Santo No. 1

Cady Wells began collecting Spanish Colonial religious art after meeting E. Boyd, a fellow artist who would become one of the foremost experts on the Santero tradition. Over roughly fifteen years, Wells would amass a collection of approximately 250 pieces and ultimately donated his collection to the Museum of New Mexico in 1951 with the condition that E. Boyd be hired as a curator for a newly formed Department of Spanish Colonial Art. Santo No. 1 was inspired by work from Wells's collection and likely depicts Christ Crucified. Wells focused on the head of Christ, an homage to the work of French art Georges Rouault, although his stylistic approach, with its patterns and compartments, is decidedly idiosyncratic.