Remolding Mexican Identity: The Wax Art of Francisco Vargas in 19th Century New Orleans

In December of 1915, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on the death of the patriarch of four generations of Mexican wax figure artists whose artworks demonstrated a century of change in the city of New Orleans. The family's artworks included religious sculptures, representations of indigenous and peasant populations of Mexico, and the merchant populations of the French Quarter. Francisco's artworks represented Louisiana's agriculture at two World's Fairs in New Orleans and Buffalo. Francisco received a contract from Mississippi Commissioner R. H. Henry to produce the 30-foot King Cotton for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. Though the family's success continued after Francisco's death, an examination into the family's business, artworks, travels, and personal connections during Francisco's lifetime provides a new avenue for exploring the relationship between New Orleans and Mexico in the nineteenth century

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year

2011

Author dc:creator

• Mangipano, John

Contributors dc:contributor

• Atkinson, Connie
• Mokhiber, James
• Mitchell, Mary N.

• Francisco Vargas
• Mexico
• New Orleans
• Wax Art
• World's Fair
• Modernity
• Immigration

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1327

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-2311