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Modern Mexican painters
Definitive introduction to the art and artists of Mexico during great artistic movements of the twenties and thirties. In-depth discussion of major figures-Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros-as well as 40 other artists: Galvan, Cant
205 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 29, 2011
The book is a little old school art history. You have to read a little at a time, chew it, take another bite...
But this book is insufferable in its clear pandering to Diego Rivera.
I was annoyed with the first quote of the book: "In oder to be an artist, you must first be a man. - Diego Rivera". It first annoyed me because it was taken out of context; Rivera was talking about how the artist goes through 3 states to end up hermaphroditic. But then I considered the choice of taking this section out of context. The author made that choice, and it annoyed me as a woman, then also as a woman painter.
Giving it a chance was going to be tough. I am waiting for the rest of the world to move on from the greatness of Rivera. He was important as was da Vinci, but art doesn't stop there. I skipped pages of Rivera's greatness and magnanimity. Then in a chapter about Orozco I was stopped dead in my tracks:
I was enraged at the author at this point: "a representative of an American museum was surprised, while having lunch at my home, when I told him there were at least 15 interesting painters and half a dozen printmakers in Mexico City alone."
The arrogance of this kind of art historian, who had the cojones to live in Cuernavaca *and* say such a load of rot, sends me nearly into an enraged seizure. Mexican and Latin American Painting is as varied and mind bogglingly interesting as painting could be. My contrast, I find a lot of European painting to be pretty boring and self-satisfied. This book ignores anything happening in Mexico. Any scene. Well, that's not surprising since I'm fairly certain MacKinley Helm would not have had the wit to have gotten to the scene, or would have found it distasteful (as opposed to Rivera's lifestyle??).
To Summarize: Like the old style of art history? Art history through the lens of the Rich European Male perspective (lots of women wrote from that perspective also)? This book is right up your alley.
Want to learn about Mexican Painting history is all of it's interesting and colorful glory from a perspective that respects the painting as it's own thing? Not for you.
Oh and all of the plates are grayscale.
But this book is insufferable in its clear pandering to Diego Rivera.
I was annoyed with the first quote of the book: "In oder to be an artist, you must first be a man. - Diego Rivera". It first annoyed me because it was taken out of context; Rivera was talking about how the artist goes through 3 states to end up hermaphroditic. But then I considered the choice of taking this section out of context. The author made that choice, and it annoyed me as a woman, then also as a woman painter.
Giving it a chance was going to be tough. I am waiting for the rest of the world to move on from the greatness of Rivera. He was important as was da Vinci, but art doesn't stop there. I skipped pages of Rivera's greatness and magnanimity. Then in a chapter about Orozco I was stopped dead in my tracks:
I was enraged at the author at this point: "a representative of an American museum was surprised, while having lunch at my home, when I told him there were at least 15 interesting painters and half a dozen printmakers in Mexico City alone."
The arrogance of this kind of art historian, who had the cojones to live in Cuernavaca *and* say such a load of rot, sends me nearly into an enraged seizure. Mexican and Latin American Painting is as varied and mind bogglingly interesting as painting could be. My contrast, I find a lot of European painting to be pretty boring and self-satisfied. This book ignores anything happening in Mexico. Any scene. Well, that's not surprising since I'm fairly certain MacKinley Helm would not have had the wit to have gotten to the scene, or would have found it distasteful (as opposed to Rivera's lifestyle??).
To Summarize: Like the old style of art history? Art history through the lens of the Rich European Male perspective (lots of women wrote from that perspective also)? This book is right up your alley.
Want to learn about Mexican Painting history is all of it's interesting and colorful glory from a perspective that respects the painting as it's own thing? Not for you.
Oh and all of the plates are grayscale.
August 26, 2017
هنر مکزیک بر سنت‌هایی تکیه دارد که بیش از دوهزار سال قدمت دارند. هنرمندان مکزیکی در طول تاریخ معاصر همواره از این سنت‌ها به مثابه‌ی سرچشمه‌هایی جوشان الهام گرفته‌اند. بر خلاف این جریان اما جنبش هنری نوین مکزیک نتیجه‌ی پیشینه‌ای پیوسته از هنر رشد یافته‌ی بومی نیست بلکه به نوعی غلیان ناگهانی ِاحساس، ذائقه و آگاهی هنرمندان معاصر این کشور است.دراین میان، تاثیر انقلاب مکزیک بر هنر امریکای جنوبی چنان وسیع و قدرتمند بود که به زودی توانست مرزها را پشت سر بگذارد و به نوعی زیبایی‌شناسیِ بصری در هنر معاصر جهان تبدیل شود. انقلاب مکزیک مبارزه مسلحانه‌ای که در سال ۱۹۱۰ میلادی (۱۲۸۸ خورشیدی)، با قیام توسط «فرانسیسکو مادرو» علیه «پورفیریو دیاس»، که حاکم مطلق (با عنوان رئیس جمهور) و طولانی مدت مکزیک بود آغاز شد.این انقلاب از طرف جنبش‌های سوسیالیست، لیبرال، آنارشیست، پوپولیست و اگراریانیست دنبال می‌شد. با گذشت زمان، این انقلاب از یک شورش علیه نظام موجود به یک جنگ داخلی چند طرفه تغییر کرد. این درگیری‌های مسلحانه، اغلب به عنوان مهم‌ترین رویداد سیاسی در مکزیک و یکی از بزرگ‌ترین رویدادهای قرن بیستم میلادی (قرن سیزدهم خورشیدی) به شمار می‌رود.
نهضت هنر انقلابی مکزیک نیز تحت تاثیر همین انقلاب، با اعتصاب طولانی نیمه آموزشی و نیمه سیاسی در دانشکده‌ی هنرهای زیبای مکزیکوسیتی (سال ۱۹۱۱) آغاز شد. نهضتی که خواستار دگرگون شدن نظام زیبایی شناختی مبتنی بر طراحی از روی مدل در کارگاه، و اطاعت کورکورانه از فرمول‌های رسمی آکادمیک بود. دانشجویان اعتصابی می خواستند از هنرمندان، چهره‌ای «اجتماعی» بسازند و او را به« کارگری» چون دیگر کارگران دستی بدل سازند که به طور منظم روزی دست کم هشت ساعت برای تولید محصولی فرهنگی کار می‌کند!
اگرچه مبارزه‌ی دانشجویان بیش از یک دهه طول کشید اما در مسیر این مبارزات طولانی تلاش کردند سرزمین، اجتماع، مردم و فرهنگ خویش را در کنار شگردهای نقاشی بشناسند تا سرانجام بتوانند روایتی تصویری از انقلاب به‌صورت نقاشی‌هایی غول آسا بر دیوارها، ساختمان‌های عمومی، کارخانه‌ها و هر جایی که مکان تجمع مردم باشد به دست دهند.
نهضت هنر انقلابی مکزیک نیز تحت تاثیر همین انقلاب، با اعتصاب طولانی نیمه آموزشی و نیمه سیاسی در دانشکده‌ی هنرهای زیبای مکزیکوسیتی (سال ۱۹۱۱) آغاز شد. نهضتی که خواستار دگرگون شدن نظام زیبایی شناختی مبتنی بر طراحی از روی مدل در کارگاه، و اطاعت کورکورانه از فرمول‌های رسمی آکادمیک بود. دانشجویان اعتصابی می خواستند از هنرمندان، چهره‌ای «اجتماعی» بسازند و او را به« کارگری» چون دیگر کارگران دستی بدل سازند که به طور منظم روزی دست کم هشت ساعت برای تولید محصولی فرهنگی کار می‌کند!
اگرچه مبارزه‌ی دانشجویان بیش از یک دهه طول کشید اما در مسیر این مبارزات طولانی تلاش کردند سرزمین، اجتماع، مردم و فرهنگ خویش را در کنار شگردهای نقاشی بشناسند تا سرانجام بتوانند روایتی تصویری از انقلاب به‌صورت نقاشی‌هایی غول آسا بر دیوارها، ساختمان‌های عمومی، کارخانه‌ها و هر جایی که مکان تجمع مردم باشد به دست دهند.
September 4, 2018
It’s one thing to visit a country for a few days; it’s another to live there. The former allows you to brag on social media, while the latter gives you a much more fulfilling experience. Yet to enjoy the deeper phenomenon, you have to dedicate months or years to it. The same is true in appreciating art. Yes, you can visit Mexico and take selfies in front of works by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. But if you want to suck the marrow out of such pieces, then you have to do a bit of studying unless the skill of appreciating art comes naturally to you.
This book does a good job of helping readers appreciate Mexican art from the early twentieth century. For example, we learn that the reason Rivera’s works continue to be so popular is because he strove to make them understandable to the common man (40-41). On the other hand, one can visit Mexico and be moved by the works of Jose Clemente Orozco’s violent portrayals of the Mexican revolution, such as the rape scene in “La Violencia”. Such graphic portrayals cannot be found in Rivera’s work, as far as I know, because unlike the most popular of Mexican muralists, Orozco turns his back on society as he strives to paint his emotions into his works: “He paints entirely to please himself. This indifference to the spectator’s feelings has led to a relatively greater maturity in his mural designs” (66). The downside, of course, is that like other highbrow works of art, Orozco pieces are not as easily accessible to non-educated art critiques like Rivera’s.
The author, MacKinley Helm, also introduces readers to a host of other top-notch Mexican artists from that era, as well as various pieces and where they can be found. For example, lots of murals by Orozco can be found in Guadalajara. The author also doesn’t just limit himself to the muralists, but also talks about artists such as Rufino Tamayo, Manuel Lozano (whose works I really enjoy) and many others. You also might be pleased to discover some Mexican artists whose work greatly appeals to you: for example, I knew nothing of Jesus Guerrero Galvan or Antonio Ruiz before reading this book, but after seeing examples of their work (numbers 49 and 63, respectively) I'm really interested in seeing more of them since their paintings just ooze tranquility (for me anyways). You also have a piece by Francisco Goitia (Tata JesuChristo, number 64) that also is quite moving!
And for those like me, the author provides a chapter on what to look for when appreciating art.
So, if you want to better appreciate early twentieth-century Mexican art and know what pieces are worth seeing and where you can find them, check out this book. It just might help you plan your itinerary next time you visit a museum or Mexico itself. I know I want to make a trek up to Guadalajara next time I visit Mexico City.
This book does a good job of helping readers appreciate Mexican art from the early twentieth century. For example, we learn that the reason Rivera’s works continue to be so popular is because he strove to make them understandable to the common man (40-41). On the other hand, one can visit Mexico and be moved by the works of Jose Clemente Orozco’s violent portrayals of the Mexican revolution, such as the rape scene in “La Violencia”. Such graphic portrayals cannot be found in Rivera’s work, as far as I know, because unlike the most popular of Mexican muralists, Orozco turns his back on society as he strives to paint his emotions into his works: “He paints entirely to please himself. This indifference to the spectator’s feelings has led to a relatively greater maturity in his mural designs” (66). The downside, of course, is that like other highbrow works of art, Orozco pieces are not as easily accessible to non-educated art critiques like Rivera’s.
The author, MacKinley Helm, also introduces readers to a host of other top-notch Mexican artists from that era, as well as various pieces and where they can be found. For example, lots of murals by Orozco can be found in Guadalajara. The author also doesn’t just limit himself to the muralists, but also talks about artists such as Rufino Tamayo, Manuel Lozano (whose works I really enjoy) and many others. You also might be pleased to discover some Mexican artists whose work greatly appeals to you: for example, I knew nothing of Jesus Guerrero Galvan or Antonio Ruiz before reading this book, but after seeing examples of their work (numbers 49 and 63, respectively) I'm really interested in seeing more of them since their paintings just ooze tranquility (for me anyways). You also have a piece by Francisco Goitia (Tata JesuChristo, number 64) that also is quite moving!
And for those like me, the author provides a chapter on what to look for when appreciating art.
So, if you want to better appreciate early twentieth-century Mexican art and know what pieces are worth seeing and where you can find them, check out this book. It just might help you plan your itinerary next time you visit a museum or Mexico itself. I know I want to make a trek up to Guadalajara next time I visit Mexico City.
November 25, 2017
As a Mexican native I feel ashamed to be as ignorant as I am regarding modern Mexican painters. I would not speak of the present Mexican educational system; however, I had an abysmal introduction to art, specifically the art of my people. I also can attest to the general racist intention to relegate Latin American art as subservient to European art, inferior even. At the time, the Mexican government had a strong interest in unifying the country, thus the national mestizo pride and ideology was propelled and the native customs, dialects, and culture shunned, ridiculed, and supplanted.
There is much to learn from this book, and the author makes a point of highlighting the fact that the world ignores the existence of so many other Mexican artist, besides Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. With one hand, he writes a love letter to Mexico prizing the exuberant energy and vitality of its art and with the same hand he delivers a backhand blow denigrating its native origins and people.
Perhaps the reason this book is so cringeworthy is because the arrogant way in which the author exalts white supremacy as sound and objective, presumptuously assuming the reader agrees!
He then proceeds, in a condescending and prejudicial manner, to enlighten us about the social realities of the “little country” people, those miserable, cynical, indolent (lazy), and humorless Indians according to him. Take this jewel as an example: “He is an attractive young Indian, with many friends, but the pessimism of his race is deeply rooted in him.”
All the negative aspects aside, this book serves to illustrate modern Mexican painters' work. Surprisingly, not only the muralist. The black and white plates are a poor substitute for color photographs, but still useful, my main complain is the lack of artwork's size. I think this book can be a good introduction to modern Mexican painters for those interested in the topic. Read it slowly, ignore the racism, expand your research, and recommend me something better to read!
There is much to learn from this book, and the author makes a point of highlighting the fact that the world ignores the existence of so many other Mexican artist, besides Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. With one hand, he writes a love letter to Mexico prizing the exuberant energy and vitality of its art and with the same hand he delivers a backhand blow denigrating its native origins and people.
Perhaps the reason this book is so cringeworthy is because the arrogant way in which the author exalts white supremacy as sound and objective, presumptuously assuming the reader agrees!
He then proceeds, in a condescending and prejudicial manner, to enlighten us about the social realities of the “little country” people, those miserable, cynical, indolent (lazy), and humorless Indians according to him. Take this jewel as an example: “He is an attractive young Indian, with many friends, but the pessimism of his race is deeply rooted in him.”
All the negative aspects aside, this book serves to illustrate modern Mexican painters' work. Surprisingly, not only the muralist. The black and white plates are a poor substitute for color photographs, but still useful, my main complain is the lack of artwork's size. I think this book can be a good introduction to modern Mexican painters for those interested in the topic. Read it slowly, ignore the racism, expand your research, and recommend me something better to read!
April 12, 2015
This book makes me want to research all the artists long gone from an era when modern art was exploding in Mexico (circa 1940). I would give my eye teeth to find a time machine and go back to those days when Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, and others were painting on the streets for all to see.
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