Las Tres Marías

Judith F. Baca, Las Tres Marías, 1976, colored pencil on paper mounted on panel with upholstery backing and mirror, overall: 68 1450 142 14 in. (173.4127.65.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by William T. Evans, 1998.162A-C, © 1976, Judith F. Baca

Artwork Details

Title
Las Tres Marías
Date
1976
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 68 1450 142 14 in. (173.4127.65.7 cm.)
Copyright
© 1976, Judith F. Baca
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by William T. Evans
Mediums Description
colored pencil on paper mounted on panel with upholstery backing and mirror
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait female — unidentified — full length
  • Portrait female — unidentified — Maria
Object Number
1998.162A-C

Artwork Description

Las Tres Marías recalls a dressing mirror, something used to examine one's appearance and perhaps try on new identities through dress and posture. Facing it, you see yourself flanked by two archetypes of urban Chicana counterculture: on the left, a contemporary chola of the 1970s, when this work was made, and on the right, a pachuca of the 1940s or 1950s.

Judith Baca created Las Tres Marías for an exhibition of Chicana artists at the Woman's Building, a predominantly white, feminist cultural space in Los Angeles. The androgynously dressed chola portrays a member of the Tiny Locas, one of the youth gangs with whom Baca worked on public murals. The cigarette-smoking pachuca was based on a photograph of Baca herself, donning the persona of one of the tough girls she both admired and feared growing up in South Central Los Angeles.

Las Tres Marías
invites the questions: Who are you in relation to these figures? Do you identify with them, fear them, desire them?

Works by this artist (3 items)

Arakawa, Tomb of Chance I, 1974-1980, color lithograph with screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Glen D. Nelson, M.D., 1998.57.4, © 1980, Vermillion Editions Limited, Inc. and Shusaku Arakawa; Minneapolis, MN
Tomb of Chance I
Artist
Date1974-1980
color lithograph with screenprint on paper
Not on view
Arakawa, Still Life (A Line Is a Crack), 1967, pencil and watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Fendrick, 1979.132.1
Still Life (A Line Is a Crack)
Artist
Date1967
pencil and watercolor on paper
Not on view
Diagram of an X‑Ray
Artist
Date1969
screenprint on mylar
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Jane Sauer, Concurrence, 1985, waxed linen thread and acrylic paint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eleanor T. and Samuel J. Rosenfeld, 2002.8.12
Concurrence
Date1985
waxed linen thread and acrylic paint
Not on view
Leon Niehues, Double Basket, #90, 1994, white oak and waxed linen thread, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.47
Double Basket, #90
Date1994
white oak and waxed linen thread
Not on view
Susan K. Butts, Roadside Long Grass Coiled Basket, 1995, grass and waxed linen thread, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.8
Roadside Long Grass Coiled Basket
Date1995
grass and waxed linen thread
Not on view
Renie Breskin Adams, Fear, Laughter and the Unknown, 1978, cotton and linen embroidery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Council of American Embroiderers on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 1996.40, ©1978, Renie Breskin Adams
Fear, Laughter and the Unknown
Date1978
cotton and linen embroidery
Not on view