midterm Flashcards
1
Q
INTRO for cuban catholicism and holy beings: escalera, enriquez, and lam
A
- Catholicism, as the driving justification of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, penetrated Cuban culture.
- While Escalera’s The Holy Trinity features a traditionally European depiction of Catholic holy beings, Enriquez’s Virgin of Charity and Lam’s The Eternal Presence depict the distinctly Cuban syncretism of the West African Orisha deities with Catholic saints.
2
Q
depiction of holy beings in escalera’s the holy trinity
A
- TOPIC: Draws on European styles in its depiction of the holy trinity, who are (with exception of bird holy spirit) depicted as the holy /European/ creators and saviors of the blue orb symbolizing Earth which they converse over.
- Spanish style of BAROQUE —with bold, dramatic saturation of colors and contrast b/w light/dark— encouraged by Catholic Church, Escalera’s patron.
- ROCOCO style in its depiction of innocent cherubs which was typically used in renderings of aristocracy.
- melding of styles suggests overlap of the two groups in the colonization of Cuba, as aristocracy = Catholic, Spanish colonizers.
3
Q
depiction of holy beings in enriquez’ virgin of charity
A
- TOPIC: Glorifies the religious syncretism of Cuba while recognizing the enslavement of Africans from which that transculturation rose. Specifically a tribute to Santeria, religion combining beliefs of Yoruba brought by West African slaves with Catholicism.
- The patron saint of Cuba, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre is depicted in the upper right hand corner with brown skin— signaling identification of Afro-Cubans with the traditional Catholic figure. Wearing yellow and gold, associated with the orisha (Santeria deity), Ochún, who she’s syncretized with.
- Brown hand offering protection from boat is likely Ochún herself, orisha of freshwater, love, and beauty. Symbolizes dual existence/worship of the orishas and saintly counterparts.
- The image of the dead slave at the bottom of the boat and the moustached Spaniard ghost reference the role of slavery and colonization in the syncretism of the orishas with the saints.
4
Q
depiction of holy beings in lam’s the eternal presence
A
- TOPIC: Like Enriquez’s work, depicts Santeria, though it’s so discreet that the holiness of the subjects unrecognizable to non-Afro-Cubans. Discretion is not out of shame, but of respect for the sacred.
- Features composite figures in a state of possession. From left to right, the figures are identified as Ochun, Eleggua, the messenger god, and a hybrid Ogun and Ochosi, the warrior and hunter gods.
- In discreet rendering of Afro-Cuban religion which had been persecuted, Lam’s encoding of symbols of the Orishas in unrecognizable hybrid figures parallels camouflaging of Yoruba practices by syncretizing their Orishas with the Catholic Saints.
5
Q
intro for sugar production
A
- Cuba 1870: world’s largest sugar producer. History of sugar inseparable from that of slavery, portrayal in art is no different
- Thesis: Landaluze and Aria obscured violent realities of the slaves on sugar plantations to uphold anti-black institution, while Wifredo Lam used concealment to discreetly reveal and affirm the inner lives of Afro-Cubans
6
Q
sugar production 1st body P
A
- Landaluze idealized version of sugar industry in which slaves were not performing forced labor under threat of violence.
- Patrons were aristocrats and bourgeois who’d made fortune off of sugar/slavery
- Calm overseer - omits violence
- Loitering slave mother and child in foreground - omits forced labor
- Picturesque blue skies and green landscape makes the scene seem idyllic, in contrast to realities of slavery in sugar industry.
- Clearly demonstrates Landaluze’s pro-slavery views
7
Q
sugar production 2nd body p
A
- Arias concealed plantation as if it were a natural institution
- Landscape is overgrown, seems untouched by man -> picturesque style
- Plantation identifiable in rightside background by chimney, mostly concealed by the greenery.
- Neutralizes and naturalizes the plantation and institution it represents
- Unlike Landaluze in that slaves are completely absent from picture, omitting forced labor and violence they endured
8
Q
sugar production 3rd body p
A
- Lam celebrates the afro-cuban traditions born out of transculturation forced by their enslavement for the sugar industry, while recognizing the suffering they endured for it.
- Takes place in sugar cane field, symbolic of colonialism and enslavement of Africans which made colonialism possible.
- Recognizes importance of sugar and all its implications through the cubist-inspired flattening of the foreground = Legacy of sugar bears just as much weight as the Afro-Cubans contributions to Cuban culture.
- Just as afro-cuban slaves concealed their Yoruba practices by merging them with Catholicism to form Santeria, Lam conceals Santeria-worshipping subjects through surrealist, metamorphosed depiction. Discretion is out of respect for the sacred.
- Neither obscures afro-cuban suffering nor confines them to the identity of suffering – upholds the resilience of the people through tribute to religious ritual.
9
Q
guajiros intro
A
HOOK: Like the American identification with the cowboy, *no symbol was thought to represent Cubanidad more than the guajiro.
- In Cuban art throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, guajiros, or rural peasants, were idealized as the most authentic Cubans for their closeness to nature and disconnection from the rapidly industrializing cities and foreign influence.
- THESIS: Victor Patricio de Landaluze’s The Zapateo, Antonio Gattorno’s Guajiros and Plantains, and Carlos Enriquez’s Happy Peasants demonstrate the evolution of depictions of guajiros from, respectively, one idealizing their life and omitting their economic suffering, to strongly implying their suffering, to finally, explicitly condemning the dire conditions of the guajiro.
10
Q
guajiro 1st p
A
- Most famous Costumbrismo painter. The style broke with the conservative Academy of San Alejandro in that it documented Cuban traditions and peoples.
- But Landaluze was still bound to the interests of his aristocratic and bourgeois patrons, so this depiction of Cuban life served their worldview by idealizing guajiro life, omitting economic suffering.
- Depicts gathering of guajiros performing and observing Spanish-originated Zapateo dance practiced in Cuban countryside. In the background there is a bohio– a simple, rural, indigenous house.
- Though it’s notable in that it was one of the few depictions of guajiros and indigenous life at the time, it’s problematic in that it idealizes guajiro life and omits their economic suffering.
- Idealized generalization of guajiro life is further demonstrated by guajiros’ faces: pleasant, carbon copies of one another.
11
Q
guajiro 2nd body p
A
- Gattorno depicts Guajiro mother and her children in distinctly Cuban landscape marked by palm and banana trees.
- Mother holds her baby looking weary, as her older boy looks inquisitively into the distance.
- Combines with cool tones to evoke sense of suffering absent from Landaluze’s work.
- Mothers exhausted yet stern gaze locks eyes with the viewer, almost daring them to do something. It’s a call to action.
- Suffering implied in this painting pales in comparison to the explicit depiction of guajiro suffering in Happy Peasants.
12
Q
guajiro 3rd body p
A
- most explicit criticism of the conditions of the guajiro can be found in Happy Peasants.
- Depicts emaciated guajiros standing in what looks like hell burning at their feet.
- prominent red may also be a reflection of outside civil unrest.
- Painting serves as call to action regarding the especially dire conditions of the guajiro in Cuba during the 1930s, a time of economic depression and political instability.
- Features voting ads for a pig and an ass. This further condemns the government’s responsibility for their suffering.
13
Q
afro cuban contributions intro
A
- Afro-Cuban culture is so influential that most, if not all, things associated with Cuban culture, from Santeria to the Rumba, are of Afro-Cuban origin. Yet contributions to Cuban culture not always been respected, including throughout Cuban art history.
- Thesis: Landaluze and Carreno disparaged and misrepresented Afro-Cuban traditions, especially the significance of the powerful íreme spirit dancer, while Abela revered Afro-Cuban contributions to Cuban culture through his glorification of the rumba.
14
Q
afro cuban 1st body p
A
- Depicts King’s Day celebration of cabildos (mutual aid associations of freed or enslaved men of same ethnic group) as parade of buffoons.
- Important in that it was a detailed, accurate documentation of King’s Day celebration of ritualized freedom before they were banned.
- Strips íreme of power in Abakua (afro-cuban fraternities) as a spirit dancer occupying liminal space between this realm and the spiritual realm. Instead, made a spectacle, performing for Spanish women and children
- Afro-Cuban’s dancing is exaggerated, depicted as almost animalistic. In its time, it was read as satire, as a parody of an “inferior” race
15
Q
afro cuban 2nd body p
A
- Like Landaluze, portrays Afro-Cuban dancing as animalistic and strips íreme of spiritual significance, but goes further in portraying him as aggressively hypersexual.
- posture rumba-influenced: íreme is depicted as crouched, preparing to hip thrust, as the mulatta dances in her turn of the call-and-response, unamused by him.
- Aggressive hypersexualization and reduction to animalism is accomplished by Carreño placement of eyes of íreme mask lower than traditional, positioning them to stare at mulatta’s breasts, which ireme is about to grab with his arms outstretched toward them.
- Women’s inclusion misrepresents abakua practices, as they were secretive fraternities.
