Latin American Identity

Today, most scholars begin their literature on Latin American colonial art by affirming the obvious- that art produced in Latin America during Spanish colonialism is as a result of the imposition of Hispanic art in a society that had different art forms during pre-Hispanic times. The way in which these societies adopted and assimilated these new art form has been central to the discussion of Latin American history, however, these discussions have been evolving . Today, most scholars agree that colonial art was informed and modified by various cultures, however, there is no consensus as to how these different cultures influenced colonial art.
One of the most important issues that emerges among scholars of colonial art in Latin America is the issue of identity. Identity has shaped the questions asked about the colonial art since the 20th century. Questions of identity of the colonial art emerged as early as 1800s. Manuel Revilla (1863-1924), in one of the earliest books of colonial art, “el estilo peculiar del virreinato,” pointed …show more content…
Revilla’s explanation on the identity of Latin America colonial art did not gain traction until Sylvester Baxter in his book, the Spanish Colonial Architecture, examine the issue. Baxter (1850-1927) argued that identity could be established by analysing the originality and the difference between the Latin America colonial art form and Spanish art . The approach developed by Baxter, was adopted and later rejected by Jose’ Moreno Villa (1887-1955). In his 1948 book, Lo mexicano en las artes plásticas, Villa argues that his earlier postulations on the presence of Mexican attributes on colonial art were wrong as similar European attributes existed prior to the colonial art, for example in 16th century chapels. He further argued that Mexican colonial art should be examined independently by discussing its style, despite its connection to European art