This oil on canvas, titled “La Sorpreza (detail),” was painted by José Agustín Arrieta in 1850. It’s now displayed at the Museo Nacional de Historia, INAH, in Mexico City.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is hosting a free lecture via Zoom titled “Art Matters.”
At 3 p.m. Nov. 5, Mey-Yen Moriuchi, an associate professor of art at La Salle University, will explore race, society and identity in 19th-century Mexican costumbrismo.
Costumbrismo is a genre based in Spain and Latin America that manifests itself through visual and literary arts.
It aimed to capture the customs, costumes and traditions of everyday people in everyday life.
The art form gained momentum in Mexico as leaders tried to stabilize the country’s politics and economy. It also focused on corporeal physicality and presence of the Mexican people through their emphasis on naturalistic depiction and detail.
The personal, constructed portrayals of Mexican life tended to be romanticized and politicized. That led to costumbrismo becoming a propagandistic, subjective language of representation that both critiqued and celebrated 19th-century Mexican culture and traditions, according to the museum’s news release.
To reserve tickets for the lecture, visit tickets.sbma.net.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
