SANTA ANA, CA.- Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has announced the presentation of Popol Vuh: Watercolors of Diego Rivera, an exhibition that features 17 original watercolors inspired by the sacred text of the Quiché Maya people.

The exhibition is on display at the Bowers Museum from December 12, 2015 through May 19, 2016 and is exclusive to the Bowers Museum. It is the first United States presentation of these 17 compelling watercolors on loan from the Museo Casa Diego Rivera in Diego Rivera’s hometown of Guanajuato, Mexico and made possible with the support of the State Institute of Culture of Guanajuato.

The Popol Vuh is arguably the most important ancient text in existence from the Pre-Hispanic world and is considered a sacred text. Popol Vuh is an epic tale recording the origins, traditions, legends and history of the Quiché-Maya people from the dawn of creation until contact with the Spanish. The survival of the Popol Vuh is extraordinary, especially when considering that nearly every ancient Mesoamerican document was destroyed by Spanish conquerors or missionaries. For some unknown reason the Popol Vuh was spared through translation into Spanish text by an 18th century priest.

The Popol Vuh: Watercolors of Diego Rivera at the Bowers Museum features 17 fascinating watercolors, inspired by Classic Maya imagery, which were created to illustrate pages from the first popular English translation of the Popol Vuh. Diego Rivera, one of the most recognized painters of the 20th century, became acquainted with writer John Weatherwax in 1931. Weatherwax, who is said to have read the Popol Vuh aloud to Rivera, asked Rivera to illustrate select passages of the manuscript as he read. Rivera completed 24 watercolors in all, selecting parts of the text most inclined to evoke imagery. The result was was a set of beautifully colored, highly stylized paintings with their root firmly in the Classic Mayan tradition.

Seventeen of Rivera’s 24 illustrations make up the Popol Vuh: Watercolors of Diego Rivera exhibit at the Bowers Museum, and are accompanied by excerpts of the Popol Vuh Popol Vuh text and select Mayan ceramic sculptures from the Bowers Museum’s permanent collection.