Artifacts to Art: Collecting Ancient America in Midcentury L.A.

$30.00 at The Getty Museum.

Andrew D. Turner, Mary E. Miller, and Khristaan D. Villela This fascinating book reveals the history of how pre-Hispanic artifacts were smuggled into the United States and reconceptualized as works of art.By the mid-twentieth century, ancient Mexican artifacts had undergone a striking transformation. Once dismissed as anthropological curiosities, sought after more for their ethnographic value than aesthetic merit, they had become prized artworks that were prominently displayed in major US museums, featured in…