Opera singer

Dora De Larios, Opera singer, ca. 1960, stoneware with glaze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Forrest L. Merrill, 2021.98.1
Dora De Larios, Opera singer, ca. 1960, stoneware with glaze, 18 7815 788 58 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Forrest L. Merrill, 2021.98.1

Artwork Details

Title
Opera singer
Date
ca. 1960
Dimensions
18 7815 788 58 in.
Credit Line
Gift of Forrest L. Merrill
Mediums
Mediums Description
stoneware with glaze
Subjects
  • Performing arts — opera
Object Number
2021.98.1

Artwork Description

Through this opera singer, Dora de Larios exclaims that she, too, is a great artist. This combination of subject and style challenges boundaries between “high” art like opera and “low” art like folk art ceramics. 


De Larios’s lifelong inspiration from Mesoamerican ceramics began when she was a young girl and encountered an Aztec calendar at an archaeological museum in Mexico City. She committed her artistic practice to emulating ancient Mexican motifs and stories, even as her peers in Los Angeles shattered craft’s connection to the past to define themselves in their field.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Works by this artist (1 item)

Duane Hanson, Woman Eating, 1971, polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2005.22A-Z
Woman Eating
Date1971
polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories
Not on view

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Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Nathan Oliveira, Site with Blue and White, 1978, monotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Moses Lasky, 2004.32.14
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Date1978
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