Arthur Lopez is one of the leading Santos carvers in New Mexico.  This piece is entitled, “El Milagro de San Juan Diego“.  It is a detailed carved piece with Juan Diego unveiling his cloak with the roses in winter, along with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.  St. Juan Diego was a 15th-century indigenous Native American from Mexico, who saw a Marian apparition in 1531, now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was canonized in 2002 as the Church’s first indigenous American saint.  Arthur has carved him with a realistic cloak and check out how he carved the tie of the cloak on his shoulder!  He has depicted him with cactus extending outward, with roses blooming on them!

Arthur said of this piece:

Christmas time is also the season of Guadalupe as it is on Dec 9 1531 that she first appeared to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac. Her Feast day is Dec 12. “Que la Virgen de Guadalupe siempre te cuide” (May the Virgin of Guadalupe always take care of you) For 500 years “Guadalupe,” has been a symbol of hope and promise and inclusion in a blending of cultures as the patron of the Americas. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a reminder of love and protection to every human being regardless of ethnicity or social status seeking a better life. She has never been more relevant than with the recent struggles of immigration today.

The process for Arthur’s work is bound in tradition.  After the piece is carved, is covered in gesso (a glue made from rabbit hide) which is allowed to dry and then sanded.  It is painted with both natural and watercolor pigments.  Natural colored pigments, such as brown, are derived from black walnut hulls.   These are the time involved and historic foundations for his work.  

We are pleased to present this amazing body of work from one of the leading Santos artists in the country.  Arthur’s artistic expression continues to break through the history of Traditional Spanish Colonial art in New Mexico. Each piece demonstrates his expressive ideas by utilizing and honoring traditional techniques to arrive at his uniquely contemporary one-of-a-kind creations. Consistently Arthur has pushed the boundaries of the New Mexico Santero tradition that has placed him a the forefront of his craft.

Arthur’s work is found in numerous museum and public collections, including Albuquerque Museum of Art & History,  Denver Art Museum,  Freedom Museum (911 Memorial at Ground Zero), Harwood Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art,  Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and the State of New Mexico Permanent Art Collection.  Most recently he received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2022!