Review by Choice Review
This elegant book was written as a companion to a 1992 exhibition. More than a standard catalog, it is an important contribution to the artistic literature on the field. In contrast Dawn Ades's monumental Art in Latin America: The Modern Era, 1820-1980 (CH, Jan'90), the focus is here restricted to four Latin American giants of 20th-century painting: Diego Rivera, Joaqu'in Torres-Garc'ia, Wilfredo Lam, and Roberto Matta. These artists were first affected by the prevailing modernist trends of the time, but succeeded in tinting their work with a distinct Latin American character. Torres-Garc'ia blended Neo-Plasticism and pre-Columbian symbolism; Lam combined post-Cubism and Surrealism with a reference to Afro-Caribbean traditions that celebrated Cuban ethnicity and local rituals; Matta created Surrealist landscapes reflecting his subjective impressions of Latin America; while Rivera championed a social-utopian, nationalist figurative art that recalled sources such as Renaissance art, Synthetic Cubism, indigenous Mexican traditions, and pre-Columbian cultures. Fletcher's excellent introduction provides the social background and artistic context of Latin America, as well as contemporary global perspectives. Separate chapters, also by Fletcher, dealing with the life and work of each of the artists, are complemented with critical essays by Olivier Debroise, Adolfo M. Maslach, Lowery S. Sims, and Octavio Paz. The 130 illustrations include fine quality color photographs of the 94 paintings in the exhibition. Recommended for college and above levels. H. Rodriguez-Camilloni; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
In the first half of this century, many artists of the Americas crossed the Atlantic to join the vanguard of modern art in Europe, returning later to translate their experiences into their own "cultural visions," forging "new syncretic modes of `multicultural' modernism decades before that term gained currency." In the first study of its kind, Fletcher and her contributors, including Octavio Paz, examine the paths of four such artist-pioneers: Diego Rivera of Mexico, Joaquin Torres-Garcia of Uruguay, Wilfredo Lam of Cuba, and Matta of Chile. Color reproductions of each artist's work are displayed in chronological order to highlight the evolution of their aesthetic and the adaptation of European styles, cubism in particular, to New World subjects. The bilingual text (Spanish-English) discusses the life, influences, and imagery of each artist, contrasting their approaches from Rivera's nationalism to Torres-Garcia's esoteric use of symbols and intrinsic internationalism. Lam, son of a Chinese father and a European-African mother, epitomized the conflictful yet exciting legacy of mixed ancestry in his mix of primitive and modern styles and universal themes, while Matta's surrealistic paintings express the realm of the psyche. An insightful and fresh perspective on four major modern painters. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1992)1560982055Donna Seaman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The catalogue to an exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, this dense volume chronicles the life and art of four Latin American artists--Diego Rivera, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Wifredo Lam and Roberto Matta--who ``worked during the first half of this century to integrate the visual or formalist aspects of European modernism with Latin American themes,'' writes Fletcher, curator at the Hirshhorn. The artists are profiled biographically by Fletcher in straightforward and informative prose. Following each biographical sketch is a critical--and appreciative--essay about the artist by Oliver Debroise, Adolfo Maslach, Lowery Sims or Octavio Paz, whose lovely poem about Matta also is included. Highlights are Debroise's discussion of Rivera's adoption of Bolshevist ideology and its effect on his artistic identity, and Paz's interpretation of Matta's attraction to Surrealism as ``a strong hot wind of rebellion blowing across this icy and cruel century''; Matta, Paz writes, ``remained faithful to that subversive and generous impulse.'' Each artist also is represented by a number of his color plates, and the entire text is in both English and Spanish. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In the first half of this century, painting was centered in Europe. The centripetal pull of the Spanish and French art worlds brought to Europe four Latin American painters--Diego Rivera, Wifredo Lam, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, and Matta--to participate in the birth of modernism. After varying lengths of time and for various reasons, all returned to the New World to create strongly divergent versions of the orthodox European schools of painting. Written to accompany an exhibition at the Smithsonian, this volume presents a short account of the life and career of each artist along with a critical essay by such luminaries as Octavio Paz and an excellent selection of color illustrations. The coverage of the less well-known Lam, Matta, and Torres-Garcia is particularly valuable. Recommended for art libraries.-- David McClelland, Temple Univ. Lib., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
