Description
Book SynopsisExplores the formation of public and private collections of Spanish Colonial and modern Latin American art throughout the United States, and the impact of the ever-changing political landscape of Latin American countries.
Trade Review“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
Table of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
Foreword (Inge Reist)
Introduction: Acquisitive Passions: Observations on Collecting the Art of the Americas in the United States (Edward J. Sullivan)
1. Evolving Taxonomies at The Museum of Modern Art in the 1930s and ’40s and the Definitions of the “Latin American Collection” (Miriam Margarita Basilio)
2. Hot Styles and Cold War: Collecting Practices at MoMA and Other Museums in the Sixties (Delia Solomons)
3. The Philadelphia Story (Joseph Rishel)
4. Cargadores: Collecting Rivera, Mexican Modernism, and Bearing the Burdens of Historiography (Anna Indych-López)
5. An American Museum: Representing the Arts of Mexico at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ronda Kasl)
6. Building a Model of Diversity: Grace McCann Morley and Collecting Modern Latin American Art in San Francisco (Berit Potter)
7. Inverted Strategies: An Exhibition as Matrix for a Permanent Collection (Mari Carmen Ramírez)
8. Beyond Mexico: The Evolution of the Phoenix Art Museum’s Latin American Collection (Vanessa K. Davidson)
9. Roberta and Richard Huber’s Adventures in Collecting (Suzanne Stratton-Pruitt)
10. Expanding Paradigms: The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and the Changing Landscape of Latin American Art (Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro)
11. Collecting Latin American Art in the United States from New Spain to Today: A Life’s Story (Estrellita B. Brodsky)
Notes
References
List of Contributors
Index
