Description
An engaging investigation of how the relationships between four U.S. photographers and Mexican artists forged new developments in modernism
Photographers Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Paul Strand, and Helen Levitt were among the U.S. artists who traveled to Mexico during the interwar period seeking a community more receptive to the radical premises of modern art. Looking closely at the work produced by these four artists in Mexico, this book examines the vital role of exchanges between the expatriates and their Mexican contemporaries in forging a new photographic style. Monica Bravo offers fresh insights concerning Weston's friendship with Diego Rivera; Modotti's images of labor, which she published alongside the writings of the Stridentists; Strand's engagement with folk themes and the work of composer Carlos Chavez; and the influence of Manuel Alvarez Bravo on Levitt's contributions to a New World surrealism. Exploring how these dialogues resulted in a distinct kind of modernism characterized by inter-American interests, the book reveals the ways in which cross-border collaboration shaped a new "greater American" aesthetic.
About the Author
Monica Bravo is assistant professor in the history of art and visual culture program at California College of the Arts.
Reviews
"The overall argument is strengthened by the recurrence of certain themes and concerns. The place of indigenous cultures and the impact of modernity are evidently central to the discussion, but Bravo never forgets to flesh out the social and material conditions of the circulation and reception of people and images."-Didier Aubert, IdeAs
Charles Rufus Morey Book Award Finalist, sponsored by the College Art Association
"A highly significant and timely study, exemplifying how the porosity of borders yields great benefits for both sides. Greater American Camera is driven by exceptional rigor of research and scholarship of the highest level."-Leonard Folgarait, Vanderbilt University
"Bravo offers timely insights into photography as an art form specifically suited to exchange and into an art world made greater through intercultural collaborations and dialogue."-Lauren Kroiz, author of Cultivating Citizens: The Regional Work of Art in the New Deal Era
Book Information
ISBN 9780300253634
Author Monica Bravo
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
Photographers Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Paul Strand, and Helen Levitt were among the U.S. artists who traveled to Mexico during the interwar period seeking a community more receptive to the radical premises of modern art. Looking closely at the work produced by these four artists in Mexico, this book examines the vital role of exchanges between the expatriates and their Mexican contemporaries in forging a new photographic style. Monica Bravo offers fresh insights concerning Weston's friendship with Diego Rivera; Modotti's images of labor, which she published alongside the writings of the Stridentists; Strand's engagement with folk themes and the work of composer Carlos Chavez; and the influence of Manuel Alvarez Bravo on Levitt's contributions to a New World surrealism. Exploring how these dialogues resulted in a distinct kind of modernism characterized by inter-American interests, the book reveals the ways in which cross-border collaboration shaped a new "greater American" aesthetic.
About the Author
Monica Bravo is assistant professor in the history of art and visual culture program at California College of the Arts.
Reviews
"The overall argument is strengthened by the recurrence of certain themes and concerns. The place of indigenous cultures and the impact of modernity are evidently central to the discussion, but Bravo never forgets to flesh out the social and material conditions of the circulation and reception of people and images."-Didier Aubert, IdeAs
Charles Rufus Morey Book Award Finalist, sponsored by the College Art Association
"A highly significant and timely study, exemplifying how the porosity of borders yields great benefits for both sides. Greater American Camera is driven by exceptional rigor of research and scholarship of the highest level."-Leonard Folgarait, Vanderbilt University
"Bravo offers timely insights into photography as an art form specifically suited to exchange and into an art world made greater through intercultural collaborations and dialogue."-Lauren Kroiz, author of Cultivating Citizens: The Regional Work of Art in the New Deal Era
Book Information
ISBN 9780300253634
Author Monica Bravo
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
