Celebrated Artists and Political Nightmares

Download or read book Celebrated Artists and Political Nightmares written by James W. Applegate and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Mexican Revolution's end in 1920, the United States became increasingly fascinated with Mexican culture and its exotic revolutionary artists. The enormous vogue of things Mexican lasted until 1945 and the end of World War II. This vogue, however, describes only one of the many sides of the intricate relationship between the United States and Mexico. The political relationship between the two countries was very complicated during the decades following the Mexican Revolution. Mexico sought redefinition and assertion on the international stage. The United States was trying to determine its role in relation to Mexico. Both countries were in a constant state of flux in relation to the other; there were moments of great closeness and others of great tension. The political atmosphere of the time possessed an incredible amount of influence on the cultural vogue. Mexico and the United States' internal politics and their political practices with regard to each other both allowed the vogue to exist and dictated the manner in which the vogue progressed. Carl Zigrosser founded and directed the Weyhe Gallery, a small art gallery that became grew to prominence in the vogue, from 1919-1940, and then became Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Through Carl Zigrosser, the enormous vogue of things Mexican can be seen in a much more intimate manner. This thesis will use Carl Zigrosser and his correspondence with many individuals who were associated with the enormous vogue of things Mexican to illustrate that, whether intentional or not, political actions during this time had significant cultural implications.