Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine cultural interchange between the United States and Latin America during the early 20th century, examining the intersection between diplomatic and aesthetic realms in US exhibitions of Latin American art.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will examine the presentation of Latin American artworks in early-20th-century exhibitions in the United States. I will begin by offering an overview of the role played by Latin American artists in the US during this period, charting the burgeoning interest in art from the region in the 1920s - 1940s. Spearheaded predominantly by Mexican figures such as Diego Rivera, Miguel Covarrubias and José Clemente Orozco, Latin American culture gained unprecedented visibility within the US during the inter-war years. In addition, this period saw the presence of a number of key US figures, such as Waldo Frank and Edward Weston, working and travelling within Latin America, making the early 20th century appear as a time of fertile cultural exchange between the two hemispheres. However, through presenting a case study of the work of Bolivian sculptor Marina Núñez del Prado, this paper will highlight the at times problematic relationship between Latin American artists and the US cultural sphere. Through this discussion I will highlight the key role that organisations such as the Pan American Union, the Guggenheim Foundation, and cultural diplomats more broadly, played in the promotion of Latin American art within the US. Through analyzing the significance of the locations in which Núñez del Prado's art was exhibited and the discourses that emerge in the reception of her work in the US press, this paper will interrogate the complex interaction between diplomatic and aesthetic spaces in US exhibitions of Latin American art.