Latin American Art

Rating:
Summary: an educational tome
Review: A massive, heavy volume, it's a good overview of Latin American art. Profusely illustrated (mostly in color), the art is in every conceivable style from traditional landscapes to avant garde installations, the earliest is from 1898, and the most recent from 1995.

There aren't too many full page illustrations, usually 2 or 3 to a page, and I suspect the colors are quite muted compared to the originals...but it makes up for this in quantity and variety. It also includes a chapter on Chicano art, as well as an extensive bibliography by country.

Each chapter is by a writer familiar with the art of the country being discussed (most of them museum directors/curators or art history professors), and though the writing style may vary, it's informative...the print however, is painfully small, limiting its use for my eyes as a reference book, rather than one I could read cover to cover.

Three pieces I love are from Mexico: The incredible Rodolfo Morales' "Juicio Final" (pg. 15), from Cuba: Mariano Rodriguez' "El Gallo Pintado" (pg.91), and from Venezuela: Hector Poleo's "Los Comisarios" (pg. 142).

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent illustrations
Review: This is a handsome book filled with beautiful color illustrations of diverse works from throughout Latin America, including Puerto Rico, grouped according to country. It as a nice balance of well-written text and key works of fine art.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Coverage By Country
Review: This is an important book with excellent sections, but, unfortunately, since each country is covered by an "expert" the quality of the essays is uneven. The essay on Mexico gets high marks for organization, coverage and lucidity. Others are not as successful.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Coverage By Country
Review: This is an important book with excellent sections, but, unfortunately, since each country is covered by an "expert" the quality of the essays is uneven. The essay on Mexico gets high marks for organization, coverage and lucidity. Others are not as successful.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Coverage By Country
Review: This is an important book with excellent sections, but, unfortunately, since each country is covered by an "expert" the quality of the essays is uneven. The essay on Mexico gets high marks for organization, coverage and lucidity. Others are not as successful.