Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

by Jonathan Yorba

From portraits of family friends and famous individuals to the aesthetics ofeligious traditions from Puerto Rico to the American South-West, this guideelebrates Latin art, innovation and tradition. It... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823003213
• ISBN13: 9780823003211
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Latin American Modernism from Washington DC

This is a fine catalogue in general, but the description of the art of Carlos Alfonso creates a strange impression of this great artist's work. After reading the description you'd think that his paintings give off a sense angst and even powerful agitation. After seeing the great Carlos Alfonso show at the Freedom Tower in Miami during the Art Basel Miami Beach 2006, I can say that the effect is one of sublime beauty and fantastic imagination. That he uses images like daggers and other imaginary-occult symbols certainly does not mean anything about violence and it seems silly to suggest it does. Alfonso was simply a great artist, who happened to be Cuban, thus the images from Santeria and the like. I suspect what lies behind the misreading of his art as hugely angst-ridden is a crypto-political point about his status as an Cuban exile. All great artists are alike in taking the accidents of life and making them something more. Crypto-politics almost never have produced great art. Alfonso had a health problem and had suffered from political viscisssitudes of our time, but the angst this might have created are not the source of his art. The Freedom Tower show, as well as the Hirshhorn show in Washignton DC a few years ago make this very clear.

Contemporary Latinos Productions

This is a great source book of contemporary art productions which includes contemporary Latino artists. The selection of art represented is varied and the text gives readers sufficient background for understanding the works. Very colorful and clear photographs of the works are each full-page sized with a full page of text next to each to help capture the image and short biographies and artistic interpretations of the artists at the turn of each page.