Elizabeth Hill Boone (born September 6, 1948) is an American

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

ethnohistorian Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may ...

and academic, specializing in the study of

Latin American art Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions. The art has roots in the many different Indigenous peoples of the Americas, i ...

and in particular the early colonial and

pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the Visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Americas, visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North America, North, Central America, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European con ...

, iconography and pictorial codices associated with the

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

and other

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

n cultures in the central Mexican region. Her extensive published research covers investigations into the nature of

Aztec writing The Aztec or Nahuatl script is a pre-Columbian writing system that combines ideographic writing with Nahuatl specific phonetic logograms and syllabic signs which was used in central Mexico by the Nahua people in the Epiclassic and Post-classic ...

, the symbolism and structure of

Aztec art The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

and iconography and the interpretation of

and

Aztec codices Aztec codices ( , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. Most of their content is pictorial in nature and they come from ...

. Boone has been a professor of art history at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

since 1994–95, holding the Martha and Donald Robertson Chair in Latin American Art. She is also a research associate at Tulane's Middle American Research Institute (MARI).''Curriculum Vitae'' (Boone 2006) From 2006 Boone took a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

from lecturing and research at Tulane, to accept a position to pursue independent research as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA), an appointment lasting through 2008. Boone had previously been a Paul Mellon Senior Fellow at CASVA, in 1993–94.

Academic career

Elizabeth Hill Boone commenced her undergraduate studies in

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institut ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

, obtaining a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1970. She then studied

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

in 1971–72, and completed her postgraduate degrees at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, obtaining an MA in 1974 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in pre-Columbian art history, which was awarded in 1977. After receiving her PhD, Boone secured a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...

position at

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

studies at the

research institution A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

she would be associated with for the next fifteen years, the

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Rober ...

located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Initially as associate

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

(1980–83) and then as Director of Pre-Columbian Studies and Curator of the Pre-Columbian Collection (1983–95), Boone oversaw and held responsibility for Dumbarton Oaks' research and scholarship programs,

symposia ''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898. Species it contains six species in Venezuela and Colombia: *'' Symposia bifurca'' Roth, 1967 – Venezuel ...

and colloquia, scheduled publications and the curatorship of the institution's libraries and collection of pre-Columbian artworks. From 2006 onwards Boone has retained a position as one of the six-member Board of Senior Fellows in pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks. In 1995 Boone relocated to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

to become professor of art history at Tulane University, where she teaches courses on Mesoamerican, Aztec and colonial-era art history, general art interpretation and theory, and continues to publish research papers and books in the field. In 1990 Boone was awarded the Orden del Águila Azteca (Order of the Aztec Eagle),

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's highest decoration awarded to non-citizens. During 2010 Boone served as president of the

American Society for Ethnohistory American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. Boone is corresponding fellow of the

Academia Mexicana de la Historia The Academia Mexicana de la Historia (''Mexican Academy of History'', also known by the acronym AMH), is a national academy in Mexico, which promotes history in Mexico. History While Antonio López de Santa Anna issued mandates to establish a Me ...

Published works

Boone's publications include: ;authored books— * * * * ;contributed chapters— *

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Faculty page
at the Newcomb Art Dept, Tulane University {{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, Elizabeth Hill American Mesoamericanists Women Mesoamericanists Scholars of the Aztecs Mixtec scholars American art historians Latin Americanists Tulane University faculty College of William & Mary alumni University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni 1948 births Living people Historians of Mesoamerican art 20th-century Mesoamericanists 21st-century Mesoamericanists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American women art historians 20th-century American women writers