Cubism became one of the most revolutionary art movements of the early
20th century. Developed in Paris by Picasso, Braque and many other
artist, it soon developed into a mode of vision that was utilized,
copied and imitated by artists throughout Europe and other parts of the
world. Many artists in Latin America as well as Latin American artists
living abroad were attracted to the radical transformations of space and
the dislocations of traditional artistic form that Cubism represented.
The dilemma existed, however, of how to create something original,
something that would represent both a personal statement and a
recognizably "Latin American" brand of Cubism. This challenge was taken
up by many artists with greater and lesser degrees of success.
Diego Rivera had gone to Europe in 1907. By 1909 he was spending the
majority of his time in Paris where he remained until the early 1920s.
During the years 1914, 1915, 1916 and 1917 he engaged with Cubism in a
direct manner, becoming a significant member of what might be termed the
second generation of Cubist painters. He embraced the "traditional"
subject matter of Cubism: still lifes, landscapes and portraits. In many
of these, such as his most famous work in this genre the Zapatista
Landscape of 1915, he demonstrated a unique power of synthesis of both
Analytical and Synthetic Cubism with distinct references to specific
Mexican themes. After 1917, however, he drifted away from this style and
his art began to evidence the impact of Cezanne, Degas and Renoir as
well as a continuation of a form of classicism which he was taught at
the Academy in Mexico City. The reminiscences of Cubist form, however,
would always be present in one way or another in his art.
Tarsila do Amaral, was born in the same year as Rivera (1886) in Sao
Paulo state (Brazil). From a well-to-do family, she traveled often as a
child and a young woman to Europe. During the 1920s she spent
considerable time in Paris where she associated with Andre Lhote and
Fernand Leger as well as Constantin Brancusi. Evidence of the styles of
all of these artists may be found in her work. Tarsila, however, created
a uniquely Brazilian brand of Cubism. Her painting from c.1923 to about
1927 is described as her "Pau Brasil" period, so named for the
indigenous type of wood produced in her native country. Later she
entered into her "Antropofagia" phase - something of a hybrid of Cubism,
Surrealism and references to specific Brazilian themes. Tarsila produced
her major paintings in the 1920s, turning to social realism and other
styles later on.
Emilio Pettoruti was born in La Plata, Argentina in 1892. As a young
artist he spent many years living in Florence, Milan and Paris,
beginning in 1912. He also had an important exhibition of his work in
Berlin.
Pettoruti's formation took place within the ambience of Italian
Futurism and he is also associated with Cubism. Pettoruti's art forms a
highly interesting synthesis of the stimuli with which he was faced
abroad. Upon his return to Buenos Aires he showed his Cubo-Futurist
works in a gallery and caused a "scandal" in the rather conservative
society. While many of Pettoruti's paintings bear little of a
specifically "Argentinian" stamp, a number of themes that he developed
in the 1920s, such as those of street musicians (and tango bands) may be
related to the ambience of the city in which he lived for many years.
A case study of 3 artists who incorporated elements of Cubist style may
teach us a substantial amount about the methods of appropriation and
transformation that lie at the heart of Latin American modernism
