Mexican art

[1] After Independence, art remained heavily European in style, but indigenous themes appeared in major works as liberal Mexico sought to distinguish itself from its Spanish colonial past.

The strength of this artistic movement was such that it affected newly invented technologies, such as still photography and cinema, and strongly promoted popular arts and crafts as part of Mexico's identity.

[8] The earliest known purely artistic production were small ceramic figures that appeared in Tehuacán area around 1,500 BCE and spread to Veracruz, the Valley of Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Pacific coast of Guatemala.

[19] Monumental architecture began with the Olmecs in southern Veracruz and the coastal area of Tabasco in places such as San Lorenzo; large temples on pyramid bases can still be seen in sites such as Montenegro, Chiapa de Corzo and La Venta.

Indigenous craftsmen were taught European motifs, designs and techniques, but very early work, called tequitqui (Nahuatl for "vassal"), includes elements such as flattened faces and high-stiff relief.

"Although some Indians complained about the burden such labor represented, most communities considered a large and impressive church to be a reflection of their town's importance and took justifiable pride in creating a sacred place for divine worship.

The early Lienzo de Tlaxcala illustrated the contributions the Spaniards' Tlaxcalan allies made to the defeat of the Aztec Empire, as well the Hernán Cortés and his cultural translator Doña Marina (Malinche).

[34] Similarly, Baroque free standing sculptures feature life-size scales, realistic skin tones and the simulation of gold-threaded garments through a technique called estofado, the application of paint over gold leaf.

Increasingly there was an emphasis on the accuracy of the image to the original, and Correa created a wax template to ensure that every detail was correct.Guadalupe became the focus of Criollo patriotism, with her intervention being called upon in catastrophic events and then rendered in art.

Large and meant for display in public and private rooms of elite homes, they had a variety of subject matter, ranging from paintings of historical events, real or imagined, allegorical presentations, and scenes from everyday life in Mexico.

Starting in the seventeenth century when the Manila Galleon sailed regularly from the Philippines to the Pacific port of Acapulco, folding screens or biombos (from the Japanese byo-bu or "protection from wind") were among the luxury goods brought from Asia.

Juan Correa produced several in the late seventeenth century, one of the 1519 meeting of Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma, which might have depicted more current events of a traditional Indian dance (mitote) performed on feast of Corpus Christi, symbolizing indigenous submission to Spanish rule and Christianity.

Tolsá designed a number of Neoclassical buildings in Mexico but his best known work is an equestrian status of King Charles IV in bronze cast in 1803 and originally placed in the Zócalo.

He painted scenes with dynamic composition and bright colors in accordance with Romantic style, looking for striking, sublime, and beautiful images in Mexico as well as other areas of Latin America.

Others include Englishman Daniel Egerton, who painted landscapes in the British Romantic tradition, and German Carl Nebel, who primarily created lithographs of the various social and ethnic populations of the country.

Although during this time, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts were often limited to imitation of European styles,[68] the emergence of young artists, such as Diego Rivera and Saturnino Herrán, increased the focus on Mexican-themed works.

One of the first was a monument to Christopher Columbus, on the broad Paseo de la Reforma, commissioned by Antonio Escandón, who made a fortune constructing the Mexico City-Veracruz railway.

Both moved to the south of the city in the mid-20th century, to Ciudad Universitaria and Xochimilco respectively, leaving only some graduate programs in fine arts in the original academy building in the historic center.

The government became an ally to many of the intellectuals and artists in Mexico City[33][38] and commissioned murals for public buildings to reinforce its political messages including those that emphasized Mexican rather than European themes.

[75] Octavio Paz gives José Vasconcelos credit for initiating the Muralist movement in Mexico by commissioning the best-known painters in 1921 to decorate the walls of public buildings.

[6][75] The political situation in Mexico from the 1920s to 1950s and the influence of Dr. Atl prompted these artists to break with European traditions, using bold indigenous images, much color, and depictions of human activity, especially of the masses, in contrast to the solemn and detached art of Europe.

[88] Another important figure during this time period was Swiss-Mexican Gunther Gerzso, but his work was a "hard-edged variant"[This quote needs a citation] of Abstract Expressionism, based on clearly defined geometric forms as well as colors, with an effect that makes them look like low relief.

[101]) In emulation of global trends, Mexico has embraced modern techniques within the realm of street art, manifesting through the portrayal of renowned paintings from Mexican history or the creation of original content.

Some of painters in this century are: Mexican handcrafts and folk art, called artesanía in Mexico, is a complex category of items made by hand or in small workshops for utilitarian, decorative, or other purposes.

[115] While the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) censored films in many ways in the 1940s and 1950s, it was not as repressive as other Spanish speaking countries, but it played a strong role in how Mexico's government and culture was portrayed.

[117] In the late 20th century the main proponent of Mexican art cinema was Arturo Ripstein Jr. His career began with a spaghetti Western-like film called Tiempo de morir in 1965 and who some consider the successor to Luis Buñuel who worked in Mexico in the 1940s.

Those geared for international audiences have more stereotypical Mexican images and include Sólo con Tu Pareja, La Invencion de Cronos along with Como Agua para Chocolate.

[121] Weston and his Italian assistant Tina Modotti were in Mexico from 1923 to 1926, allying themselves with Mexican Realist photographers Manuel Álvarez Bravo as well as muralists such as Gabriel Fernández Ledesma.

[119] During the same period, institutions were established that dedicated themselves to the promotion of photography and conservation of photographs, such as the Centro de la Imagen, the Fototeca Nacional del INAH, and the publication Luna Córnea.

In 2002, a photographic exhibit by Daniela Rossell featured images of Mexican multimillionaires posing in their ostentatious homes, filled with expensive paintings, hunting trophies, crystal chandeliers, gold lamé wallpaper, and household help.