The Americas Revealed
Collecting Colonial and Modern Latin American Art in the United States
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Pennsylvania State University Press
Published:4th May '18
Should be back in stock very soon
In The Americas Revealed, distinguished art historian and curator Edward J. Sullivan brings together a vibrant group of essays that explore the formation, in the United States, of public and private collections of art from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Americas.
The contributors to this volume trace the major milestones and emerging approaches to collecting and presenting Spanish Colonial and modern Latin American art by museums, galleries, private collections, and corporations from the late nineteenth to the twenty-first century. In chronicling the roles played by determined collectors from New York to San Francisco, the essays examine a range of subjects from MoMA’s mid-twentieth-century acquisition strategies to the growing taste on the West Coast for the work of Diego Rivera. They consider the impact of various political shifts on art collecting, from reactions against the “American exceptionalism” of the Monroe Doctrine to the aesthetic biases of government-sponsored art academies in Mexico, Rio de Janeiro, and Havana. The final three chapters focus on living collectors such as Roberta and Richard Huber, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, and Estrellita B. Brodsky.
A thorough and definitive account of the changing course of private and public collections and their important connection to underlying political and cultural relations between the United States and Latin American countries, this volume gives a rare glimpse into the practice of collecting from the collectors’ own point of view.
In addition to the editor, contributors to this volume are Miriam Margarita Basilio, Estrellita B. Brodsky, Vanessa K. Davidson, Anna Indych-López, Ronda Kasl, Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, Berit Potter, Mari Carmen Ramírez, Joseph Rishel, Delia Solomons, and Suzanne Stratton-Pruitt.
“Together, [these] essays are persuasive in arguing that acquiring Latin American art in North America is a complex cultural endeavor profoundly shaped by ever-changing, fluctuating government agendas and political ideologies. Highly recommended.”
—L. Estevez Choice
“Edward Sullivan has long been at the forefront in championing Latin American art and its history in the United States. He is, therefore, the perfect person to edit a book on collecting Latin American art in this country. This is an entirely new, exciting, and useful contribution to a field that will no doubt welcome it with open arms.”
—Lynn Zelevansky, Henry J. Heinz II Director, Carnegie Museum of Art
“Latin American art cannot be understood only from archives and national collections in Latin American countries; the institutional and private collections developed in the United States are fundamental. This book proves that with extraordinary excellence.”
—Andrea Giunta, author of Avant-Garde, Internationalism, and Politics: Argentine Art in the Sixties
“Edward Sullivan presents this topic with the updated perspective and intellectual enthusiasm that it needs to succeed in the newly configured relations between the United States and the rest of the Americas. How and why such collecting began in earnest and the cultural and political forces that sustained it are the topics of these deftly argued essays. The large and unwieldy concept of ‘the Americas’ is truly and convincingly ‘revealed’ through this sophisticated anthology. Original and engrossing.”
—Leonard Folgarait, author of Seeing Mexico Photographed: The Work of Horne, Casasola, Modotti and Álvarez Bravo
“In addition to its focus on the fascinating history of the collecting of Latin American art in the United States, this volume provides an illuminating study of its reception in American museums and private collections. Critical and insightful essays by art historians, curators, and collectors highlight key episodes in this engaging subject and provide essential background for today’s rapidly growing interest in the art of the region.”
—Jay A. Levenson, director, International Program at The Museum of Modern Art
“The Americas Revealed provides a rich overview of the history of collecting Latin American art from the viceregal period to the present in the United States. The eleven chapters provide thought-provoking studies on a number of key institutions and individuals and their motives for collecting this material—personal, political, and economic. What emerges is a complex picture of an equally complex region. Despite numerous political contingencies and shifts in taste, as this volume eloquently shows, collecting and interpreting the art of Latin America has a long history in the United State that continues to reverberate today.”
—Ilona Katzew, Curator and Department Head of Latin American Art, LACMA
“A wonderful starting point for the history and trends in Latin American art collecting in the United States.”
—Laura Graveline ARLIS/NA Reviews
“Profusely and beautifully illustrated, and the bibliography serves as an updated reference, helping the reader to engage deeply with the topics addressed. It is undeniable that this book will become a great contribution for the classroom and an obligatory scholarly reference.”
—Dafne Cruz Porchini Panorama
“An impressive group of essays that for the first time frames a wider history of collecting Latin American art in the United States. It is an immensely useful scholarly volume.”
—Oscar E. Vázquez CAA.Reviews
ISBN: 9780271079523
Dimensions: 254mm x 203mm x 22mm
Weight: 1179g
224 pages