Art and Architecture in Mexico

by James Oles

Overview

“A lucid—at times, even poetic—summary of five hundred years of Mexican art. The illustrated works of art are well-chosen and beautifully integrated into Oles’s text. Indeed, it feels as if his words emanate from the art itself.” –Donna Pierce, Denver Art Museum

This new interpretive history of Mexican art from the Spanish Conquest to the early decades of the twenty-first century is the most comprehensive introduction to the subject in fifty years. James Oles ranges widely across media and genres, offering new readings of painting, sculpture, architecture, prints, and photographs. He interprets major works by such famous artists as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but also discusses less familiar figures in history and landscape painting, muralism, and conceptual art.

The story of Mexican art is set in its rich historical context by the book’s treatment of political and social change. The author draws on recent scholarship to examine crucial issues of race, class, and gender, including the work of indigenous artists during the colonial period, and of women artists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Throughout, Oles shows how Mexican artists participated in local and international developments. He considers both native and foreign-born artists, from Baroque architects to kinetic sculptors, and highlights the important role played by Mexicans in the global art scene of the last five centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780500204061
Publisher:	Thames & Hudson
Publication date:	09/09/2013
Series:	World of Art
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

James Oles teaches art history at Wellesley College and is adjunct  curator of Latin American Art at the Davis Museum. His previous books include South of the Border: Mexico in the American Imagination 1914–47. He splits his time between Wellesley, MA and Mexico City.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Chapter 1 Conquest and Negotiation (1520-1600) 18

Chapter 2 Art for the New Cities (1550-1700) 54

Chapter 3 Baroque Splendor under the Bourbons (1700-1810) 96

Chapter 4 From Neoclassicism to Romanticism (1750-1850) 132

Chapter 5 National Identity: History, Landscape, Citizens (1840-80) 164

Chapter 6 From the Porfiriato to the Revolution (1880-1920) 198

Chapter 7 From Revolution to Renaissance (1920-34) 234

Chapter 8 Political Traumas and Personal Dreams (1934-46) 278

Chapter 9 Construction and Rebellion (1946-68) 312

Chapter 10 From the Olympics to Neo-Mexicanism (1968-94) 350

Chapter 11 Contemporary Issues: Art in Mexico since 1990 388

Timeline 410

Bibliographical Essay 411

Sources of Quotations 419

List of Illustrations 420

Acknowledgments 426

Index 427

Editorial Reviews

"One of the most important contemporary contributions to understanding Mexican art and architecture from the Spanish conquest to the present. Through key examples—some well know and canonical, others that are overlooked in traditional scholarship—it provides expression for . . . complexities. . . . Essential."

Choice

"James Oles’s welcome contribution to the estimable Thames & Hudson World of Art series presents in a single volume a substantial survey of art and architecture in Mexico."

Art Libraries Society of North America

"Oles proposes new readings of prints, photographs and more."

Museum Store Magazine

"A winning survey for any Mexican art collection."

The Midwest Book Review