THE U.S. STATE, the PRIVATE SECTOR and MODERN ART in SOUTH AMERICA 1940-1943 By
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THE U.S. STATE, THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND MODERN ART IN SOUTH AMERICA 1940-1943 by Olga Ulloa-Herrera A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cultural Studies Committee: ___________________________________________ Director ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Program Director ___________________________________________ Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: _____________________________________ Spring Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA The U.S. State, the Private Sector and Modern Art in South America 1940-1943 A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Olga Ulloa-Herrera Master of Arts Louisiana State University, 1989 Director: Michele Greet, Associate Professor Cultural Studies Spring Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2014 Olga Ulloa-Herrera All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This is dedicated to Carlos Herrera, Carlos A. Herrera, Roberto J. Herrera, and Max Herrera with love and thanks for making life such an exhilarating adventure; and to María de los Angeles Torres with gratitude and appreciation. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my committee chair Dr. Michele Greet and to my committee members Dr. Paul Smith and Dr. Ellen Wiley Todd whose help, support, and encouragement made this project possible. I have greatly benefited from their guidance as a student and as a researcher. I also would like to acknowledge Dr. Roger Lancaster, director of the Cultural Studies Program at George Mason University and Michelle Carr for their assistance throughout the years. It would not have been possible to write this dissertation without the help, kindness and support of people around me, to only some of whom it is possible to mention here. Thanks to my peers and now colleagues for their friendship, help, comments, especially Rachel Delgado, Randa Kayyali, Pawin Malaiwong, Pia Møller, Katy Razzano, Tara Sheoran, Cecilia “Lia” Uy-Tioco, Victoria Watts, Fan Yang, and Nuh Yilmaz. Much gratitude goes to Ludy Grandas for her unfailing moral support, advice, intellectual generosity and friendship. Special thanks to my professors Amal Amireh, the late Peter Brunette, Dina Copelman, Jean- Paul Dumont, and Alison Landsberg. Along the way I have received the support from various colleagues. I am most grateful to Alejandro Anreus, Gilbert Cardenas, Melissa Carrillo, Eduardo Díaz, María Gaztambide, Jon Goldman, Tracy Grimm, Melissa Kroning, Jose Limón, Andrés Navia, Adriana Ospina, Mari Carmen Ramírez, Will Rochin, Victor Sorell, Ranald Woodaman, and Tomas Ybarra-Frausto. My most sincere thanks to Maria de los Angeles Torres who has made many things possible including the completion of this project and to my cheering colleagues Luz Acosta and Cristina Correa. As an archival project, I am indebted to the staff of the Rockefeller Archive Center in particular Amy Fitch, the staff of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, the staff of the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center, the staff at the OAS Columbus Memorial Library and Stella Villagrán, the staff of the Museum of Modern Art Archive, the staff of the National Archives at College Park and Adriana Ospina at the OAS Art Museum of the Americas Archives. I would like to thank my family for their endless love and support. I want to note the late Samuel D. Eaton for making so many things possible for my family and me iv and for introducing me to the “Western Hemisphere Idea.” Above all I thank my husband Carlos and my sons Carlos and Roberto. Words cannot express how grateful I am for your love, support, inspiration and encouragement at every step of the way. And to Max who structured my writing days and made sure (for his very own selfish reasons) that I took breaks and exercise. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... viii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. ix Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 The Rebuilding of a U.S. Modern Industrial State and the Developing of a U.S. Modern Art, 1933-1939 ................................................................................................................ 37 Nineteen Thirty-Three: A New Modern Industrial Capitalist U.S. State...................... 38 Nineteen Thirty-Three: A Modern U.S. Art.................................................................. 44 Nineteen Thirty-Three: The U.S. State and Modern Art .............................................. 50 Nineteen Thirty-Three: The Global Stage and Modern Art.......................................... 55 Art and the State: Democracy ....................................................................................... 58 A New State Narrative: Modern Art, Democracy, Museums and American Industry . 78 Towards a Definition of a Modern U.S. Art in 1939 .................................................... 89 Modern Art as a Strategy and Tool of National Defense: The Office for Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations between the American Republics and the Office of the Coordinator OF Inter-American Affairs, 1940-1943............................... 99 The OCCCRBAR Art Section and Modern Art in South America................................ 165 Commercial and Cultural Networks: South American Modern Art in the United States and the Field of Latin American Art ................................................................. 264 The Art of Defense, The Defense of Art: Lincoln Kirstein and The Art Acquisition Trip to South America, 1942................................................................................................. 324 Modern Art: Cultural Flows and Networks................................................................. 380 APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 406 APPENDIX B................................................................................................................... 407 APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................... 417 APPENDIX D................................................................................................................... 419 APPENDIX E................................................................................................................... 426 APPENDIX F ................................................................................................................... 430 vi APPENDIX G................................................................................................................... 433 APPENDIX H................................................................................................................... 436 References...................................................................................................................... 438 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Civil Works Administration......................................................................................... CWA Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft............................................................ AEG Federal Emergency Relief Administration.............................................................. FERA Foreign Direct Investment............................................................................................ FDI Franklin Delano Roosevelt ............................................................................................FDR International Business Machines Corporation...............................................................IBM Multinational Corporations.........................................................................................MNCs The Museum of Modern Art......................................................................................MoMA National Archives and Records Administration ................................................... NARA Office of Inter-American Affairs ...............................................................................OIAA Office of Strategic Services ........................................................................................... OSS Office for Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations between the American Republics.........................................................................................................OCCCRBAR Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs ................................................ CI-AA Office of War Information............................................................................................OWI Organization of American States...................................................................................OAS Pan American-Grace Company Airlines ................................................................Panagra Pan American Union......................................................................................................PAU