Was the Royal Academy of San Carlos, founded in 1785 by the King
of Spain, beneficial or detrimental to the development of a valid,
living art in Mexico? The answer lies in the archives of the
school, but nobody thought about constructing an aesthetic history
from them until Jean Charlot accidentally discovered their extent
and interest while searching for other material.
In this straightforward, documented account he presents not
merely opinions and criticism but evidence, including curricula and
contemporary drawings by students and teachers.
Since Pre-Conquest art there have been, it is usually assumed,
two periods in Mexican art: the Colonial and the Modern. Between
these peaks lies the dark Academy-dominated hiatus called
Neo-Classicism, an episode that this treatise makes the first
attempt to under-stand. The academic canons imported from Europe
during this period were undeniably wrong for the indigenous people,
and especially wrong at a time when a revolutionary Mexico was
struggling for its own identity. But instead of throwing out this
strange episode as foreign and imitative, it now becomes possible
to see it as a period of acculturation through which the Mexican
spirit emerged.
Aside from its interest as aesthetic history, this book makes an
important contribution to the social history of Mexico. Some
provocative ideas emerge: the interrelations between cultural and
political attitudes, the historical impact of events and
personalities on ideology. In the seesaw of political and financial
fortunes, the worst moments of confusion were often the most
pregnant artistically, with mexicanidad rising inevitably when
official guidance weakened. As social history this account
constitutes an interesting parallel to similar cultural experiences
in the United States and in other countries of the Americas.
Charlot presents this material without special pleading, but not
without appraisal. He writes: ..". in the periods when the Academy
was most strictly run along academic lines, it helped the young, by
contrast, to realize the meaning of freedom. When the school was
manned by men blind to the Mexican tradition, and sensitive only to
European values, their stubborn stand became a most healthy
invitation to artistic revolution."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!