Celebrating ‘Hispanic Heritage Month’ With A Look At Hispanic Artists Throughout History
Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor and celebrate the diverse and vibrant contributions of Hispanic and Latinx Americans to the United States. It promotes understanding, unity, and appreciation of the rich cultural heritage that enriches the nation.
The origins of Hispanic Heritage Month can be traced back to the early 1960s. During this period, the Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum, and various marginalized communities were advocating for their rights and recognition. In response to these movements and the desire to celebrate Hispanic and Latinx culture and history, the idea for a Hispanic Heritage Week was born.
In 1988, Hispanic Heritage Month as we know it today was expanded from a week to a month-long celebration. President Ronald Reagan signed into law the National Hispanic Heritage Month (Public Law 100-402) on August 17, 1988. This expansion aimed to provide a longer period to showcase the contributions, culture, and history of Hispanic and Latinx Americans.
In addition to celebrating culture and heritage, Hispanic Heritage Month is also a platform for addressing contemporary issues and challenges facing Hispanic and Latinx communities in the United States. It serves as an opportunity to advocate for issues such as immigration reform, healthcare access, education equity, and civil rights.
--> Let’s take a look at some Hispanic/Latin artists and artwork throughout history:
PABLO PICASSO
Pablo Picasso is considered one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century, one of the main forces behind modern art as we know it. He is also famous for co-creating Cubism.
Born in Spain in 1881, Picasso was a child prodigy who created approximately 50,000 works of art over his lifetime. These included paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, and more.
Though trained in classical methods, Picasso broke away from those traditions to produce an astonishingly diverse and innovative body of work.
More: https://www....opicasso.org/
FRIDA KAHLO
Interest in Frida Kahlo’s life and work has soared in recent decades, as a Mexican artist and feminist icon. Even her self-expression and colorful, vivid personal style have sparked special interest in recent times.
Born in 1907, Kahlo experienced several tragic events while growing up: Polio at age 6, and an accident at age 18. Her paintings, many of which are self-portraits, reflect this suffering and an introspective look into her life.
Throughout her life, Kahlo moved in politically active circles. In 1929, she married artist and activist Diego Rivera, a relationship that would prove tumultuous. Though an early death in 1954 cut Kahlo’s career short, her work remains among the most celebrated of Mexico and a hallmark of surrealist painting.
MORE: https://www.kahlo.org/
DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ
Diego Velázquez, a Spanish painter, was born in 1599 in Madrid. He served as a royal painter under King Philip IV for 40 years, often commissioned to do portraits of members of court.
Veláquez’s work stood out from the Baroque-style painting of his peers, paving the way for realist and impressionist painters in the 19th century. He remains one of the all-time most famous and influential Hispanic painters.
MORE: https://www....ego-velazquez
SALVADOR DALÍ
Born in Spain in 1904, Dalí was a prolific painter, sculptor, photographer, filmmaker, and illustrator. He felt the death of his mother at age 16 deeply, who had always been sympathetic to his character and interests. He met his wife Elena in 1929, a partnership that helped to support the practical aspects of his art career.
One of the most important figures in the modern art movement, Dalí once said, “Begin by learning to draw and paint like the old masters. After that, you can do as you like; everyone will respect you.”
Dalí certainly “did as he liked,” and his innovative work reflected his own flamboyant and unconventional personality and style. An unruly art student who bucked the norms, he nevertheless went on to produce a vast array of Surrealist art and become one of the most famous Hispanic artists of the 20th century.
MORE: https://www....ali-salvador/
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in New York City in 1960 to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother. Before his teens he fluent in Spanish, English, and French
Basquiat gained notoriety first as a graffiti artist, under the pseudonym SAMO and part of the underground art movement in the 70s.
Soon after, his paintings began to be exhibited and sold on the international scene. (In 2017, his work set a record for most expensive painting sold by a U.S.-born artist, at $110.5 million.)
Basquiat’s work reflects themes such as poverty, systematic racism, colonialism, and classism. His unstable childhood and skyrocket to fame at a young age were difficult, and probably led to his drug dependency. He died of an overdose in 1988, at only 27 years old.
https://www....chel-basquiat
DIEGO RIVERA
Diego Rivera was born in 1886 in Mexico. Showing talent at an early age, Rivera studied both in Mexico City and Europe. However, his deep concerns were the struggles of the indigenous and working-class peoples, along with interest in Marxist ideologies.
Rivera, who married fellow artist Frida Kahlo, is most famous for his murals, which pay tribute to Mayan and Aztec imagery. He completed several commissions from the Mexican government and participated in exhibitions in the U.S. (where his nods to Marxist figures did not go over well). Rivera is remembered for helping to propel Mexican art onto the international scene.
MORE: https://www..../Diego-Rivera
FRANCISCO GOYA
Born in Spain in 1746, Francisco Goya was one of the most successful artists of the 18th and 19th centuries. He became a court painter for the Spanish court in 1786 and was commissioned many times to do royal portraits. His work reflects the Romantic movement, and his style reflected a bridge between the “Old Masters” and a newer, modern period.
Goya’s later work included scenes from the Peninsular War with Napoleon in 1807, as well as more politically motivated pieces. After rising to the highest position for a royal court painter, he moved to France until his death, disappointed by political and social movements within Spain.
MORE: https://www....ancisco-goya/
***** ARTWORK *****
Guernica – Pablo Picasso
Here are some of the most-famous Hispanic pantings of all time:
During the Spanish Civil War, a German legion with Italian fighter planes destroyed the Biscayan village of Guernica in support of the Francoist side.
Pablo Picasso started this famous Hispanic painting days after the event. “Guernica” was not seen only as a mural but also as a timeless icon commemorating all of those who have suffered the consequences of war. It transcends the borders of the artistic world.
The innovative author was the father of Cubism. People consider him to be one of the most influential Hispanic artists of history. Admire Guernica at the Museo Reina Sofía (Queen Sofia Museum).
Dos Fridas – Frida Kahlo (**Shown, ABOVE***)
Separating the art from the artist seems impossible in the case of modern Hispanic artists such as Frida Kahlo. Frida is now the best-known Latin American painter. She reached international fame during her lifetime and has achieved legendary status posthumously.
Kahlo is not only known for her art but also for her life history tainted with tragedies and struggles. She became an icon and an idol due to her expression of national identity and sociopolitical ideas.
Dos Fridas (“Two Fridas”) represent the before and after of being abandoned by her husband Diego Rivera. One of them is dressed in European attire symbolizing her time in Paris, and the other wears a Tehuana dress from Oaxaca, Mexico.
This is one of the most famous Hispanic paintings because it has all of the identifiers of Frida’s artwork: a surrealist self-portrait with linked eyebrows, duality and opposites, conceptualism, vivid colors, the Tehuana dress, and symbolism.
Las Meninas – Diego Velázquez
Las Meninas represents the intimacy of the familiar environment of royalty members. The technique involves the use of perspective, the contrast between light and shadow, and the distribution of the elements and fronts.
It is a famous Hispanic painting in large format, as it is 10 feet long and 8 feet high. They had to sew together many canvases. See this masterpiece at the Museo del Prado.
Diego Velázquez was born in Seville, Spain and was a prolific painter of the Baroque movement. He had many prominent patrons, the King and the Pope among them. Other famous artists from Spanish-speaking countries have painted their versions of Las Meninas such as Pablo Picasso and Fernando Botero.
La maja vestida – Francisco Goya
“The Clothed Maja” is one of the masterpieces by Francisco Goya. The identity of the Maja is still a mystery. When he painted this, he was trying to prove that a woman can be seductive regardless of what she is wearing.
Goya poured confidence into the canvas as he made loose brushstrokes and used thick layers of paint. Partially, the beauty of this piece relies on her thin, girded tunic that suggests there is a fan nearby.
Known simply as Goya, he was born and raised in Spain but also lived in France and Italy. He was a great admirer of Diego Velázquez and started-off his career imitating his artwork. Francisco was the precursor of the impressionist movement.