from
Oapan. The other family members claim she paints cheaper street amates, rather than
higher--quality amates.
28. Felipe Ehrenberg narrates that Cristino Flores painted the first historia , which
he did in black and white in Kerlow's workshop. Cristino drew on a popular song in
Guerrero, rooted in medieval Spain, about a very thin woman. The amate sold rapidly,
and Cristino did more like it (he still paints that song to this day). Ehrenberg relates
words of the song as follows: "Delgadina se paseaba de la sala a la cocina . . . en vestido
transparente . . . que su pecho Ie ilumina . . . " The next historias had religious themes,
according to Ehrenberg.
29. These plots, while small, yield food year--round, rather than just during the har-
vest season, and are important for village nutrition.
30. Marcial's dreamy side showed itself early on. He notes that his strongest mem-
ory from childhood involves hearing music from the sky ("musica celestial") . When he
was seven or eight, he heard (or thinks he heard) a rising volume of "music" coming
from the north for about ten or fifteen minutes. He was catching butterflies at the time
but stopped out of fright. He narrates that an old lady heard the same music and
screamed. He wanted to run and tell his parents, but they were out in the field work-
ing. To this day, Marcial still does not know whether he heard real music from the sky,
164 N OTES TO PAGES 2 8-3 4
imagined the whole thing, heard some kind of unusual wind current, or perhaps heard
a low--flying airplane or some other kind of machine. Once he began painting amates,
Marcial had the chance to put his dreams down on paper.
3 1 . See Lockhart 1992, 23 5.
32. On nahuales in the Balsas region, see Hendrichs Perez 1945 , chapters 1 4- 1 5 ;
Kraig and Nieto 1 996, 1 1 4 (citing a talk with Livorio Celestino ) . O n nahuales in ear-
lier Nahuatl civilizations, see Le Clezio 1 993 , 105. On nahuales in other communities,
see Ingham 1 986, 1 1 8-1 9 ; Montoya Briones 1 964, 1 7 5-7 7. Suspicion of witchcraft has
diminished over time but remains nonetheless; Golde ( 1 986, 7 7 ) reports widespread
belief in witchcraft in Ameyaltepec in 1959.
33. I am indebted to group members for showing me photos of their early works, in
addition to discussing them. The outside reader can get the best sense for this Ur--style
from the Abraham Mauricio amates in Saldivar [ 1 9 7 9] 1 985 and on the Web site for
my own collection: http://www.gmu. edu/j bc/Tyler/amate2.htm.
34. The earliest Ameyaltepec painters had signed their names for Max Kerlow and
Felipe Ehrenberg, but the practice did not emerge in Oapan until the advent of histo-
rias . Note also that Juan Camilo was given the name Tomas at birth and signed that
name on some of his early works. He later adopted the name Juan , partly because he
likes the associated saint and partly as a conscious rebellion against his father's choice
of name.
35. On Marcial and bargaining, see Lakehomer 1 983 , in addition to Marcial's own
account.
36. On price trends, see Stromberg 1 982, 5 1 ; Good Eshelman 1 9 88, 35-36. Con-
versations with artists and Max Kerlow yield a consistent picture. The estimate from
the early 1 9 70s is from Roberto Mauricio and was confirmed by the other group mem-
bers. The time trend in prices is not fully smooth, since supply problems with the amate
paper led to repeated price spikes. The amate trees from San Pablito were overhar-
vested, and the price of the paper rose until new sources of supply were found in other
regions ( in fact, the original amate tree was largely abandoned as a source of supply in
favor of the j onote colorado tree) . Note that the dollar--peso exchange rate remained
fixed at twelve and a half pesos to the dollar until the middle of the 1 9 70s. Good Eshel-
man ( 1 988, 3 2-33 ) offers data on price spikes for amate paper.
3 7 . One year in the early 1970s, the American Robert Walsh visited Oapan,
specifically the home of Felix and Inocencio Chino. Inocencio had apologized and told
him that the family was too poor to offer him anything more than rice and beans.
Robert saw that the silo of the family was empty, as the harvest had been bad that year
due to poor rain. At that point, Robert realized that the families needed amate sales to
get by , especially when the rain did not come.
38. On the economics of rent creation, see, for instance, McChesney 1 9 9 7 ; de Soto
1 989.
39. "No estoy en otro pais. Estoy en Mexico. Yo puedo vender aqui . . . con mis
.
palsanos . . . "
40. On Acapulco, see Good 1 993, 2 7 1-74. Francisco Lorenzo, an Ameyaltepec
artisan who sells in Acapulco, reports that the problem has eased greatly since the elec-
tion of a PRD governor in Guerrero. Amate and craft sellers do have some capacity to
Notes to Pages 35--45 165
escape police harassment. They warn each other when an extorter is coming, the
women hide their merchandise in large pockets sewn into their dresses, the sellers try
to play off the extorters against each other, or they avoid carrying the money to pay the
bribe.
4 1 . De Janvy and Sadoulet ( 200 1 ) provide more general evidence on the impor-
tance of nonfarm income in rural Mexico.
42. On this growth, see Thorpe 1 998, 1 5 .
43 . O n the miles o f railroad track, see Haber 1 989, 1 5 ; see also 2 1 . O n how the rail-
road boosted Mexican urban centers, see, for instance, Coatsworth 1 9 8 1 ; Schmidt
1 9 8 7 ; Buffington and French 2000.
44. See Caj igal and Asta 1 9 94, 9 and passim; Lomnitz--Adler 1 992.
45. See de la Pena 1 949, 2:505-7 ; Jacobs 1 982, 3 1-3 8.
46. On the rise of Taxco, see Oles 1993 , 13 1-35. On Taxco as a backwater, see
Jacobs 1982, 38-40. On the rise of the silver industry in Taxco, see Stromberg 1 985.
47. On the Taxco road, see Oles 1993 , 1 3 3 . On the wood--burning train in Cuer-
navaca, see King 1 9 70, 7. On the 1 933 road, see Lomnitz--Adler 1 992, 325 n. 1 2. On
the roads in the 1 950s, see Sherman 2000, 585-86.
48. On Acapulco, see Boardman 200 1 , 95 and passim; Sherman 2000, 586; Sulli-
van 200 1 . On the general history of tourism in Guerrero, see de la Pena 1949,
2:527-9 7 .
4 9 . O n Mexican--American tourism during the 1 9 70s, see Dinstel 1 982, 53-55.
Escobedo ( 1 9 8 1 , 1 4 7 ) provides the figure from 1 9 60. Information and figures on earlier
times are from Boardman 200 1 , 84-95.
50. On the developments of the 1 9 20s and 1 930s, see Delpar 1992; Oles 1993 ,
1 2 7-4 1 .
5 1 . I n addition to my discussions with the group, I have drawn here on comments
from Elfgio Esteba and Porffrio Morales, two of the earliest amate painters in Oapan.
52. I am indebted to Florence Browne for this anecdote, which I have confirmed by
talking to people in the village.
53. See Otero 1 9 9 7 , 9 1 6 ; Luboff 1 999, 1 94-95.
54. See Luboff 1 9 9 9 , 1 93 .
CHAPTER 3
1 . See Salopek 1 986.

2. On early retirees in Cuernavaca, see King 1 9 70, 7 , 1 9 .
3 . O n the lag of several months, see Lakehomer 1983 .
4 . A wide variety of informal institutions enable local families to sell and lend
each other land, animals, and labor. Not everyone wants to or is able to work the land
every year, and these transactions allow community resources to be put to more
efficient use.
5. On this episode, in addition to my talks with Marcial and Felix, I have drawn
on Lakehomer 1 983 and Rodman 1982 (201-2 ) .
6 . In the early days of amate, artists deviated from the amate medium at times,
1 66 N OTES TO PAGES 48-5 6
largely due to periodic scarcities of amate paper. Overharvesting endangered the sup-
ply of amate trees. The more plentiful jonote colorado tree had not yet developed as a
substitute, and the distribution network for amate paper was less well developed than
today. When amate was periodically scarce, Alto Balsas artists painted on bristol board
and sometimes on regular industrial paper. In the very early days, cardboard was an
occasional medium. Nonetheless, the artists typically returned to amate paper as soon
as it was possible to do so.
7. See Salopek 1 986, 13-14.
8. See Saldivar [ 1 9 7 9] 1985, 7 2 , for one account of this fiesta.
9. Many modern amates use "Aztec" themes that are taken from modern, West-
ern representations of Aztec culture rather than coming through past linkages to the
Aztec Empire. Traditionally, these themes have been found only on cheap street
amates; lately, though, some of the better amate painters ( including Marcial Camilo,
Carlos Ortiz of Xalitla, and Joel Adame of Maxela) have turned their attention to
them. More generally, we have little systematic information about the painted visual
arts in preconquest Nahua society, nor do the Oapan painters have any direct links to
these traditions. Indirect influences run through the early mingling of N ahua artists
with Spanish colonial styles. Nahuas painted various murals and frescoes in religious
settings (churches, monasteries, etc. ) for the Spaniards, though we do not know
whether these painters were N ahua from the Alto Balsas region. These works mimic
European styles of the time fairly closely, though they deviate in terms of various flora
and fauna. Sometimes, preconquest glyphs and song scrolls can be found in these fres-
coes. Butterflies sip at the flowers, a preconquest motif expressing the joys that merito-
rious souls enjoy in the afterlife. Nonetheless, when Marcial Camilo paints butterflies
today, which he does frequently, it is because there are many butterflies in the pueblo
and the surrounding fields, not because he is drawing on pre--Hispanic inspirations. On
frescoes, see Peterson 1993 ; on butterflies, see Lockhart 1992, 424. Robertson 1994 is
one good source on early Nahua painting and manuscripts.
10. See Centeno 1 9 9 7 , 1 85 (on inflation in the 1 9 70s ) , 204 ( on the minimum
wage estimate ) .
1 1 . Maria reports that she almost lost touch with the artists around 1 99 1 , when her
husband, Robert, died. Nonetheless, they have remained in touch, and Maria received
a visit from them in Cuernavaca this last year.
1 2. Group members offer different accounts of the timing of Juan's departure. By
Juan's reckoning, it came after two years of working with Rabkin and at times living in
Rabkin's house. By Marcial's reckoning, it came several years later. The dates on
Rabkin's inventory of pictures suggest a later date as well; one of his pictures by Juan
Camilo that was put on eBay was listed as dating from 1 9 7 9 .
1 3 . Browne n.d. , 2 1 .
14. On the positive side for women, the culture possesses strong matriarchical ele-
ments, and the status of women is relatively high. Women have a strong say in family
matters. Female adultery, while hardly approved of, is not rare and does not make the
woman an immediate social outcast (for this observation, I am indebted to conversa-
tions with anthropologist Jonathan Amith) . Nor is it unusual for women to travel on
their own to sell crafts. On the negative side, women's voice in the family comes
Notes to Pages 58-70 167
through their hard work. Women cook, raise the children, paint ceramics, make cloth-
ing, wash clothing, and care for the domestic animals. Once a marriage is forthcoming,
the family of the male pays a dowry to the family of the female, currently in the neigh-
borhood of thirty chickens and three to five pigs, perhaps with an ox thrown in. On
one hand, this dowry reflects the positive status of the woman within the village. On
the other hand, the dowry price is a market signal that the family is losing a member
who contributes more to the household than she receives in return. At first, a newly-
wed couple usually lives in the household of the male's parents, though eventually they
will strike out on their own. The dowry can be negotiated upward or downward. On the
value of the woman, see also Good 1 9 93 , 405.
15. On the economics of quality certification, see Klein 2000.
1 6. I have not been able to track down the exact galleries. The list is from Browne
n.d. ( "Never in Their Wildest Dreams" ) , which I believe is a magazine article from a
periodical called Amistad: Magazine of the American Society of Mexico . My copy of this
article came from Marcial and does not include the original date of publication.
1 7 . See Zacharias 1 9 7 8 .
18. S e e Browne n.d.
1 9 . I have drawn this information from a conversation with Marsha Bol; from
undated museum correspondence of Marsha Bol; and from a letter of March 1 2 , 2002,
from Barbara Mauldin, currently curator of Latin American art at the museum.
20. The peso figure is compounded over time and thus hard to convert into dollars.
Marcial notes that he has in mind roughly twenty--six thousand "current pesos" (ca.
200 1 ) , which would place the sum at over two thousand dollars. This return stands in
contrast to another book illustrated by amate paintings, EI cido magico de los dias , by
Antonio Saldivar ( [ 1 979] 1 9 85 ) . Abraham Mauricio Salazar, brother of Roberto
Mauricio, painted the illustrations for that book. He claims that the author promised
him a percentage of the proceeds but gave him nothing beyond his original lump--sum
payment for the work. To this day, he remains disillusioned. When I went to speak to
him, Abraham's first question was whether he would receive a percentage of the pro-
ceeds of the present study.
2 1 . In addition to one Mexican ethnographic survey published in 1 945 (Hendrichs
Perez) , an unpublished doctoral dissertation had been written by Peggy Golde at Har-
vard University in 1 9 63 (see Amith 1 9 95a, Golde 1986 ) , but in both cases, the field-
work predated amate painting in Oapan.
22. Taken from program notes, "Recuerdos de mi Pueblo."
23. Personal email communication, 200 1 .
24. "Recuerdos d e m i Pueblo," program notes obtained from Marcial Camilo.
25. In addition to my conversations with dealers, I am drawing on the results from
auctions held during this time at Parke--Bernet Galleries.
26. See International Folk World 1 , no. 1 ( 1 983 ) , on the relocation of Galerie Lara.
27. See International F olk World 1 , no. 1 ( 1 983 ) , on the masks.
28. See Centeno 1 9 9 7 , 185, 1 9 7 ; Haber 1 989, 1 .
2 9 . On Castillo, see Ahlander 200 1 .
30. Email correspondence, 200 1 .
3 1 . Email communications from Janie Burke, February 8 , 200 1 .
168 N OTES TO PAGES 7 4-99
CHAPTER 4
1 . A 1 9 7 9 painting by Marcial Camilo Ayala that depicts electrification is held in

the Ramapo College collection.
2. The upper--end estimate is taken from a conversation with Marcial Camilo and
validated by discussions with the families; the more typical estimate is taken from con-
versations with numerous village members. I have not found any family that keeps for-
mal books or accounting. Good Eshelman ( 1 998) estimates family income as somewhat
higher, though she focuses on the richer community of Ameyaltepec. The estimate for
the topiles and a day's labor is taken from the fieldwork of Jonathan Amith and from
conversations with Marcial Camilo. For comparable estimates for other parts of rural
Mexico, see Wiggins et al. 2002. Daughters are far less likely to cross the border, given
the physical hardships involved.
3. On the more general history of telephone and telegraph connections in Guer-
rero, see de la Pena 1 949, 1: chapter 4.
4. Golde 1 986, 78.
5. Rabkin had told me the name of the village, and finally I found a map that
listed it. I also called up Mexican information and received the village phone number,
although no one who answered the village phone was able to tell me how to get to the
village. So when I arrived in Mexico City, I chartered a taxi driver to help me find the
village, at the cost of several hundred dollars. I now know how to take the bus, which
costs virtually nothing.
6. I have not taken any profits from these deals and, in fact, have picked up some
of the secondary expenses, such as shipping and phone calls.
7. Most of all, they ask about planes falling from the sky. Juan and his family see
the planes from Mexico City to Acapulco flying over the village and have had the fear
that the planes would crash and fall on the village. A few years ago, a small private
plane did fall in the neighboring pueblo of Analco. Juan considers planes to be a very
dangerous mode of transportation and frequently asks about them.
8. See Golde 1986, 8 7 , for the quotation. Golde discusses marriage practices more
generally as well.
9. See Golde 1 986, 80-8 1 .
10. An alternative translation for "although the vision is fading" is "one's vision
also goes." Roberto wrote "la vista tambfen se acaba"; my translation relies on my con-
versation with him.
1 1 . On the five thousand figure, see Burns 200 1 .
1 2. Kroll ( 1 994) offers a brief exposition of the work of Inocencio Chino.
1 3 . Inocencio estimates that his wife paints the equivalent of "fifteen cats a week."
14. The Ford Foundation will fund the continuation of this proj ect.
1 5 . These estimates include input from Inocencio in addition to Felix.
1 6. I am indebted to Alberto Wuggetzer and to Ana Luisa's daughter, Leonore
Thomas, for this information.
1 7 . There is a "health clinic" in Oapan, though it is poorly supplied and often
unstaffed. It does little to make the villagers healthier.
18. Gruzinski ( 2002, 1 03 , 168) details some similarities between Nahua and Euro--
pean classical pagan cosmologies. He writes that the Spanish colonists would encour-
age the N ahuas to compare their beliefs to the stories of Ovid.
1 9 . Marcial uses email (ayalal 15 @hotmail.com) to handle many of his orders.
That being said, he does not have a reliable system for receiving messages, and he can-
not always be expected to respond to a query, no matter how direct, pointed, or urgent.
20. On the deaths of Pablo and Pedro de Jesus, see Ehrenberg 1 995, 2 1 .
2 1 . Oapan residents envy the extensive social networks o f Ameyaltepec. When an
Ameyaltepec resident travels to Cancun to sell wares, he or she can draw on an entire
support network for this purpose; the same is true in Monterrey and other distant
locales. An Oapan resident will not have access to similar help. Lower levels of trust
mean that Oapan residents are more likely to work with other family members and
hold a more limited circle of contacts. Oapan crafts merchants have only recently pen-
etrated to these further locales, with the exception of Guadalaj ara.
22. This information is based on my interview with Nicolas and on Amith 1 995b,
85.
23. See Kraig and N ieto 1996.
24. Like Marcial, Nicolas served as comisario of his pueblo. N icolas also claims he
did not finish a single work that year, due to the responsibilities of the job. Nonethe-
less, he wished to contribute to the success of his pueblo.
25. In reality, Nicolas was hearkening back to the very early days of amate paint-
ing. Felipe Ehrenberg notes that in the early days of amate, he and Max Kerlow,
decided to have the painters, including N icolas's father, Pablo, do some lewd works;
Ehrenberg notes, "Man, they sold VERY well . . . little crazy figurines screwing all over
the hills."
26. See http://www.handmadepapers.com. or look at the eBay offerings under the
seller name of "barkskin."
CHAPTER 5
1 . Good ( 1 993 , 3 1 4- 1 6 ) discusses these services.

2. Serious crimes, however, are brought to the county seat at Tepecualcuilco. In
Oapan, there are two comisarios , a primary comisario and a secondary comisario , the lat-
ter serving as an assistant. Each barrio of Oapan elects a comisario for a one--year term,
and the two barrios rotate as to which chooses the primary or secondary comisario .
Though the comisarios are formally chosen by election, "las autoridades" set the agenda
by choosing the candidates. The elders cannot impose a candidate without popular
support, but they also hold an effective veto right over maj or officeholders. On politi-
cal institutions in neighboring Ameyaltepec, which are similar in form ( if not always
substance ) , see Good Eshelman 1988, chapters 6-9 .
3 . Each year, one mayordomo is drawn from each of the two barrios of San
Agustin. Like the comisario , the mayordomo receives no pay and nothing from village
fines.
4. The state and municipality attempt to regulate and control the politics of the
pueblos. But Oapan ignores these stipulations for the most part and structures its own
170 N OTES TO PAGES 1 1 2 -23
political institutions. S e e Good 1993 , 322. For an account o f governance i n another

Nahua community, in the state of Puebla, see Montoya Briones 1 9 64, 1 1 8-2 1 .
5. In economic terms, note that the largely self�employed villagers cannot con�
vert time into money at a fixed rate; thus, the greater scarcity of money can persist.
6. Tax assessments are made when a special proj ect is required, such as fixing the
bell in the chapel, but these assessments are frequently a matter of great contention
( though less so in Ameyaltepec) . In the last two years, the members of the "outside"
party, PRI, have refused to pay their assessments. It would be very difficult to tax the
people in the small Mexican villages a percentage of their income. A lump�sum tax
would place a disproportionate burden on the very poor.
7. Greenberg ( 1 98 1 , chapter 1 ) offers a systematic survey of hypotheses about sta�
tus and the cargo system. He does not consider the "optimal taxation" factors discussed
here. Foster ( 1 9 6 7 , 207-1 1 ) offers an especially clear statement of the status hypothe�
sis. Good Eshelman ( 1 988, chapter 9) offers critical remarks about the status hypothe�
sis for Ameyaltepec.
8. A number of topiles also help the comisarios implement their decisions. The
Nahuatl word topile means "the one who has a rod" ; in this context, it refers to the
reach of the law.
9. Some writers have mentioned a redistributivist motive for the cargo system; see
Greenberg 1 9 8 1 , 7-12. Brandes ( 1 9 88, 55-5 6 ) offers some evidence against the egali�
tarian and "economic leveling" explanations of the cargo system.
10. "Porque me gusta la justicia. "
1 1 . Some older estimates, drawn from different (and probably poorer) Mexican vil�
lages, place the burden of a one�year cargo at several hundred dollars. See Greenberg
1 98 1 , 149. Cancian ( 1 965, chapter 8) offers some yet earlier estimates, for the Mayan
community of Zinacantan. Foster ( 1 967, 209 ) , studying communities in Michoacan,
estimates the sum to range up to one thousand dollars a year.
1 2. The modern priest is based in Xalitla and visits Oapan only periodically.
(Oapan was once the seat of the local parish, but Xalitla grabbed this position away in
the mid� 1960s, an act that earned Xalitla the continuing enmity of Oapan residents.)
The traditional priest reports to the bishop in Acapulco. Some members of Oapan
have recently converted and have become Jehovah's Witnesses ( I know of one Mor�
mon as well ) . This is considered a conscious decision to rej ect the traditions of the
pueblo and to embrace at least some parts of the outside world. Many villagers obj ect
to the antipathy that these individuals hold to the traditional fiestas, costumes, and
ceremonies.
1 3 . I am indebted to Jonathan Amith for the observation about Nahuatl.
14. For a broader analysis of how and why democratization has come about in Mex�
ico, see Weingast 2003 .
1 5 . Weingast ( 2003 ) argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement, the
growth of Mexico, and increased immigration all raised the stakes for challenging the
previously dominant PRI party in Mexico; this hypothesis is consistent with the evi�
dence from Oapan.
1 6. See, for instance, Axelrod 1 984.
1 7 . Cowen 2004 discusses the relevance of this argument to peace in the Middle
East.
18. On some related themes, in a more general context, see Cowen and Sutter
1999, detailing the "costs of cooperation."
1 9 . In addition to interviews, I have drawn on Hindley 1999 for information about
the dam.
20. On this history, see Weinberg 2000, 239.
21. The petition is reproduced and translated by Hindley ( 1 999, 2 1 8 ) .
2 2 . In an email to m e on July 23 , 200 1 , Scott Guggenheim wrote: "it wasn't a very
good dam in the first place, in that the economic case for it wasn't a very strong one.
For the short term power needs, thermal (coal) made more sense, and for the longer
term it was better to tie up to the North American power grid." He added that the
World Bank considered the study of the social component of the proj ect "incomplete"
from the very beginning, largely due to lack of consultation with the communities.
23. On the Alto Balsas region during the revolution, see Good Eshelman 1 988,
182. Peace has not always prevailed in the state of Guerrero more generally. The 1 9 60s
saw guerrilla activity in Guerrero, just to the south of the Alto Balsas region. A group
known as the Armed Commandos of Guerrero organized a series of executions and kid ..
nappings, largely to take revenge on federal police for a previous police massacre of
unarmed citizens. The group was smashed, but small guerrilla actions recurred through ..
out the 1 9 7 0s. Guerrilla activity heated up again in the early 1990s. Following the Chi ..
apas insurgency, a group known as OCSS (Campesino Organization of the Sierra del
Sur) began to operate in Guerrero. Controversy reached a peak on June 28, 1 995, when
police apparently massacred seventeen OCSS members and then tried to cover up
their role, claiming self.. defense. To this day, the police regularly patrol the roads of
Guerrero. In theory, they are looking for drug gangs, but it is more plausible that they
are hoping to contain future political troubles. See Weinberg 2000, chapter 1 2 , for a
partial history of guerrilla activity in Guerrero.
24. He finds it hard to work when staying with others in the village, given the
ongoing distractions, lack of privacy, and loud music, which interferes with his taping
work.
25. The artists retained the rights to the original drawings. Amith later purchased
the amates by paying the artists three hundred dollars a piece for the items.
26. Although Amith later bought these protest amates, he has never shown much
of an interest in collecting amates. He loves the artworks, but he lacks both the funds
and the "collector's mentality." To this day, his amate collection is extremely small,
though very high in quality. He talks of how he would like to have more amates by a
variety of painters, especially his closest friends ( Inocencio, Marcial, and some of the
Ameyaltepec painters) , but he owns little more than the original collection of protest
amates from the dam fight.
27. In 1 7 1 6 Oapan received formal recognition of its land, through a composici6n ,
as part of a systematic Spanish colonial effort to define land titles and raise more rev ..
enue. Over the course of the eighteenth century, however, several villages (Ahuelican
in 1 7 1 7 , Ameyaltepec-then called Amayotepec-in 1 7 5 7 , and San Miguel T ecucia ..
pan in 1 7 86) separated formally from the municipal seat (cabecera) of Oapan (Amith
2000, 1 83 , 1 0 7 9 ) . Jacobs ( 1 982, 5 6-5 7 ) offers a slight amount of information on the
nineteenth .. century land disputes, which were not restricted to Oapan. See also
Guardino 1996.
172 N OTES TO PAGES 1 3 4-46
28. For one version of this account, see Stromberg 1 982, 72, which complements
my talks with Oapan residents.
29. I am indebted to conversations with Henry Kammler, a German anthropology
student who is doing work in Oapan and San Miguel. See also Good Eshelman 1988,
1 95-9 6.
30. I have had less success getting residents of San Miguel to present their side of
the story to me. I am identified by my contacts as being a friend of Oapan and thus am
considered an unsympathetic outsider-to be excluded from any discussion. The inter-
pretation of the latest settlement as favorable to Oapan comes from Jonathan Amith.
3 1 . Inocencio served first in the comisariado , for three years in the early 1990s.
Roberto also served for three years ( 1 996-9 8 ) .
32. Roberto claims that his stint on the commission opened his eyes t o the extent
of corruption in Mexico-not only in San Miguel, but also in Oapan. It made him
more cynical but also gave him new ideas about how to make the world better and gave
him more courage.
3 3 . See Golde 1 986, 79.
CHAPTER 6
1 . The information on migration is based on several interviews. For obvious rea-

sons, the sources wish to remain nameless. For a more general study of the difficulty of
crossing the border, see Eschbach et al. 1999. This source gives a conservative estimate
of sixteen hundred crossing--related deaths for 1 9 93 to 1 9 9 7 , almost one a day.
2. For the content of this last sentence, I am especially indebted to my conversa-
tions with Jonathan Amith and to his migration proj ect, discussed in chapter 5 of the
present study.
3. Personal factors play a role as well. The amate prodigy mentioned earlier left for
personal reasons in addition to economic ones. In part, he left because he impregnated
a local girl whom he did not wish to marry. (This surprised the community, who
thought the eccentric son would be lucky to marry at all and would jump at the chance
to marry this girl. The family ended up having to make a payment to the girl's family
for her abandonment) . Others have speculated that the son was tired of remaining
under the thumb of his father-a strict disciplinarian and stern taskmaster-in the
amate workshop at home.
4. This information about pottery is taken from visits to Angel Dominguez; see
also Stromberg 1 982, 7 6-7 7 .
5. Angel's untrustworthiness in these matters is in contrast to the character of
most of the amate painters, who are generally honest in meeting commissions and
encounter their biggest trust problems when required to deal with each other.
6. Traditionally, the town potters have been women. The townspeople consider
Angel to be homosexual or a hermaphrodite. He is well into his mature years and has
never married. He also spends much time on his sewing machine (again rare for a male
in the village) and speaks with a lisp. Anthropologist Henry Kammler, who has spent
much time in the village, is convinced that there is homosexuality in Oapan, though
usually between married men. Angel is the only Oapan male who openly flaunts his dif
ferent sexuality.
7. On the history of Guerrero mask making, see Cordry 1 982; Good Eshelman
1988, 42-43 . Jonathan Amith (oral communication) relates how the decline of mask
making is also linked to a growing scarcity of the wood needed to make good masks.
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alcoholism, 1 7 , 7 8 , 8 5 , 100, 104, 1 1 2 animism, 29
Al to Balsas art, 6 7-69; and Haitian art Arias, Ron, 60
compared, 67-68; infrastructure for, art collectors, 58, 67, 90. See also foreign
68-69. See also art market buyers; specific collectors
Alto Balsas Nahua, 1 2 , 1 5 , 22, 62. See Artegraffas Limitadas, 1 03
also specific pueblo art market: segmentation in, 86-88;
amate paper, 1 9-23 , 106, 1 6 1nn. 14- 1 5 , trade--offs in, 7 6-7 7 , 1 55-56; U.S., 32,
1 66n. 6 4 1 , 54; in Xalitla, 1 5 1-52
Amate Tradition , The (catalog) , 13 1-33 Astor, Mrs. Vincent, 5 7
American Anthropologist (j ournal) , "authorities" (autoridades ; local decision
132 makers ) , 1 1 1 , 1 1 2
American--Mexican cultural partnership, Ayala Ramirez, Maria, 1 8
3-5 . See also cross--cultural exchange Aztec Triple Alliance, 2 0 , 1 66n. 9
American retirees, 3 9 , 88
American tourists, 3 6-3 8. See also Bazar Sabado, 2 1 , 9 1 , 92
tourism Beethoven, Ludwig von, 55, 56
Americas ( magazine) , 60 Benitez, Alexander, 100- 1 0 1
Ameyaltepec, 22, 3 1 , 82, 1 28, 1 69n. 2 1 ; Bio--Arte gallery (Cuernavaca) , 94-95
artisans of, 2 1 ; historia style, 25-29; Bird, Thomas, 85
and Oapan, 4, 1 6 2n. 1 8 Bishop, Robert, 6 1 , 63
Amith, Jonathan D., 1 1 2 , 1 27-3 1 , 1 3 2 , Bloom, Nancy, 70
1 5 5 ; and amate paintings, 130-3 1 , Bol, Marsha, 61
1 83
184 I N DEX
Browne, Florence Reine, 9 , 5 5 , 5 9 , 68, ily of, 93, 97, 1 0 1 , 102; and Haitian
77, 97 art, 64, 99; health of, 100, 1 5 6-5 7 ; his-
Burke, Janie, 70 torias of, 26-28, 30, 3 2 ; influences on,
Burkhart, Louise M., 28 8, 50; and Inocencio, 9 1 ; and land dis-
pute, 1 3 5 , 1 3 7 , 138; marriage of, 55,
Cabaret (Felix Jimenez ) , 49 5 6 ; move to Taxco, 96-97; musical
Camilo, Cefarino, 1 8 interests of, 55, 1 63-64n; painting
Camilo Altamirano, Alcividiades, 7 9 , 82 styles of, 47-48 , 99- 1 00, 1 0 1 ; and
Camilo Altamirano, Leonardo, 80, PRD, 1 20, 1 2 1 ; prices for amates of,
8 1-82, 83, 86, 147 34, 5 1 , 5 9 , 64; and Rabkin, 42, 43-45 ,
Camilo Ayala, Amalia, 25 5 1 , 54-5 5 , 56, 7 3 , 96, 1 0 1 , 106; and
Camilo Ayala, Carmen, 25, 146 Ramos Prida, 93 , 94, 95, 1 0 1 ; and
Camilo Ayala, Dahlia, 56, 102, 153 Rodman, 5 , 5 7 , 62, 63 ; self--portraits
Camilo Ayala, Fausto, 25, 78 of, 50; and Smithsonian, 8, 1 00- 1 0 1 ,
Camilo Ayala, Felix, 1 0- 1 1 , 24-25, 3 9 , 1 5 2 ; trips t o Ciudad Juarez, 65-6 6;
62, 8 7 , 1 46; artisan work of, 5 4 ; and U.S. exhibits of, 59-60; What the Sun
brother Fausto, 7 8 ; childhood of, 1 8 ; Sees , 48, 63-64
and church disputes, 1 1 9; and dam Camilo Ayala, Oliva, 56, 93 , 98, 1 0 1 ,
protest, 130; and land dispute, 134, 102
1 3 5 ; and local politics, 1 1 6 , 1 2 1 ; med- Camilo Ayala, Perfecto, 82
ical needs of, 5 1 ; painting style of, 30, Camilo Ayala, Sinforosa, 84
49, 53 , 83-84; and Rabkin, 45 , 65, 66 Camilo Ayala family, 1 8- 1 9 ; amate in,
Camilo Ayala, Francisca, 10, 25 24-25; brothers, 3 1 , 34, 3 9 ; feuding in,
Camilo Ayala, Juan, 9- 10, 60, 73, 78. See also specific family member
7 7-83 , 87, 1 64n. 34; break with Cancun, 3 5 , 147
Rabkin, 53, 66; on brother Felix, 83 ; Cap Haitian school, 48. See also Haitian
childhood of, 1 9 ; children and family naive painting
life of, 7 7 , 79, 80, 8 1-82 , 1 3 2-3 3 ; cargo system, 1 1 0- 1 7 ; Marcial as comis-
feud with Marcial, 7 7-78, 1 3 0 ; histo- ario , 1 1 4-1 7 ; tax burden in, 1 1 2, 1 1 4,
rias of, 26, 30, 78, 7 9 ; independence 1 7 0n. 6 ; and university compared,
of, 46; and local politics, 1 1 5- 1 6 , 1 13, 1 14
1 1 9 , 1 25 , 1 3 5 ; and Spanish colonial Carmody, Laurie, 99
art, 50, 80-8 1 ; trademark style Carnegie Corporation, 38
of, 49 Casa de las Imagenes, La (publisher) ,
Camilo Ayala, Marcial, 8-9 , 24-25 , 132
3 7-3 8, 93-102, 1 5 6 ; and Amith, 1 2 7 , Castillo, Fernando, 6 8
1 29-3 1 ; androgyny of, 5 0 ; and art Catholicism, 29, 49, 83 ; disputes in,
market collapse, 73 ; as autodidact, 55; 1 1 7- 1 9
and Bio--Arte gallery, 94-95; book Chancellor, Mrs. France, 95-9 6
illustration by, 6 1-62; on brother charismatic factions, 1 1 8, 1 1 9
Felix, 10, 83 , 84; and brother Juan, 53 , Chilpancingo, 135, 1 3 6
7 7-78, 8 1 , 99; Catholicism of, 83 ; Christianity, 2 9 , 1 1 9. See also Catholi-
childhood of, 1 8 , 1 6 1n. 1 2 ; children cism
of, 96; as comisario , 9 7 , 1 1 4-1 8 , 1 1 9 ; church disputes, 1 1 7- 1 9
and dam proposal, 1 24, 1 25 , 1 4 0 ; and Ciclo mag(co de los cosas , E I (Saldivar) ,
de Jesus, 105-6 ; earnings of, 1 4 1 ; fam-- 3 1 , 1 67n. 20
Index 185
Ciudad Juarez, 65-66 104; and Smithsonian commission,

classical music, 55, 56 1 0 1 , 103, 152
coconut fiber (kwaxtli) , 93-94, 95, 96 De Jesus, Pablo, 2 1 , 23 , 2 7 , 102
collaborative circle, 23 , 156 De Jesus, Pedro, 2 1
comisario (pueblo official) , 1 1 0, 1 1 1 , De la Cruz, Gabriel, 27
1 13 , 1 69n. 2; and church disputes, De Soto, Hernando, 3
1 1 7- 1 9 ; fine collection by, 1 1 5 ; Mar- Dias, Eusebio, 27
cial as, 9 7 , 1 1 4- 1 8 , 1 1 9. See also Diaz regime, 36
cargo system disease and health, 16, 5 1 , 156-5 7 ; alco--
community politics, 1 1 0. See also local holism, 1 7 , 7 8 , 85, 1 00, 1 04, 1 1 2
government Divine Comedy (Dante) , 8, 98-99
Competitive Advantage of Nations Dominguez, Angel, 1 45-46, 1 7 2nn. 4-6
( Porter) , 2 Dream , The (Marcial ) , 48
Consej o de Pueblos Nahuas del Alto dream paintings, 2 7-28, 48-49,
Balsas (CPNAB) , 1 2 5 , 138, 1 5 1 1 63-64n. 30
cooperation, 122-23
corruption, 1 23 , 139; police, 35 Easter ( Semana Santa) , 28-29
Costner, Kevin, 8, 97 Echeverria government, 3 7
Cousins (Felix Jimenez ) , 49, 153 economic crisis ( 1 9 80s) , 65 , 68
CPNAB. See Consej o de Pueblos Nahuas economic growth, 1 , 13-14, 3 6 , 140
del Alto Balsas (CPN AB ) Ehrenberg, Felipe, 2 1-22, 9 1 , 1 03 , 1 6 2n.
craft business, 76, 1 4 1 . See also pottery 1 9 , 1 63n. 28, 1 69n. 25
production Elster, Jon, 7
creative destruction, 5, 155-5 6 entrepreneurship, 2 , 6, 102, 1 4 1 , 154-5 5
Creative Destruction (Cowen) , 5 eroticism, 50
creativity cluster, 2 ethnographic themes, 27
cross--cultural exchange, 2 7 , 4 1-42, 150, European buyers, 32
1 5 5 ; and globalization, 3-5 , 14, 70, 7 6 exhibits, 59-60, 1 03
Cuernavaca, 7 , 3 5 , 54, 148; amate sales
in, 38, 45 , 83, 8 7 , 99; American com- families: entrepreneurial, 6, 102; income
munity in, 39; Marcial in, 9, 43 , 44, of, 74-75, 88, 1 68n. 2; and markets,
1 0 1-2; Marcial's patrons in, 94-96, 35. See also Camilo Ayala family
102; Rivera murals in, 50, 60, 90-9 1 ; Fideicomiso para la Cultura
transportation to, 4 , 3 6 , 3 7 Mexico/USA, 1 3 2
Cuisines of Hidden Mexico , 1 03-4 fiestas, 29, 49-50, 1 1 9 ; and cargo system,
cultural globalization, 3-5 , 76. See also 1 1 1 , 1 1 2; political fracture and,
globalization 1 20-2 1
curandero (shaman) , 146 fiscal (pueblo official) , 1 1 0, 1 1 1
Five Hundred Nations (TV program) , 8 ,
Dade County (Florida) Community Col-- 97
lege, 59 Flores Medina, Cristino, 2 1 , 27, 1 6 2n.
Dallas Museum of Art, 153 1 9 , 1 63n. 28
dam controversy, 1 24-2 7 food/diet, 1 5 , 45. See also agriculture
Dante Alighieri, 8, 98-99 foreign buyers, 7 , 3 2-33 , 85 , 88, 9 2 , 154;
De Jesus, Nicolas, 23 , 89, 99, 102-6; and U.S., 79, 80. See also art collectors
Marcial, 1 05-6; printmaking of, 1 03 , foreign investment, 13 9-40
186 I N DEX
Fountain, Gary, 107 Jamaican painters, 58

France, 153-5 4 Jardin San Jacinto, 9 1
Frank, Gloria, 80, 99 j ewelry making, 1 48
J imenez Chino, Felix, 1 8 , 88, 9 1-93 ,
Galeria Berica, 9 1 146, 1 5 7 ; androgyny of, 50; and
Galerie Lara, 46, 53 , 65 , 106 brother Inocencio, 3 9 , 5 2 , 93 ; charac-
Galerie San Miguel, 89 ter of, 46; on church disputes, 1 1 9;
Galerie St. Etienne, 69 and dam protest, 130; on de Jesus,
Garcia Simona, Francisco, 23 , 26, 2 7 , 30 106; historias of, 30, 3 1 ; on Juan
General Motors corporation, 136-3 9 Camilo, 53 ; and local politics, 1 1 6,
George Gustav Heye Foundation, 1 5 1 1 2 1 , 136; on Marcial's art, 94, 96, 99;
Glaeser, Edward L., 2 1 marriage and family of, 54; paintings
globalization, 7 , 13-14, 7 1 , 1 5 7 , 159n. 1 ; o£ 49, 63-64, 92-93 , 1 0 7 , 1 5 3 ; and
and cross--cultural exchange, 3-5 , 14, police, 3 5 ; and PRD, 1 20, 1 2 1 ; and
70, 7 6 ; and entrepreneurship, 154-5 5 Rabkin, 1 1 , 65, 66; signature style of,
G loria, wife of Marcial Camilo Ayala, 48-49
5 1 , 55-56, 9 7 , 1 0 1 J imenez Chino, Florencia, 89, 90
Golde, Peggy, 1 5 , 82, 1 3 8 , 1 6 1n. 10; on J imenez Chino, Inocencio, 1 8 , 34, 70,
Nahua family feuds, 78; on Oapan cul- 8 1 , 88-9 1 , 1 64n. 37; and brother
ture, 1 6- 1 8 Felix, 3 9 , 52, 93 ; character of, 46; and
Good, Catharine Louise, 9 7 , 1 29 , 134 dam protest, 130, 13 1 ; historias of, 30;
Guerrero, 149; development in, 14, 1 20; independence of, 46; and local gov-
terrorism in, 1 2 7 , 1 71 n. 23 ernment, 1 1 6 , 1 2 1 , 122, 1 3 6 , 140; and
Guggenheim, Scott, 1 2 7 , 1 7 1 n. 22 Marcial, 9 1 ; marriage of, 54; painting
style of, 49, 92; and Rabkin, 1 1 , 45 ,
Haitian naive painting, 48, 5 7 , 58, 59, 53 , 65, 66, 93
63 ; as established genre, 67-68, 1 0 7 ;
Marcial's work compared to, 6 4 , 9 9 Kent, Larry, 63-64
Hedstrom, Peter, 7 Kerlow, Max, 2 1-22, 9 1 , 132, 1 62n. 1 9
historias (story paintings ) , 25, 26-30, Kohlhase, Janet E . , 2 1
3 2-3 3 , 1 63n. 28; of Juan Camilo, 26, Kroll, Martin, 8 0 , 83 , 90
30, 7 8 , 79; of Marcial, 25 , 26-28, 30, Krugman, Paul, 23
31 kwaxtli (coconut fiber) , 93-94, 95, 96
History of Mexico (Marcial ) , 6 1
Hollywood celebrities, 3 7 labor contributions, 1 1 2. See also cargo
Hyppolyte, Hector, 58, 64 system
land disputes, 133-3 9 ; with General
Iguala, 35-3 6 , 75, 80 Motors, 1 3 6-3 9 ; with other Nahuas,
income, family, 74-7 5 , 88, 1 68n. 2 133-3 6
indigenous culture, 3 2 . See also under landscape paintings, 2 8 , 49
Nahua Lassiter, Carolyn. See Rabkin, Carolyn
individualism, 6 Mae Lassiter
International Folk Art Museum (Santa Lindbergh, Charles, 39
Fe) , 6 1 living standards, 2, 74-7 6, 1 40, 154
isolation and trade, 24 local government, 109-40; and Amate
Israel, son of Marcial Camilo Ayala, 96 Tradition, 13 1-3 3 ; cargo system,
Index 187
1 1 0-14; church disputes, 1 1 7-19; and Mexican government, 3 7 , 1 24, 1 2 6 , 132,

cooperation, 1 2 2-23 ; dam proposal, 138, 139
1 24-2 7 ; and increasing wealth, 122; Mexican muralist school, 50. See also
land dispute with GM, 1 3 6-3 9; Mar- Rivera, Diego
cial and Amith, 1 2 7-3 1 ; Marcial as Mexican society, 33
comisario , 9 7 , 1 1 4-1 8 , 1 1 9 ; and Mexico City, 9 1 , 144
NAFT A, 13 9-40 ; Nahua land dis- migration, 1 2 9 , 142-43 , 1 5 7
putes, 133-3 6 ; political parties, MIND Collection, 60-6 1 , 152-53
1 1 9-22 "Mobius Strip, The" (Amith ) , 1 29
Lockwood--Mathews Mansion Museum, Morrow, Dwight, 38-3 9
60 Museo Cuauhnahuac (Cuemavaca) , 6 0
Lorenzo, Alfonso, 2 7 , 153 Museum o f Modem Art (New York ) , 3 8
Lovers , The ( Felix J imenez) , 63-64 musical interests, 5 5 , 56, 84-85
Lover's Dream (Felix J imenez) , 49
NAFTA (North American Free Trade
Maiz, El (Urrutia) , 6 1-62 Agreement) , 13 9-40, 1 5 1 , 1 7 0n. 1 5
MarciaL See Camilo Ayala, Marcial Nahua cosmology, 28, 49, 98, 99
"Marcial Camilo Ayala" (Arias ) , 60 Nahua culture, 20, 27. See also Alto Bal--
markets, and families, 34-35. See also art sas Nahua
market Nahua land disputes, 133-3 6
Marks, Fahimie, 59, 64 nahuales (animal spirits ) , 29
marriage, 54, 55-5 6 , 82, 84, 134, Nahuatl language, 1 6 , 90, 1 2 7-29, 1 5 2 ,
1 67n. 1 4 1 60n. 8
Marshall, Alfred, 23 naive painting, 3 1 , 48, 90. See also Hait-
mask making, 1 49 ian naive painting
Mauricio Salazar, Abraham, 1 1 , 18, Nash, June C., 13
3 0-3 1 , 1 67n. 20 National Museum of the American
Mauricio Salazar, Roberto, 60, 84-86, Indian, 9, 1 5 1
8 7 , 1 1 6, 140; character of, 46-47; Native American art, 150-5 1
childhood of, 1 8 , 3 1 ; and dam protest, Negron, Bill, 1 9 , 42, 4 7 , 55
1 26 , 130, 1 3 1 ; family of, 86; influences New York exhibitions and galleries, 3 7 ,
on, 50; and land dispute, 1 3 6 , 138; 5 9 , 69
medical needs of, 5 1 , 1 5 6-5 7 ; and N icolas, Pablo, 1 43 , 1 69nn. 24-25
police, 3 5 ; and PRD, 1 20, 1 2 1 ; and North American Free Trade Agreement.
Rabkin, 1 1 , 45 , 53-54, 66; as rival to See NAFTA
Marcial, 49 Nueva Presencia (artist group) , 5 7
Mauricio Salazar brothers, 40; historias of,
30, 3 1 Oapan. See San Agustin Oapan
Maxela, 22, 3 2 , 1 43 , 1 44 Oaxaca, 78, 89
mayordomo (pueblo official ) , 1 1 0, 1 1 1 Obin, Philome, 64
Mercatus Center (George Mason Uni-- Oppenheimer, Franz, 2-3
versity) , 80 Organizacion Musical, 84-85
mestizo society, 33 Organization of American States, 60,
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum 128
(Chicago) , 1 03 , 1 2 7 , 13 0-3 1 , Orozco, Jose Clemente, 50
132 Other Path , The (de Soto ) , 3
188 I N DEX
Otomi people, 20, 106 Que Milagro l (gallery) , 99

outsider art, 64, 67, 69, 99. See also Hait- Quiroz, Lilia, 100
ian naive painting
Rabkin, Carolyn Mae Lassiter, 42, 43 ;
padrino (pueblo official) , 1 1 1 and Marcial, 44, 56, 106
Palacio Cortes (Cuernavaca) , 50, 60 Rabkin, Ed, 1 1 , 42-46, 53-55, 69; as cul-
Parasitism and Subversion (Andreski) , 2 tural entrepreneur, 7 0-7 1 ; financial
Paris, museums in, 153-54 burden of, 5 1 , 5 2 , 65, 68; and Juan
Partido Accion Nacional ( PAN ) , 1 20 Camilo, 53 , 66; and Marcial, 9, 42,
Partido de la Revolucion Democratica 43-45 , 5 1 , 54-5 5 , 5 6, 73, 96, 1 0 1 ; as
( PRD ) , 1 20-2 1 , 1 2 6 patron, 4 1 , 47; and Ramos Prida, 5 6 ,
Partido Revolucionario Institucional 5 7 , 93; and Roberto Mauricio, 53-54;
( PRI ) , 1 1 9-22, 1 2 5 , 1 7 0n. 1 5 and Rodman, 5 7-5 9 , 63 , 7 9 , 106; in
Passion play, 2 9 Santa Fe, 6 1 , 65-66
Pemex (oil company ) , 1 26 Rabkin, Lara, 46, 47, 5 6 , 106
Phyllis Kind Gallery (New York) , 69 Ramapo College (New Jersey) , 9 , 1 5 2 ,
Pippin, Horace, 5 7 153
police corruption, 3 5 , 1 64n. 40 Ramirez Miranda, Salomon, 1 43-44
political art works, 105 Ramos Prida, Ana Luisa, 43 , 5 2 , 5 6-5 7 ,
political disputes, 109. See also local gov- 60, 90; and Marcial, 93 , 94, 95, 1 0 1
ernment regional isolation, 15- 1 6
political party disputes, 1 1 9-22 religious heritage, 4 9 . See also Catholi-
Popular Artists in Tune with the World cism
(Rodman), 62 Rio Balsas, 49, 140, 145, 1 6 1n. 1 2 ; dam
population, 24 proposal for, 1 24-27 ; in historias , 2 7
Porter, Michael E., 2 Rivera, Diego , 5 0 , 6 0 , 90-9 1
portraiture, 2 7 , 50 road networks, 1 6 , 3 7 , 75
pottery production, 2 1 , 25 , 1 45-48; Rockefeller, Nelson, 38
ceramics painting, 30, 90, 1 46-4 7 ; Rockefeller Foundation, 132
mass--produced, 147, 1 4 8 Rodman, Carla, 106-7
PRD. See Partido d e l a Revolucion Rodman, Carole, 106, 107
Democratica ( PRD) Rodman, Selden, 49, 60, 68, 7 9 , 96, 153 ;
PRL See Partido Revolucionario Institu- death of, 1 0 7 ; on Felix Jimenez, 48; as
cional (PRI) publicist, 62-63 , 1 3 2 ; and Rabkin,
Price, Mary, 22, 1 3 2 5 7-5 9 , 63 , 106
prices for amates, 85, 87-88, 9 1 , 1 64n.
3 6 ; of Marcial, 3 3 , 5 1 , 59, 64 Sabia (crafts shop ) , 89
printmaking, 1 03 , 1 04, 148-49 Saldivar, Antonio, 3 1 , 1 6 7n. 20
public expenditures, 1 1 1 , 1 1 2. See also Salinas, Carlos, 1 25
cargo system salt trade, 24, 1 63n. 26
pueblo culture, 24. See also local govern- San Agustin Oapan, 1, 1 1- 1 2 , 2 1 -22,
ment; specific pueblo 3 1 ; and Ameyaltepec, 4, 1 6 2n. 1 8 ;
Puerto Escondido, 78, 79 creativity cluster in, 2; land disputes
Putnam, Robert D., 18 in, 133-3 9 ; ties to outside, 75-76
San Angel, 2 1
quality of life, 2. See also living standards San Juan Tetelcingo, 133
Index 189
San Miguel Allende, 88-9 2 topile (pueblo official ) , 1 1 6, 1 70n. 8

San Miguel Tecuiciapan, 1 24, 133-3 6 , tourism, 2 1 , 3 6-3 8, 3 9 , 7 9 , 88
157 trade: and NAFT A, 13 9-40, 1 5 1 , 1 7 0n.
San Pablito Pahuatlan, 20, 2 2 , 106 1 5 ; in salt, 24, 1 63n. 26. See also art
Santa Cruz fiesta, 49-50 market
Sante Fe (New Mexico ) gallery, 65-66 transportation, 4, 2 1 , 3 7 , 39, 1 4 7 ; rail ..
sellos (stamped copies) , 148-49 roads, 3 6 ; road networks, 16, 3 7 ,
Slosberg, Michael, 59 75
Smith, Adam, 3 1 Tullock, Gordon, 3
Smithsonian Institution, 8 , 9 , 1 00- 1 0 1 ,
1 03 , 1 5 1-5 2 University of New Mexico Press,
Social Mechanisms (Hedstrom & Swed .. 132
berg) , 7 Urrutia, Christina, 6 1-62
social networks, 1 8 , 1 22, 1 69n. 2 1 U.S. art market, 3 2-3 3 , 4 1 , 54; exhibits
social science mechanisms, 7 of Marcial's work, 59-60
Spanish colonial influence, 1 4- 1 5 , 20, U.S. buyers, 79, 80. See also foreign buy ..
99, 1 6 6n. 9 ; in Juan Camilo's art, 50, ers; specific individuals
80-8 1
Spanish language, 1 6 , 55, 144, 1 5 2 Walsh, Maria, 46, 52, 5 5 , 90; on Ramos
Spratling, William, 3 6 , 3 8 Prida, 56
standard o f living, 2, 7 4-7 6, 1 4 0 , 1 5 4 Walsh, Thomas, 5 2 , 90, 1 64n. 37
State , The (Oppenheimer) , 2-3 Watanabe Uchida, Miguel Valentine,
Stebich, Uta, 63 , 70 96, 102
Stromberg, Gobi, 154 wealth, 1 22. See also standard of living
surrealism, 50, 94. See also dream paint .. What the Sun Sees (Marcial) , 48, 63-64
ings White, Ralph, 70
Swedberg, Richard, 7 Wolfe Street Gallery, 59, 60
women, 144, 1 6 6-67n. 14; and marriage,
tax burden, 1 1 2, 1 1 4, 1 70n. 6 55-56; and pottery production, 2 1 ,
Taxco, 9 , 2 7 , 36-3 7 , 96-9 7 , 147 146-47
telephone, 75, 80 World Bank, 1 24, 1 2 6-2 7 , 1 7 1n. 22
televisions, 75-7 6, 8 1 Wuggetzer, Alberto, 94, 95
Tepecoacuilco, 3 6
T epotzlan, 85 Xalitla, 1 6, 22, 3 2 , 3 8 , 1 43 , 144-45,
terrorism, 1 2 7 1 6 2n. 19; Indian market in, 1 5 1-52
Thompson, Maurice and Linda, 54,
58-5 9 , 60, 152, 153 Zapatistas, 47, 1 2 1
Titles in the Series (continued)
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(Economics, Cognition, and Society) Tyler Cowen - Markets and Cultural Voices_ Liberty vs. Power in the Lives of Mexican Amate Painters (Economics, Cognition, and Society)-University of Michigan Press

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This series provides a forum for theoretical and empirical

investigations of social phenomena. It promotes works that

focus on the interactions among cognitive processes, indivi­

dual behavior, and social outcomes. It is especially open to

interdisciplinary books that are genuinely integrative.

Editor: Timur Kuran

Titles in the Series

Eirik G. Furubotn and Rudolf Richter. Institutions and Economic Theory:

MEXICAN AMATE PAINTERS

THE UNIVERS ITY OF MICHIGAN PRE S S

2008 2007 2006 2005 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

Library of Congress Cataloging .. in .. Publication Data

2 • Early Ye ars and the Quest for Markets 13

4 • The Lives Today 73

5 • How the Outside World Shapes Politics : Public Choice and

6 • Concluding and Summary Remarks 141

In terms of comments and assistance, my debts are many. Without

By the term liberty , I mean the positive ability of individuals to control

oped the theme of liberty versus power. Economist Gordon Tullock

Liberty is not just about wealth; it also concerns having a cultural

tially supportive of indigenous cultures. Critics frequently charge

Amate painting, like so many Mexican commercial enterprises, is

Consider, for instance, the issues surrounding foreign buyers, cultural

Marcial Camilo Ayala • Marcial was born in San Agustin Oapan, a

Though Marcial will claim to be shy, he has the personality of a nat;

Juan Camilo Ayala • Juan Camilo, older brother of Marcial, still

Juan prefers to stay at home in Oapan, though he sometimes travels

Inocencio Jimenez Chino, Felix Jimenez Chino, Roberto Mauricio

Roberto Mauricio, untitled, painted on board, approximately 25" x 31".

Felix Jimenez Chino, Walk at Night,

Marcial Camilo Ayala, Oliva

Felix Camilo Ayala, Flight

immiseration nor a slow process of trickle down. A comparison of the

Map of Maj or Places

The Camilo Ayala Family

How Did Amate Paper Come to Oapan?

The Camilo brothers were part of a broader spread of amate painting

Kerlow was a successful dealer and attracted a high quality of buyer

At the same time, the villages remained immersed in traditional cuI;

Amate in the Camilo Ayala Family

Marcial followed shortly thereafter. Both started in their early to mid;

Marcial immediately imagined how he could tell similar "stories"

feature of the Nahua cosmos was its animate character. Mountains ,

The Spread of Historia Painting in Oapan

Marcial's interest in painting more advanced amates spread quickly.

own signature styles. A quick examination of any quality amate work

art-arguably more than many other national elites-but their tastes

The growth in markets allowed Oapan to develop the tradition of the

Of course, visitors wanted souvenirs and mementos from their trips.

The Turning Point

In 1 9 7 2 , Marcial, on one of his amate sales trips, encountered Ed

ceramics. Rabkin then volunteered to provide Marcial with oil and

Rabkin never intended to be an art dealer, but suddenly he had

know him. He is a left;wing Zapatista, very fond of the Mexican Revo;

Splits and Fractures

Group members became increasingly frustrated with their situation.

His family and Rabkin's became increasingly close. Maria Walsh

Rabkin and Selden Rodman

Rabkin described Selden as "very impressed." Two years later, Rabkin

focus on the interactions among cognitive processes, indivi