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Ancient Mexico in United States Art and Visual Culture, 1933-1945

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Ancient Mexico in United States Art and Visual Culture, 1933-1945 ABSTRACT Title of Document: FORGING A NEW WORLD NATIONALISM: ANCIENT MEXICO IN UNITED STATES ART AND VISUAL CULTURE, 1933-1945 Breanne Robertson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Directed By: Associate Professor Renée Ater, Department of Art History and Archaeology Professor Sally M. Promey, Department of American Studies, Yale University, formerly Department of Art History and Archaeology, University of Maryland Between 1933 and 1945, Americans redefined their cultural identity within a hemispheric context and turned toward Mexican antiquity to invent a non-European national mythos. This reconfiguration of ancient Mexican history and culture coincided with changes in U.S. foreign policy regarding Latin American nations. In his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt launched the Good Neighbor Policy, hoping to build an international alliance with Latin American countries that would safeguard the Western hemisphere from the political and economic crises in Europe. As part of these efforts, the government celebrated Mesoamerican civilization as evidence of a great hemispheric heritage belonging also to United States citizens. These historical circumstances altered earlier American views of ancient Mexico as simultaneously a preindustrial paradise of noble savages and an uncivilized site of idolatry, revolution, and human sacrifice. My dissertation examines this official reinterpretation of American past and present reality under the Good Neighbor Policy. Specifically, I consider the portrayal of ancient Mexico in United States art as a symbol of pan-American identity in order to map the ideological contours of U.S. diplomacy and race relations. The chapters of the dissertation present a series of case studies, each devoted to a different facet of the international discourse of U.S.-led pan-Americanism as it was internally conceived and domestically disseminated. Specifically, I examine the works of four American artists: Lowell Houser, Donal Hord, Charles White, and Jean Charlot. This ethnically and regionally diverse group of artists, whose art production ranged from sculpture to mural art to children’s book illustrations, reveals the broad scope of the discursive apparatus restructuring North American perceptions of Latin America during this period. My analysis investigates the pictorial strategies of hemispheric identity formation; the domestic limitations of the Good Neighbor Policy as demonstrated in the clash of local and global politics; the agitation for equal recognition and full rights of citizenship among minority groups in the United States; and, finally, the international limitations of U.S.-led pan-Americanism as evidenced by persistent racism and U.S. cultural hegemony in hemispheric affairs. FORGING A NEW WORLD NATIONALISM: ANCIENT MEXICO IN UNITED STATES ART AND VISUAL CULTURE, 1933-1945 By Breanne Robertson Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Renée Ater, Advisor Professor Sally M. Promey, Co-Advisor Professor Franklin Kelly Assistant Professor Abigail McEwen Associate Professor Ana Patricia Rodríguez © Copyright by Breanne Robertson 2012 Disclaimer The dissertation document that follows has had referenced material removed in respect for the owner's copyright. A complete version of this document, which includes said referenced material, resides in the University of Maryland, College Park's library collection. ii Dedication To my husband, Ray. iii Acknowledgements The idea for this project began with an exhibition. In the summer before my first semester of graduate school, I attended the retrospective of American modernist Marsden Hartley at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. I immediately became intrigued by Hartley’s Mexican paintings, which conflated Christian mysticism and pre-Columbian mythology, and I returned to these paintings as a potential dissertation topic a few years later. By that time, I had developed a sustained interest in American artists’ imaginings of ancient Mesoamerican civilization, and I enlarged the scope of my research to include other American artists as well. I soon noticed a marked shift in the treatment of Mexican subject matter that coincided with interwar developments in U.S.-Mexico diplomatic relations. The focus of my dissertation shifted accordingly, moving from religion and primitivism to the politics of pan-Americanism. Although Hartley’s semi-abstract canvases no longer made sense for inclusion in my final project, these vibrant compositions remind me of the intellectual journey I have taken and of the individuals who have helped me along the way. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisors, Dr. Renée Ater and Dr. Sally M. Promey, whose mentorship and commitment to academic excellence inspired and motivated me throughout the writing process. Their wisdom, patience, and support were invaluable at every stage, and I owe the present sophistication of my analysis to their insightful comments and encouragement. I am also thankful to Dr. Franklin Kelley for generously giving his time and expertise to better my work. iv His careful visual analysis and vast knowledge of American art never cease to amaze, and I am glad to have received his thoughtful feedback during my defense. I wish to give special thanks to Dr. Abigail McEwen and Dr. Ana Patricia Rodríguez, who contributed their expertise in Latin American art and history to my committee. I am grateful for their scholarly perspective and constructive suggestions, which have enabled me to develop a fuller understanding of U.S.-Latin American relations. The present study represents the culmination of several years of archival research. It is an honor to thank the numerous librarians, archivists, and curators who assisted me in finding relevant primary source materials. Further, I want to express my sincere appreciation to these individuals for making my travel to their repositories both enjoyable and efficient. While I am humbled by the kindness of staff members at all of the following institutions, I am especially grateful to Dennis Wendell, Ames Historical Society; Russ Taylor and John Murphy, L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University; Beth Howse, John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library at Fisk University; Kathy Erickson, General Services Administration; Paul Manoguerra and Tricia Miller, Georgia Museum of Art; Donzella Maupin and Venessa Thaxton-Ward, Hampton University; Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Iowa State University; Bronwen Solyom, Jean Charlot Collection; Eugene Morris, National Archives; Nicholas V. Vega, San Diego History Center; James Grebl, San Diego Museum of Art Research Library; Ellen E. Jarosz, San Diego State University; Matt Sams, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and Ginalie Swaim and Marvin L. Bergman, State Historical Society of Iowa. I also wish to express special thanks to v John Charlot, son of artist Jean Charlot, for speaking with me about my project and for sharing memories and insights about his father. This dissertation would not have been possible without the assistance of various grants and fellowships, which enabled me to make research trips, attend conferences, and work full-time on the dissertation for important stretches of time. I am immensely grateful for the support I received from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Library, Cosmos Club Foundation, Children’s Literature Association, and the State Historical Society of Iowa. I am pleased to acknowledge the generosity of the University of Maryland as well. My academic progress was greatly enhanced with research and travel funds from the Department of Art History and Archaeology, the Latin American Studies Center, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Graduate School. I am grateful to many friends, family, and colleagues who encouraged me over the years. I especially wish to thank Megan Rook-Koepsel, Sarah Cantor, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, whose mutual love of art history and unflagging moral support has inspired me to overcome setbacks and to remain passionate about my work. My family has also been instrumental to the completion of this project, and I want to thank them for their love and encouragement. I am grateful to my parents, Keith and Donna Robertson, for instilling me with an appreciation for travel and learning; to my brother, Justin Robertson, his wife, Kara Weyand, my sister, Shannon Ford, and her husband, Peter Ford, for their understanding, good humor, and confidence in me; to my parents-in-law, Chin-Sung and Li-Young Chen, and my sister-in-law, Ann-Lee Chen, for accepting me and cheering my accomplishments. My greatest debt of vi gratitude belongs to my husband, Ray. From sandwich-maker to sounding board, he provided much-needed nourishment, emotional uplift, and intellectual endurance every step of the way. He has been a constant source of love, patience, support, and strength throughout this endeavor, and I could not have completed it without him. It is with heartfelt thanks that I dedicate this dissertation to him. vii Table of Contents Disclaimer ..................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................
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