Art and architecture in Mexico / James Oles

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Conquest and negotiation (1520-1600) -- Art for the new cities (1550-1700) -- Baroque splendor under the Bourbons (1700-1810) -- From neoclassicism to romanticism (1750-1850) -- National identity : history, landscape, citizens (1840-80) -- From the Porfiriato to the Revolution (1880-1920) -- From Revolution to Renaissance (1920-34) -- Political traumas and personal dreams (1934-46) -- Construction and rebellion (1946-68) -- From the Olympics to neo-Mexicanism (1968-94) -- Contemporary issues : art in Mexico since 1990.

This new interpretive history of Mexican art and architecture from the Spanish Conquest to the early decades of the twenty-first century is the most comprehensive introduction to the subject in fifty years. James Oles ranges widely across media and genres, offering new readings of paintings, murals, sculptures, buildings, prints, and photographs. He interprets major works by such famous artists as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but also discusses less familiar figures who were equally important in the construction of national identity. The story of Mexican art is set in its rich historical context by the book's treatment of political and social change. The author draws on recent scholarship to examine crucial issues of race, class, and gender, including an exploration of the work of indigenous artists during the colonial period, and of women artists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Throughout, Oles shows how artists in Mexico participated in local and international developments, and highlights the important role played by Mexicans in the art world of the last five centuries.

English