Mexico and American modernism / Ellen G. Landau

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The 1930s, Mexico, Art, and Politics. Body Si(gh)ting: Noguchi, Mexico, and Martha Graham -- Envisioning History: Philip Guston and Reuben Kadish in Morelia -- The 1940s, Mexico, and Abstract Expressionism. Reinventing Muralism: Pollock, Mexican Art, and the Origins of Action Painting -- Motherwell, Mexico, and Surrealism Revised -- Abstract Expressionism and Modernist Identity -- Conclusion.

In the years between the two world wars, the enormous vogue of "things Mexican" reached its peak. Along with the popular appeal of its folkloric and pictorialist traditions, Mexican culture played a significant role in the formation of modernism in the United States. Mexico and American Modernism analyzes the complex social, intellectual, and artistic ramifications of interactions between avant-garde American artists and Mexico during this critical period.In this insightful book, Ellen G. Landau looks beyond the well-known European influences on modernism. Instead, she probes the lesser-known yet powerful connections to Mexico and Mexican art that can be seen in the work of four acclaimed mid-century American artists: Philip Guston (1913-1980), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). Landau details how these artists' relationships with the Mexican muralists, expatriate Surrealists, and leftist political activists of the 1930s and 1940s affected the direction of their art. Her analysis of this aesthetic cross-fertilization provides an important new framework for understanding the emergence of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School as a whole.

English