Members of the Backal family
Digital Files: 24 monographs; 37 calendars; 29 paintings
A2016-052; A2016-070; A2018-021
1890-1945 (unknown)
Ricardo Backal's father and mother began collecting, studying and promoting Mexican art over 50 years ago when they lived and taught in Mexico City. Mr. Backal's father worked as an architect and businessman, his mother was a professor of history at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. They collected folk art, paintings, and artifacts in antique stores, from individual artists and in the large flea markets in Mexico City. Ricardo and Debbie Backal have continued that tradition by loaning South Texas Archives at Texas A&M University-Kingsville books, paintings, and calendars to digitize and upload to their web site for the world to enjoy these items of Mexican art. Ricardo Backal is an independent scholar, collector, and architect living in San Antonio with his family. One of the collections on loan to South Texas Archives is their Spanish Crypto-Judaic family lineage books from the early 1500s. The books' existence and journey to the South Texas Archives is rooted over 400 years ago in royal decrees, religious persecution, and hidden faith. In 1492, Spain's Alhambra Decree expelled Jews who did not convert to Christianity. Ordered by Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, the Spanish Inquisition enforced the edict while other parts of Europe later issued similar decrees. This religious persecution led to a movement called Crypto-Judaism. Crypto-Jews professed to be Christians, but secretly practiced their Jewish faith. In order to prove their Christianity, they created elaborate family lineage books demonstrating their Christian roots. Some of these books include colored, detailed fold-out family trees to help verify their religious affiliation. Spain played a large role in the colonization of the New World and with it came its religious ideals. The Holy Office of the Inquisition was established in New Spain in 1571, along with its first official Inquisitor Pedro Moya de Contreras, who set up the “Tribunal de la Fe.” Spanish Crypto-Jews, like their non-Judaic fellow colonists, colonized the New World. But the need for hiding one’s Jewish lineage remained of paramount importance until the Spanish Inquisition was abolished 1834 and state-sanctioned religious intolerance subsided. Eventually, these books found their way to the general public and in the markets of Mexico City where their historical and cultural value was recognized. These books tell of a time in history that was unforgiving to many people of different faiths. The books are also beautiful to look at, colorful and illustrated, written in Spanish. Two other collections are also on loan to South Texas Archives. One is a collection of Spanish and Mexican paintings of cultural and nationalistic pride. These painting were then turned into calendars to be given by store owners to their patrons during the Christmas season. The third collection is the calendars created from the images of the paintings. Ricardo and Debbie Backal have shared many of their art collections in South Texas. Their Silver Collection has been on display at the International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen, Texas. The Backal's Historical Mexican Retablos: the Art of Faith was on display at the University of Texas - Pan American in 2007. This exhibit presented authentic museum caliber retablos from Mexico created for devout believers. They were initially displayed on home altars to honor patron saints. They are small oil paintings on tin, zinc, wood or copper. They represent the traditional Catholic religious beliefs in the 17th, 18th, and 19th century Mexican culture. The Backals continue in their family tradition of sharing their art collections with the world.
There are twenty-four digital files of the Crypto-Judaism monographs, twenty-nine digital files of each painting and thirty-seven digital files of the Mexican calendars, all available on South Texas Archive's website from the generous loan of the Backals.
The materials are arranged in three series. Series I: Books Series II: Paintings Series III: Calendars
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Ricardo and Debbie Backal Mexican Art Collection, A2016-052.XXXX; A2016-070.XXXX; A2018-021.XXXX - South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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All three loans of the books, paintings and calendars to South Texas Archives were on behalf of Ricardo Backal
Daniel Thacker and Matt Tallant digitized and created records for the materials. Lori Atkins created the finding aid and Daniel Thacker created the EAD document.