The Art of Joaquín Torres-García

Constructive Universalism and the Inversion of Abstraction

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art, Art History, American
Cover of the book The Art of Joaquín Torres-García by Aarnoud Rommens, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Aarnoud Rommens ISBN: 9781315527550
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: August 5, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Aarnoud Rommens
ISBN: 9781315527550
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: August 5, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Intertwining art history, aesthetic theory, and Latin American studies, Aarnoud Rommens challenges contemporary Eurocentric revisions of the history of abstraction through this study of the Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García. After studying and painting (for decades) in Europe, Torres-García returned in 1934 to his native home, Montevideo, with the dream of reawakening and revitalizing what he considered the true indigenous essence of Latin American art: "Abstract Spirit." Rommens rigorously analyses the paradoxes of the painter's aesthetic-philosophical doctrine of Constructive Universalism as it sought to adapt European geometric abstraction to the Americas. Whereas previous scholarship has dismissed Torres-García's theories as self-contradictory, Rommens seeks to recover their creative potential as well as their role in tracing the transatlantic routes of the avant-garde. Through the highly original method of reading Torres-García's artworks as a critique on the artist's own writings, Rommens reveals how Torres-García appropriates the colonial language of primitivism to construct the artificial image of "pure" pre-Columbian abstraction. Torres-García thereby inverts the history of art: this book teases out the important lessons of this gesture and the implications for our understanding of abstraction today.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Intertwining art history, aesthetic theory, and Latin American studies, Aarnoud Rommens challenges contemporary Eurocentric revisions of the history of abstraction through this study of the Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García. After studying and painting (for decades) in Europe, Torres-García returned in 1934 to his native home, Montevideo, with the dream of reawakening and revitalizing what he considered the true indigenous essence of Latin American art: "Abstract Spirit." Rommens rigorously analyses the paradoxes of the painter's aesthetic-philosophical doctrine of Constructive Universalism as it sought to adapt European geometric abstraction to the Americas. Whereas previous scholarship has dismissed Torres-García's theories as self-contradictory, Rommens seeks to recover their creative potential as well as their role in tracing the transatlantic routes of the avant-garde. Through the highly original method of reading Torres-García's artworks as a critique on the artist's own writings, Rommens reveals how Torres-García appropriates the colonial language of primitivism to construct the artificial image of "pure" pre-Columbian abstraction. Torres-García thereby inverts the history of art: this book teases out the important lessons of this gesture and the implications for our understanding of abstraction today.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Music Semiotics: A Network of Significations by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book The European Heritage by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Queerness of Children's Literature by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book The Problem of Realism by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Motor Learning in Practice by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book David Ben-Gurion by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Motivating Change: Sustainable Design and Behaviour in the Built Environment by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Unhappy Dialogue by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Environmental Protection at the State Level: Politics and Progress in Controlling Pollution by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Dissecting the Superego by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book New Directions In The Sociology Of Health by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book England and Europe in the Reign of Henry III (1216–1272) by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Reading Drama in Tudor England by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Japan's "New Deal" for China by Aarnoud Rommens
Cover of the book Governance for Harmony in Asia and Beyond by Aarnoud Rommens
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy