Latin American Painting

I

Introduction

Latin American Painting, painting produced after the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese colonists in South America, Central America, and Mexico. The blend of European and indigenous (native) American cultures that characterizes Latin America today began to develop in the late 15th century. The Latin American artistic tradition was founded upon ancient, highly developed pre-Columbian civilizations, most notably those of the Aztec and Maya in Mexico and the Inca in Peru (see Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture).

The Native American artistic traditions that European colonists encountered dated back centuries. Native painting traditions included manuscript illuminations; brilliantly colored, large-scale murals that decorated temples and illustrated historical events and ceremonies; and works of art in exotic media such as iridescent feathers. The strength of these traditions, along with the patronage of indigenous rulers and the numerical superiority of native peoples, ensured that colonial painting—at least initially—did not reflect European models alone but rather represented a mixture of European and indigenous artistic values. However, after about 1600, as the continued arrival of new settlers expanded the European presence, artistic styles increasingly reflected European models, especially in the urban centers.

The overall structure of colonial art history is remarkably similar throughout Latin America, despite the enormous geographic area and the diverse traditions it encompasses. Most regions experienced similar stages from early colonial art to modern art, although the timetable varied greatly with location; some areas became colonized too late to experience the full sequence of stages. In addition Brazil, because it formed part of the vast Portuguese empire that extended to Africa and the Indian subcontinent, departed from the Hispanic pattern in many respects. Because the Portuguese imported large numbers of Africans to supplement native labor in Brazil, Brazilian culture became a blend of the cultures of three continents: Africa, South America, and Europe. Uniting all Latin American art from about 1580 was a tendency to revive the late Renaissance style of Mannerism, largely because it was the dominant style in Europe when European traditions became established in the Americas. From about 1630 on, the baroque style was dominant, although elements of Mannerism remained until the early 19th century.

II

Early Colonial Period

The early colonial period, which lasted until about 1580, saw a mixing of European and indigenous traditions. In Hispanic South America the Spanish term mestizo is generally applied to this mixture of artistic styles as well as to people of mixed European and Native American ancestry; in Mexico, this phenomenon is referred to as the Indochristian style.

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Some European settlements developed in what were already established administrative and artistic centers. Cuzco, an Inca city in southern Peru, and the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán, which became Mexico City, retained their prominence while new cities were also constructed (see Aztec Empire). The colonists brought with them the Roman Catholic religion, and the clergy set about converting the native population to Christianity. Many members of the clergy provided education for the native people as well, including training for native artists.

Because of the clergy’s active role, Christian and Native American artistic traditions coexisted in the art of this early period. For instance, a traditional native art form known as plumería, or feather mosaics, was adapted for the depiction of Christian subjects. Illuminated manuscripts called codices ranged in style from purely indigenous to almost completely European. A similar mixture of influences can be seen in the large-scale wall decorations of this period, such as those painted in the late 1500s for the church of San Agustín at Acolmán near Mexico City. In the cloister of the church, oversized images of enthroned saints and scenes of the suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ grace the upper walls, while indigenous designs are painted below.

III

European Dominance

From about 1580 to 1650 European styles became dominant in Latin America, especially in the cities, where European power was concentrated. The native population was drastically reduced after the arrival of Europeans as a result of exposure to European diseases (to which Native Americans had no resistance), the loss of their own medical systems, and the exploitation of native labor. Continued European immigration and an increasing European economic advantage further weakened native cultures. By 1557 there were enough immigrant artists in Mexico City to found a guild. By 1600 European artistic traditions clearly dominated large-scale commissions at the centers of power in Mexico, Peru, and to a lesser extent, New Granada (now Ecuador and Colombia). These commissions were primarily for religious paintings intended for churches. In Mexico the Indochristian style became much less important in official church art, but it continued to influence folk art forms.

After 1580 artists of diverse European origins brought Spanish, Italian, and Flemish styles to Latin America. The Flemish element was particularly strong in Mexico and the Italian in Peru. These diverse European influences shared, among other things, the dramatic style known as Mannerism, which was characterized by exaggerated postures, discordant colors, and a shallow depiction of space that concentrated the action directly in front of the viewer. The next artistic generation, active from about 1610 to 1650, reformed that style in the direction of a quieter yet still spiritually charged realism.

IV

Baroque Period

The period from 1630 to 1730 saw baroque painting established in Latin America, closely following European models at first but later incorporating local artistic traditions as well. One particularly important aspect of baroque art in Latin America was tenebrism, a style that employs sharp contrasts of light and dark to add drama to scenes. European tenebrists who wielded a strong influence in Latin America were Italian painter Caravaggio, generally considered the originator of the style, and one of his Spanish followers, Francisco de Zurbarán, who painted austere, powerful images of saints, often in prayer. Zurbarán exported numerous paintings of religious subjects to both Mexico and South America. Along with Caravaggio, he had a lasting influence on Latin American art, especially in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.

From about 1680 to 1715, Mexican artists Juan Correa and Cristóbal de Villalpando developed a style that blended the realism and emotional drama of baroque compositions with elements of indigenous folk art, including a naive drawing style and the use of local people as models. Creoles—people of European descent who were born in the colonies—were becoming increasingly important as art patrons. They took pride in both their ethnic heritage and the culture of their new homeland, and sought paintings that reflected this pride.

A similar mixture of native and baroque European styles developed in Cuzco, where indigenous and mestizo artists had founded their own guild by 1688. Paintings from Cuzco, which often use gold leaf applied as the background for an entire painting, express an enchanting combination of naiveté and dramatic baroque composition. Images include exotic tropical birds, devotional images of the Virgin Mary, and depictions of archangels as Flemish musketeers. In both Mexico and South America, large-scale paintings for public buildings began to depict contemporary events. For example, The Procession of Corpus Christi (late 1600s, Museo de Arte Religioso, Cuzco), by an unidentified painter, meticulously records a religious procession and combines a naive, dreamlike quality with a luxurious sense of detail inspired by European baroque paintings.

Toward the end of the 17th century, an alternative to the style of Correa and Villalpando developed in Mexico in the works of the brothers Nicolás and Juan Rodríguez Juárez, and one of their followers, José de Ibarra. Their gentle, pious works were influenced by a wide range of late baroque art in Europe, including French painting and the works of Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Murillo’s combination of classical forms and soft, fluid brush strokes anticipated rococo art, and these influences set the tone for much of the art in 18th-century Mexico. A similar aesthetic eventually emerged in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.

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