Other Modernities: Latin American Art, Spring 2020 ARH 341N / LAS 327 Tuesday & Thursday 11:00–12:30, DFA 2.204 Instructor: Professor Adele Nelson Email: [email protected] Office: DFA 2.508 Office hours: Wednesday, 1:00–4:00pm, or by appointment. Course description: This course examines the various currents of modern art that developed in Latin America from 1900 to 1945, with particular emphasis placed on the artists and art movements of South America and Mexico. Discussions will focus on understanding the distinct social, political, and historical contexts of artistic production in various Latin American centers and how artists conceived of their work in relationship to local and international debates about modernity, modernism, the avant-garde, nationalism, identity, and colonialism. We will take advantage of the University’s rich collections of Latin American art, including those of the Benson Latin American Collection and Blanton Museum of Art, as well as the special exhibition The Avant-Garde Networks of Amauta: Argentina, Mexico, and Peru in the 1920s. Some questions we will consider: What strategies did visual artists develop to assert their modernity from/in a region their contemporaries often considered a cultural backward? How did artists represent racial difference and emerging national identities in their work? How did art challenge, examine, and/or relate to the epochal societal and political changes underfoot in the period we will study, including the aftermath of the abolition of slavery in the mid- and late nineteenth century, the Mexican Revolution and World War I in the first decade of the twentieth century, World War II, and the urban transformation and industrialization of the region into the middle of the twentieth century? Global Cultures flag: This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present. Class structure: We meet two days a week, Tuesday & Thursday. Please be on time, as late arrivals, and early departures, are disruptive. This course combines lectures with discussion, and attendance is essential. Everything we will study and analyze in class will not be covered in the readings. You are expected to be an active participant in the class: asking questions, answering questions, and engaging with each other as well as with the readings and works of art. Slide lists with key terms will be distributed in each class and PDFs with the images you are responsible for learning will be posted on Canvas within a couple days of the lecture. Learning objectives: Students who successfully complete this course will: 1. Gain knowledge of modern art of Latin America in terms of style, form, and historical context, including regional and transnational exchange; 1 2. Refine their interpretative skills in looking at modern art; 3. Develop fluency and confidence in writing about and verbally discussing art; 4. Identify and become conversant with a variety of art historical methodologies; 5. Further develop the ability to assess and discuss critically a variety of texts, including primary and secondary sources. 6. Acquire or develop the skills to write a research-based paper, including finding, analyzing, and evaluating primary and secondary sources; formulating an argument; and employing Chicago Manual of Style documentation formatting. Required texts: Jacqueline Barnitz and Patrick Frank. Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America. Revised & expanded edition. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015. (Fine Arts Library reserve & available at University Co-op) Additional required readings are available on Canvas. Office hours: I am eager to get to know you individually, help you succeed in the course, and discuss professional opportunities during and after your undergraduate degree (in & outside of the fields of Art History and Latin American Studies). Please come see me. Writing and studying support: A significant portion of your grade depends on your ability to present your ideas clearly and persuasively through writing. I suggest you take full advantage of the University Writing Center (UWC), which is located in the Learning Commons, PCL 2.330 (512-471-6222, uwc.utexas.edu). The UWC offers free, individualized help by appointment or on a drop-in basis. The Sanger Learning Center (JEL A332, 512-471-3614, utexas.edu/ugs/slc/) provides study skills, time-management, and note-taking courses. Reference & writing guidance texts: Sylvan Barnet. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2015. (Fine Arts Library reserve) The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. (electronic access via library catalog; 16th ed reference desk at Perry-Castañeda Library) Andrea A. Lunsford. Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference. 4th ed. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. (Fine Arts Library reserve) Marjorie Munsterberg, Writing About Art. Available at: writingaboutart.org Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith. Modern Latin America. 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. (electronic access via library catalog; Fine Arts Library reserve) Course requirements: Readings & class discussion: Each class, you are required to read assigned material and come to class prepared to discuss all assigned readings. Your contributions to class discussions every week, along with attendance, will determine your class participation grade. See accompanying guidelines. Exams and Quiz: On Mar. 5 a mid-term exam, consisting of slide identifications and essay questions, will be given. The date of the final exam, concentrated on the materials from the 2 second half of the course, will be announced later in the term. A short map quiz given on Jan. 30 will ensure your familiarity with the places we will study. Papers: A two-page visual analysis of an avant-garde Latin American or modern Mexican work on display at the Blanton Museum of Art is due on Mar. 3. A five- to seven-page research-based paper analyzing the Blanton exhibition The Avant-Garde Networks of Amauta will be due on Apr. 30. Detailed guidelines for each will be distributed in advance. Grading: Grade breakdown: Class participation (including map quiz): 20% Mid-term exam: 20% Papers: 40% Final exam: 20% The University of Texas grading system: A (4.00) = 94–100 B (3.00) = 83–86 C (2.00) = 73–76 D (1.00) = 63–66 A- (3.67) = 90–93 B- (2.67) = 80–82 C- (1.67) = 70–72 D- (.67) = 60–62 B+ (3.33) = 87–89 C+ (2.33) = 77–79 D+ (1.33) = 67–69 F (.00) = 0–59 Class policies: Attendance: Attendance is required at all class meetings (lecture & section) and will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you miss more than two class meetings, your participation grade will drop an increment for each subsequent class you miss (an A will become a A-). Assignments: Assignments are due as hard copies (no emailed files, please) by the date & time indicated on the syllabus. Late papers will be subject to a grade penalty for each class the paper is late (a B will be become a B-). Use of cell phones, laptops, etc.: The use of laptops, tablets, cell phones, etc. is not allowed during class. 3 Course schedule: INTRODUCTION: SOME DEFINITIONS & HISTORICAL CONDITIONS Jan. 21 Introduction to the course Jan. 23 The Idea of “Latin America” Textbook: Barnitz/Frank 2015, xx (map of Latin America). Canvas: Gerardo Mosquera, “From Latin American Art to Art from Latin America,” Art Nexus 2, no. 48 (April–June 2003): 70–74. Jan. 28 Colonialism & Identity in Latin America Canvas: Ariel Jiménez, “Neither Here Nor There,” in Mari Carmen Ramírez and Héctor Olea, eds., Inverted Utopias: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America (Houston: Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 2004), 247–53, only 247. #1: Eduardo Galeano, Memory of Fire, I: Genesis (1982) (New York: Norton & Company, 1985), xv–xvi, 43–62. #2: bell hooks, “Columbus: Gone but Not Forgotten,” in hooks, Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations (New York: Routledge, 1994), 231–42. #3: Silviano Santiago, “Why and For What Purpose Does the European Travel?,” The Space In-Between: Essays on Latin American Culture, Ed. Ana Lúcia Gazzola (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2001), 9–24. * For this class, read the first 4 paragraphs of Jiménez essay & select 1 of the 3 texts to read. Jan. 29 Optional panel discussion by Carmen Argote, George Flaherty, and Laura Gutiérrez, 3pm, ART 1.102 LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY: ACADEMICISM & MODERNISM Jan. 30 When and What are Modernity & Modernism in Latin America? MAP QUIZ Textbook: Barnitz/Frank 2015, 1–20. Canvas: Néstor García Canclini, “Modernity after Postmodernity,” in Gerardo Mosquera, ed., Beyond the Fantastic: Contemporary Art Criticism from Latin America. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996, 20–52. Feb. 4 Impressionism as Belated Modernism? As Modernism?: Armando Reverón & Pedro Figari Textbook: Barnitz/Frank 2015, 24–41. Canvas: Luis Pérez-Oramas, “Armando Reverón and Modern Art in Latin America,” in John Elderfield, ed., Armando Reverón (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007), 97–100. Pedro Figari, “Regional Autonomy,” in Ramírez and Olea, Inverted Utopias, 462. 1910S & 1920S: THE AVANT-GARDE Feb. 6 Defining the Avant-Garde in/of Latin America Textbook: Barnitz/Frank 2015, 43–46 (up to Orozco), 56–59. Canvas: Mari Carmen Ramírez, “A Highly Topical Utopia: Some Outstanding 4 Features of the Avant-Garde in Latin America,” in Ramírez and Olea, Inverted Utopias, only 3–5. David Alfaro Siqueiros, “Three Appeals for the Current Guidance of the New Generation of American Painters and Sculptors” (1921) in Ramírez and Olea, Inverted Utopias, 458–59. Feb. 10 Optional lecture by Natalia Majluf, noon, CLAVIS Feb.