.jpg?w=1)
By the turn of the 20th century the Latin American artistic milieu had embraced European forms of expression such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Abstraction and Futurism. Like the European currents, it responded to the urban and industrial changes taking place throughout the continent. Art became a vehicle of expression depicting everyday life in the new social environment, borrowing from local and foreign elements of painting. Artists keenly observed their immediate surroundings and rendered them in a naturalistic style that borrowed elements from the various pictorial languages in vogue. Like their European counterparts, Latin American artists were interested in making local culture accessible and intelligible to a broader public.
In the recent book titled Twentieth Century Art of Latin America, Professor Jaqueline Barnitz has provided the reader with a time line that maps the major currents developed on the continent since the late 1800s. In it, she mentions the modernismo as a period that embraced Impressionism and plein-air painting, highlighting the work by Armando Reverón. Reverón was certainly among the most eccentric and extraordinary of plein-air artists. Rejoicing in the solitude, exuberance and brilliant light of his surroundings which in turn left an indellible mark in his painting. Other figures such as Pedro Figari from Uruguay gave way to their interest in local costumes, imprinting their work with colorful renderings of public gatherings such as dances, weddings and other meetings. Also in the first half of the century Pettoruti introduced in Argentina a fresh approach towards the composition of a painting by adhering to abstract constructions of form and color to render volume and light. La Vallambrosa (1916) although executed during his European period, already reveals the strict linearity that will later characterize Pettoruti's work.
Surrealism left a strong imprint in the arts of Latin America beginning with the migration of European intellectuals to New York and Mexico in the late 30s. After moving, artists such as Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Matta, and Wifredo Lam began embracing local culture into the Surrealist visual discourse. The movement was embraced by many followers who employed these elements in the construction of their own paintings. One must never forget the importance of the Mexican muralists and its followers in the development of Latin American figurative art. Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Juan O'Gorman among others forged a new independent movement that exalted simplified images of Mexican culture that soon became icons of freedom. Children at play or at work, native women, rugged images of grand landscapes were among the depictions that have become emblematic of this period.
THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
Alfredo Ramos Martínez (1872-1946)
Camelias blancas
Details
Alfredo Ramos Martínez (1872-1946)
Camelias blancas
signed 'Ramos Martínez' lower right
oil on canvas
31½ x 27½in. (80 x 69.9cm.)
Painted ca. 1930
Camelias blancas
signed 'Ramos Martínez' lower right
oil on canvas
31½ x 27½in. (80 x 69.9cm.)
Painted ca. 1930
Provenance
Dalzell-Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Acquired from the above by the present owner