Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World

by Ilona Katzew (Editor)

Contested Visions offers a comparative view of the two principal viceroyalties of Spanish Mexico and Peru. Spanning developments from the 15th to the 19th century, this ambitious book looks at the many ways and contexts in which indigenous peoples were represented in art of the early modern period—by colonial artists, European artists, and themselves. More than two hundred works of art, including paintings, sculptures, illustrated books, maps, codices, manuscripts, and other materials such as textiles, keros, and feather works, are reproduced in full-color illustrations, demonstrating the rich variety of these artistic approaches.  A collection of essays by an international team of distinguished scholars in the field uncovers the different meanings and purposes behind these depictions of native populations of the Americas. These experts explore the role of the visual arts in negotiating a sense of place in late pre-Columbian and colonial Latin America. They address a range of important topics, such as the construct of the Indian as a good Christian; how Amerindians drew on their pre-Columbian past to stake out a place within the Spanish body politic; their participation in festive rites; and their role as artists. Lavishly illustrated, this ambitious book provides a compelling and original framework by which to understand the intersection of vision and power in the Spanish colonial world.

Distributed for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Exhibition Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(11/06/11-01/29/12)

Genres: Art History

319 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2011

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is lavishly illustrated and gives a wonderful overview on topics of contested cultural visions indigenous and spanish population groups in colonial Mexico and Peru. It covers a range of fascinating themes such as pre-colonial art, heraldry, theater, painting and the images the different groups were forming and influencing - of themselves and "the others".
what I found a little bit wanting was a coherence n time. Some of the authors are giving examples which cover various centuries, something wich is, to my opinion, very difficlt as the cultural and social landscape of colonial America was constantly changing. Every example belongs to a specific background and is difficult to compare with one from another century.