Mexico Modern Art, Commerce, and Cultural Exchange, 1920–1945

Widely acknowledged as a critical chapter in the history of twentieth-century art, the rise of modernism in Mexico was activated by artists, museum curators, gallery owners, journalists, and publishers both in Mexico and the United States. These figures created and promoted an art that pioneered a synthesis of indigenous traditions, both ancient and contemporary, and international, modernist aesthetics.

This exhibition explores two decades of dynamic cultural exchange between Mexico and the United States. It begins around 1920, when the conclusion of a long and bitter revolution in Mexico ushered in new cultural ideals and programs, and continues into the mid-1940s, when contemporary Mexican art entered the mainstream in the United States.

The exhibition underscores that art movements rarely conform to national borders; nor do they result from the efforts of artists alone. Transnational networks of individuals and institutions that seek, champion, and interpret great—often radically new—works of art are essential. Never has this been more the case than during the early twentieth century’s “Mexican moment.”

Exhibit Dates:
SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 – JANUARY 1, 2018

Admission
Admission to the exhibition is free. No tickets or reservations are required. Your donation supports the Ransom Center’s exhibitions and public programs.

Location
Harry Ransom Center
21st and Guadalupe Streets
Austin, Texas

Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera, [Basket vendors], 1938
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954), Untitled
Poster for Mexican tourism, published by Asociacion Mexicana de Turismo, 1940
Paul Strand
Paul Strand (American, 1890–1976), Cristo with Thorns, Huexotla, 1933; printed 1940. From the portfolio Photographs of Mexico.
Fritz Henle
Fritz Henle (American, b. Germany, 1909–1993), Fishermen on Lake Patzcuaro, 1936.

Widely acknowledged as a critical chapter in the history of twentieth-century art, the rise of modernism in Mexico was activated by artists, museum curators . . .

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