Meadows Museum to host colonial South American art exhibition

The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University will host the world premiere of ‘Spectacles of Power and Faith: Colonial South American Art from the Thoma Foundation’ from August 23, 2026, to January 24, 2027.

The exhibition features 63 paintings created between 1600 and 1850, drawn from the Thoma Foundation’s Art of the Spanish Americas collection. The works originate from regions that now comprise Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

These artworks, which include large devotional canvases, portraits, and paintings on copper, illustrate the political influence of the Spanish Empire and the central role of the Catholic Church. The collection also highlights the creative fusion of Indigenous American, European, and African artistic traditions in South American capitals during the colonial period.