Avant-garde Networks

While I was at the Palace of Fine Arts last Friday, there was another special art exhibit that was being held.  It was entitled "Redes de Vanguardia" (Avant-garde Networks).  Since the show was in its final days, I took it in as well as the exhibit on Emiliano Zapata which I described in my previous post.

This exhibit focused on the 1920s when an influential magazine called "Amauta" was published in Lima, Peru.  The publication showcased the work of many Latin American artists, stressed the cultural unity of the region, and created a means of communication between artists from different parts of Latin America.  

I had never heard of most of these artists.  Although their work might have been considered rather avant-garde at the time, they were generally very accessible for modern viewers.

Here are a few of the pieces of artwork in the exhibit...

This portrait of José Carlos Mariátegui, the publisher of "Amauta" was painted by the Argentinian painter Emilio Pettoruti.

This painting, also by Pettoruti, is called "The Blind Flautist".  Pettoruti's cubist paintings scandalized the art world of Buenos Aires in the 1920s.

"The Recruit" by Peruvian painter José Sabogal

Rosendo Salazar was a Mexican artist whose work was strongly influenced by Communist ideology.  This painting is called ¨Religion is the Opiate of the People¨.

One Mexican artist in the show with whom I am familiar was José Clemente Orozco.

This eerie painting is called "The White House".

This wooden sculpture called "Skyscraper Man" was done by 

Argentinian sculptor Agustín Riganelli.

An important movement during that era, especially in Peru and Mexico, was Indigenism.  Artists, even though many of them were middle-class whites, sought to portray the true identity of their nations by depicting the indigenous peoples of their countries.

"Peasant Family", a wooden sculpture by the Mexican artist, Mardonio Magana

"Home" by the Peruvian painter José Alfonso Sánchez Urteaga

"Vendor from Ayacucho" by Peruvian painter Julia Codesido

"Indigenous Market", also by Julia Codesido