known for his analysis of the pre-Columbian art of Mesoamerica, particularly that of the Olmec culture, and his theory of Mexican cultural diffusion to the north, particularly to the Mississippian Native American Indian cultures. His analysis of iconography presented a strong case that the Olmec predated the Classic Era years before this was confirmed by archaeology. In his thesis on a final cultural battle between Olmecs and Maya he was encouraged by his friend, the Austrian Surrealist and ethnological philosopher Wolfgang Paalen, who even went so far as to describe the conflict as one of ancient matriarchal culture with new patriarchal orientations in Maya culture with its dominant adoration of the male sun-god Kukulkan. Both Paalen and Covarrubias published their ideas in Paalen's magazine DYN. Covarrubias interest in anthropology went beyond the arts and beyond the Americas—Covarrubias lived in and wrote a thorough ethnography of the "Island of Bali". He shared his appreciation of foreign cultures with the world through his drawings, paintings, writings, and caricatures. Bibliography The Prince of Wales and Other Famous Americans, Miguel Covarrubias, 1925 The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes (Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias) 1926 An Anthology of the Blues, W. C. Handy (Illustrated Plates by Covarrubias) 1927 Negro Drawings, Miguel Covarrubias, 1927 Coe, Michael D. "Covarrubias, Miguel." In Davíd Carrasco (ed).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. : Oxford University Press, 2001. Frankie & Johnny, John Huston (Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias) 1930 Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston (Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias) 1935 Typee, Herman Melville (Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias), Limited Editions, 1935 Island of Bali, Miguel Covarrubias, 1937 Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe (Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias) 1938 Mexico South, 1946 All Men Are Brothers, translated by Pearl S. Buck and illustrated by Miguel Covarrubias, Heritage Press, 1948. The Eagle, the Jaguar, and the Serpent - Indian Art of the Americas; North America: Alaska, Canada, the United States 1954 Mezcala, Ancient Mexican Sculpture, with William Spratling & André Emmerich, 1956 Indian Art of Mexico and Central America, 1957 Jazz Age: As Seen Through the Eyes of Ralph Barton, Miguel Covarrubias & John Held, Jr, introduction by Richard Merkin and written by Ralph Barton, Miguel Covarrubias, John Held Jr., 1968 A Modern Miscellany: Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei's Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938, by Paul Bevan (Leiden: Brill, 2016) - especially chapters 3–4. References Further reading External links Caricaturista: travelling exhibition on Miguel