Copyright by Ana Patricia Núñez-Ruiz 2017
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Copyright by Ana Patricia Núñez-Ruiz 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Ana Patricia Núñez-Ruiz Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Mathias Goeritz: Minister of Change in Mexican Modern Art, 1949-1968 Committee: Héctor Domínguez Ruvalcaba, Supervisor Matthew Butler Andrea Giunta Roberto Tejada Mathias Goeritz: Minister of Change in Mexican Modern Art, 1949-1968 by Ana Patricia Núñez-Ruiz Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2017 Dedication To my beloved husband and biggest champion of my work, Juan Ruiz-Healy Acknowledgements During researching and writing this dissertation I relied heavily on the good advice and support of many. This dissertation started with the advice of Andrea Giunta and after she moved back to Buenos Aires, Héctor Domínguez Ruvalcaba courageously took over, for this I will be eternally grateful. I am honored that I attended the last class of Dr. Jacqueline Barnitz a mentor as well; the idea of the dissertation topic started in her class and then developed with Andrea Giunta’s several seminars, she was forever generous with her time and enthusiasm, guiding me through the most difficult aspects of writing and research. For that, she has my deepest appreciation. Professor Domínguez Ruvalcaba took me by the hand and pinpointed the importance of a more critical assessment of Goeritz’s work, the final dissertation was molded by his guidance and pertinent questions. I found I could rely on Roberto Tejada and Matthew Butler to challenge me to think differently and better about the issues that interested me most in this dissertation. Professor Roberto Tejada also gave valuable feedback in the early stages of this project. They both provided invaluable advice in the last few years. Professor Butler assisted me with the complex issues of religion history in Mexico, his advice was always pertinent. Dr. Ricardo Romo was one of my readers, giving me good advice and listening to my concerns. A special thanks to Graduate Program Coordinator Carla Silva-Muhammad who helped go through the several administrative hurdles. v At a very special interjection Dr. Norma Cantu gave me confidence about the relevance of my dissertation and provided the impetus to see this project through during those inevitable moments of doubt and insecurity. I considered Dr. Cantu, Dr. Debra Pena and Dr. Ricardo Romo my academic guardian angels. I would not be a doctor without their critical help and advice. Quite a few colleagues, librarians, and archivists helped me in my investigations concerning the work of Mathias Goeritz. My thanks go to the libraries at the University of Texas. At the Benson Latin American Collection, the staff aided me throughout my research. The Fine Arts Library was a welcoming space at the beginning of this work. I wish to express my thanks to Ana Maria Rodriguez who guided me through the Fondo Mathias Goeritz archives at the CENIDIAP offices in Mexico City. The Instituto Cultural Cabanas could not have been more helpful and welcoming. I spent several days there going through the extensive Mathias Goeritz archive. Alejandra Contreras and the rest of the staff felt me feel welcome and provided me with all the help that I requested. I owe a great deal to my friends—many of whom I met through the UT Art History Department—for encouraging me and consistently giving me good advice. Thank you, Rachel Mohl, Tatiana Reinoza, Alexis Salas, Luis Vargas-Santiago, and Sebastian Vidal. Special thanks also go to my good friend Cina Forgason for having patiently listened to me and for offering a great deal of laughter, sympathy, and relief. Alana Coates and Casie Lomeli kept my art gallery running when I needed to be totally immersed in this work, they have my deepest gratitude. vi Mathias Goeritz: Minister of Change in Mexican Modern Art, 1949-1968 Ana Patricia Núñez-Ruiz, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Héctor Domínguez Ruvalcaba In 1949, artist Mathias Goeritz (1915-1990) relocated to México from Germany, by way of Spain, with new aesthetic ideas, intellectual capital, and an extraordinary outgoing personality. Four years later Goeritz inaugurated his Museo Experimental: El eco, a space which presented “…an art form unknown in México: a modern architecture that motivates feelings or emotions.” Goeritz created a hybrid work, an architecture/sculptural space, as a counterpoint to the pragmatism of functionalist architecture, prevailing at the time. The inauguration in México City of the Museo Experimental: El Eco, in 1953, revived old controversies between doctrinaire and liberal artists. A block of party-line artists, led by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), attacked the German émigré artist Mathias Goeritz as a hedonist and called El eco a sinful place. Siqueiros was the most active spokesperson against art that was outside the parameters of the Mexican school of painting, known as Muralism. Why was Mathias Goeritz’s practice so criticized and opposed by the Mexican art establishment? Was it Abstract art that muralists deemed a superficial practice against the national problems? Was it his spiritual and emotional claims about art and architecture? Was it his role as a visual arts teacher? In this dissertation, I seek to answer these questions through an analysis of spirituality in his art and architectural practice, as well as his writings. I also argue that it is through the monumentality of Goeritz’s sculptural work that his abstract aesthetic confronts, front and center, the artistic Social Realism dialogue of the era. This study concentrates on the period from Goeritz arrival in Mexico in 1949 and concludes in 1968, coinciding with the Mexico City Summer Olympic games. For this dissertation, spirituality is the exploratory thread. Goeritz’s aesthetic principle is based on the conviction that art, beyond what it represents, fulfills a spiritual function. Goeritz’s writing about the importance of believing in a higher calling through art creation is unique because it articulates what’s behind his art practice. An approximation of what spirituality meant to Goeritz is done by reading and reflecting on his artistic creations, writings in magazines, and manifestos. vii Table of Contents List of Illustrations ................................................................................................. xi Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................1 Spiritualism in art ............................................................................................5 Internationalism ..............................................................................................8 Abstract art and Spiritualism in art ...............................................................13 México: Revolution, Muralism, and Architecture ........................................17 BIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................22 Scholarship ....................................................................................................23 From Spain to Guadalajara ...........................................................................27 Guadalajara, 1949-1953 ................................................................................30 Visual Education ...........................................................................................32 México City ..................................................................................................38 The Origins of the Cultural Debate: 1925 to 1940s ......................................39 Mathias Goeritz’s Work through theoretical concepts .................................43 Structure of the Dissertation .........................................................................46 Chapter II: Museo Experimental: el eco ................................................................52 Emotional Architecture Manifesto ................................................................53 A Mexican Gesamtkunstwerk .......................................................................72 Readings of Museo Experimental: el eco (1953) ..........................................78 Artistic Debate ..............................................................................................85 German Cueto (México City, 1883 – 1975) .................................................93 viii Carlos Mérida (Guatemala, 1891 – México, DF, 1985) ...............................94 Conclusion ....................................................................................................95 Chapter III. Art Interventions in Catholic Spaces and Mensaje Series ..................97 Historical Religion Background .................................................................100 The Spiritual Function of Art ......................................................................105 San Lorenzo Diácono y Mártir Parish (1954) .............................................106 Chapel of the convent of the Capuchin sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Tlalpan (1953-1960) ..........................................................................110 Catedral Metropolitana (1960-65) ..............................................................113 Cuernavaca Cathedral (1961) .....................................................................118