{"id":5993,"date":"2026-09-21T09:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/?p=5993"},"modified":"2026-09-21T09:45:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:45:45","slug":"the-art-of-mcgoogan-two-paintings-by-two-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/2026\/09\/21\/the-art-of-mcgoogan-two-paintings-by-two-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of McGoogan: Two Paintings by\u202fTwo Brothers\u202f\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Note:\u202fThis occasional series will take a closer look at pieces within\u202f<\/em>McGoogan Library\u2019s\u202fspecial collections<\/em><\/a>,\u202fand will include\u202feverything from paintings to portraiture,\u202fmedical illustrations to 3-D\u202fobjects.\u202fThis first installment covers the paintings \u201cMama\u201d and \u201cEl Parto, Atitlan,\u201d by brothers Mariano Gonzalez Chavajay and Matias Gonzalez Chavajay, respectively.\u202f\u202f<\/em>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMama\u201d<\/strong>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\""Mama"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About the artist:\u202f<\/strong>Mariano Gonzalez Chavajay\u202f(1956- )\u202fwas born in Guatemala\u202fand belongs to the\u202fTz’utuhil\u202fMaya\u202fpeople.\u202fAmong the places his work is housed: the Smithsonian\u202fNational Museum\u202fof the American Indian.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you might see:\u202f<\/strong>A vivid description of the nursing ritual, \u201cMama\u201d\u202ffeatures an older-looking matriarch draped both in beautiful tunics and children. One nurses at her breast, while the other rests at her feet in a different show of dependence.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also at her feet, a robust \u2014almost to\u202fthe point of overflowing\u2014basket of apples, which\u202fperhaps provides\u202fsustenance for this nurturing task.\u202fA lone candle in the background lends the scene a reverent tone.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEl Parto, Atitlan\u201d\u202f<\/strong>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u201cEl<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About the artist:\u202f<\/strong>Matias Gonzalez Chavajay\u202f(1959-) shares a country and heritage with his older brother.\u202fThe brothers\u2019 family tree includes their uncle,\u202fpioneering\u202fTz\u2019utuhil\u202fpainter\u202fRafael Gonz\u00e1lez y Gonz\u00e1lez.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you might see:\u202f<\/strong>The true labor of childbirth is compellingly displayed as a\u202ftrio of women surround the mother-to-be, each playing their part in midwifing. Candles play a prominent visual role here too, as does water\u2014which is brought and heated to aid the transition into life.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A forlorn man (presumably the\u202fcoming child\u2019s father) sits off-center, existing somewhere on a sliding scale from patriarchal indifference to\u202ftrue concern.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How these\u202fpieces\u202fcame to McGoogan\u202fLibrary:\u202f<\/strong>Through the collection of Leon S.\u202fMcGoogan, MD,\u00a0the late obstetrician,\u202fgynecologist\u202fand instructor for whom the library is named. Dr. McGoogan\u00a0enjoyed two\u00a0tenures\u00a0as chair of the UNMC\u202fDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, first\u00a0from 1950-55 and again in 1961-62.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\u202fparticular works\u202f\u201chighlight\u202fthe cultural and ceremonial differences in motherhood while reinforcing the practical global commonality of pregnancy, postpartum, and mothering,\u201d\u202fSpecial Collections Curator Darby Kurtz said. They reinforce the\u202fcollection\u2019s\u2014and Dr. McGoogan\u2019s\u2014commitment to the medical humanities.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This collection also includes\u00a0Dr.\u00a0McGoogan\u2019s faculty papers and rare books. A dedicated advocate for the library which now bears his name,\u00a0Dr. McGoogan\u2019s collection of books on midwifery,\u202fobstetrics and gynecology have set the library apart, contributing to its reputation as one of the nation\u2019s preeminent institutions for rare books on these subjects.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to see these pieces:\u202f<\/strong>These paintings live in the\u202fReading Researcher Room on Level 8<\/a>; to visit\u2014or to learn more about Dr. McGoogan\u2019s collection\u2014email Special Collections and Archives at\u202fhistory@unmc.edu<\/a>.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note:\u202fThis occasional series will take a closer look at pieces within\u202fMcGoogan Library\u2019s\u202fspecial collections,\u202fand will include\u202feverything from paintings to portraiture,\u202fmedical illustrations to 3-D\u202fobjects.\u202fThis first installment covers the paintings \u201cMama\u201d and \u201cEl Parto, Atitlan,\u201d by brothers Mariano Gonzalez Chavajay and Matias Gonzalez Chavajay, respectively.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0 \u201cMama\u201d\u202f  About the artist:\u202fMariano Gonzalez Chavajay\u202f(1956- )\u202fwas born in Guatemala\u202fand belongs to the\u202fTz’utuhil\u202fMaya\u202fpeople.\u202fAmong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9,128,272,64],"class_list":["post-5993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-library","tag-history-of-medicine","tag-mcgoogan-library","tag-paintings","tag-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5993"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5997,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5993\/revisions\/5997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}