This course investigates the development of Latin American art from the late 19th-century through the 1960s. Through the study of representative artists and movements, we will trace the radical social transformations of this period and the art that reflected, resisted, or intervened in these processes. Although we will adhere to a roughly chronological organization, a set of key themes and debates will likewise structure our investigation. Among them are: the formation of collective identities (and the intersections of race, class, and nation); the impact of social and political revolutions and counter-revolutions; the reception and reconstitution of European avant- garde art; national, regional, and universal definitions of artistic traditions; and the ideological debates between and among figurative and abstract painting. The Mexican muralist movement, various approaches to indigenismo, and the advent of post-WWII abstraction will serve as central case studies for exploring these debates. Other topics include the role of prints, avant-garde magazines, and photography; surrealism and the fantastic; various formulations of primitivism and futurism; social realism; and modernist architecture.

Course Requirements: 3 exams (60%), One visual analysis paper (15%), One Reading Response Paper (15%), Participation (10%)

Keywords: Latin America, Modern Art, Muralism