Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910–1950
Link to exhibition preview.
“PHILADELPHIA — Politics or beauty? Take your choice. Conventional wisdom says they don’t mix. But “Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art argues, with reservations, otherwise. The show is the first all-out attempt in the United States in seven decades to grapple with the contradictions of early-20th-century Mexican political art. (The last one was also at this museum.) It has plenty of pumped muralist muscle — all those clenched fists — but offsets it with pictures as pretty as valentines.
Organized with the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, where it will travel in February, the show focuses on pioneers of the Mexican movement for artistic nationalism, following the timeline of revolutionary events. In 1911, the country’s longtime president, Porfirio Díaz, was chased out of office. He had kept peace for decades by pampering the elite, enriching the army, and treating the poor, which meant practically everyone else, like dirt. Finally, dirt said no, and everything changed, including art.”
Read the full review here.
Images from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website (www.philamuseum.org) below:
Pottery Vendors, 1934, Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Mexican, 1871-1946, Tempera and charcoal on newsprint, 57.5x42.2 cm. (Private collection)
Portrait of Martin Luis Guzman, 1915, Diego Rivera, Mexican, 1886-1957, Oil on canvas, 72.3x59.6 cm. (Fundacion Televisa Collection and Archive, © Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./VEGAP, Madrid, 2016.)
War, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican, 1896-1974, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SOMAAP, Mexico City.
Dance in Tehuantepec, 1928, Diego Rivera, Mexican, 1886-1957, Oil on canvas, 199x162 cm. (Collection of Eduardo F. Costantini, Buenos Aires, © Banco de Mexico Diego Rivero Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./VEGAP, Madrid, 2016.)
Classical Landscape with Horse, 1934, Emilio Amero, Mexican, 1901-1976, Watercolor on paper, 42.5x43 cm. (Private collection)
Troubled Waters, 1949, Jose Chavez Morado, Mexican, 1909-2002, Oil on canvas, 106x135cm (Acervo Patrimonial, Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico, Mexico City © VEGAP, Madrid, 2016).
Carnival at Huejotzingo, 1939, Jose Chavez Morado, Mexican, 1909-2002, Oil on canvas, 71x96.5 cm. (Phoenix Art Museum: Gift of Dr. & Mrs. Loyal Davis, © VEGAP, Madrid, 2016)
Barricade, 1931, Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexican, 1883-1949, Oil on canvas, 139.7x114.3 cm. (The Museum of Modern Art, New York: Given anonymously, 468.1937, © VEGAP, Madrid, 2016)
Self-Portrait on the Border Line between Mexico and the United States, 1932, Frida Kahlo, Mexican, 1907-1954, Oil on metal, 31.8x34.9 cm. (Collection of Maria and Manuel Reyero, New York, © Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./VEGAP, Madrid, 2016.)
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
jacobvanloon
blakekathryn
janainaart
origamiaround
stormborns
