Mexico and American Modernism (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300169133)

A revolutionary look at the profound impact of Mexico and its culture on the development of American modernism

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.

Author: Ellen G. Landau
ISBN-10: 0300169132
ISBN-13: 9780300169133
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 05/14/2013
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.33lbs
Size: 10.30h x 8.80w x 0.90d
Award: PROSE - Honorable Mention

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/01/2013
Library Journal 10/15/2013 pg. 95
Choice 11/01/2013