This edited volume’s chief aim is to bring together, in an English-language source, the principal histories and narratives of some of the most significant academies and national schools of art in South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. The book highlights not only issues shared by Latin American academies of art but also those that differentiate them from their European counterparts. Authors examine issues including statutes, the influence of workshops and guilds, the importance of patronage, discourses of race and ethnicity in visual pedagogy, and European models versus the quest for national schools. It also offers first-time English translations of many foundational documents from several significant academies and schools. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, Latin American and Hispanic studies, and modern visual cultures.

Kelly Donahue-Wallace surveys the art and architecture created in the Spanish Viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru, New Granada, and La Plata from the time of the conquest to the independence era. Emphasizing the viceregal capitals and their social, economic, religious, and political contexts, the author offers a chronological review of the major objects and monuments of the colonial era. In order to present fundamental differences between the early and later colonial periods, works are offered chronologically and separated by medium - painting, urban planning, religious architecture, and secular art - so the aspects of production, purpose, and response associated with each work are given full attention. Primary documents, including wills, diaries, and guild records are placed throughout the text to provide a deeper appreciation of the contexts in which the objects were made.

This is an authoritative companion that is global in scope, recognizing the presence of African Diaspora artists across the world. It is a bold and broad reframing of this neglected branch of art history, challenging dominant presumptions about the field. Diaspora pertains to the global scattering or dispersal of, in this instance, African peoples, as well as their patterns of movement from the mid twentieth century onwards. Chapters in this book emphasize the importance of cross-fertilization, interconnectedness, and intersectionality in the framing of African Diaspora art history. The book stresses the complexities of artists born within, or living and working within, the African continent, alongside the complexities of Africa-born artists who have migrated to other parts of the world. The group of international contributors emphasizes and accentuates the interplay between, for example, Caribbean art and African Diaspora art, or Latin American art and African Diaspora art, or Black British art and African Diaspora art. The book will be of interest to scholars and students working in art history, the various branches of African studies, African American studies, African Diaspora studies, Caribbean studies, and Latin American studies.

"This anthology of more than 165 seminal writings by influential twentieth- and twenty-first century artists and critics who explore and challenge complex definitions of what it means to be 'Latin American' or 'Latino' is designed to be an indispensable tool for the study of Latin American and Latino art"--

This authoritative and beautiful book presents the first continuous narrative history of Latin American art from the years of the Independence movements in the 1820s up to the present day. Exploring both the indigenous roots and the colonial and post-colonial experiences of the various countries, the book investigates fascinating though little-known aspects of nineteenth and twentieth-century art and also provides a context for the contemporary art of the continent.

"Caspicara was the most renowned sculptor of the eighteenth-century Andean world. Yet many works that are attributed to this Indigenous artist cannot be firmly documented as he is nearly absent in traditional archival records. Susan Webster seeks to analyze not only the visual imagery and material culture of his many works, but she also seeks to lay the foundation for understanding how scholars can revive the life and records of artists and other historical figures--many of whom were Indigenous in this period--with different methodologies. By cultivating artistic theory, popular religious devotion, and specific styles of sculpture, Webster's examination of the labor and workshop practices of this period contextualize the extensive commercial networks that existed within Quito and emanated beyond it. Webster explores the reason why authors constructed an almost completely fictional life story and canon for this artist that continued for two centuries, how this story fueled the agendas and goals of these authors in melding the colonial past with a newly independent country that could measure itself against western European culture, and as a potent story for tourists. She then considers the ways in which Caspicara's work was at the center of debates of sculpture versus painting in Quito. These debates and their development in the city also add context to notions of authorship, and how it was documented (or not). By exploring the professional world where he worked, Webster's analysis of Indigenous sculptors and their family networks of labor and apprenticeship in the arts allow us to understand the changing workforce and materials for sculptures. This analysis also reveals what day-to-day life may have been for Caspicara, and how this routine informed the artistic choices available to him. Archival materials indirectly offer glimpses into how patrons regarded Caspicara and his work, and how the work of others later embellished or altered his original vision. Throughout the chapters, visuality, materials, and reception challenge the typical obsession of art historians, museum curators, and auction houses in their hunger to attribute authorship in ways that increase the value, both for prestige and monetary reasons, and in ways that end up obscuring authorship and intent"--

A unique, multidisciplinary encyclopedia covering the impacts that French and American politics, foreign policy, and culture have had on shaping each country's identity. From 17th-century fur traders in Canada to 21st-century peacekeepers in Haiti, from France's decisive role in the Revolutionary War leading to the creation of the United States to recent disagreements over Iraq, France and the Americas charts the history of the inextricable links between France and the nations of the Americas. This comprehensive survey features an incisive introduction and a chronology of key events, spanning 400 years of France's transatlantic relations. Students of many disciplines, as well as the lay reader, will appreciate this comprehensive survey, which traces the common themes of both French policy, language, and influence throughout the Americas and the wide-ranging transatlantic influences on contemporary France.