Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This English/Spanish bilingual volume explores American landscape painters active from 1850 to 1910 whose portrayals of Cuba reflect political, social, and ideological changes in both countries.
In the Mind's Eye: Landscapes of Cuba is a ground-breaking exploration of the Cuban landscape in the imagination of American and Cuban artists. It opens new avenues of inquiry about this Caribbean island, which has played an outsized role in global politics, economics, and culture. For centuries an Edenic image of fantasy and escapism has been projected onto Cuba by observers from North America and Europe. Until recent times, the harsh historical and contemporary realities of servitude, racial strife, and environmental degradation barely colored artists' portrayal of the country, presenting a skewed perspective on this nation. The history of landscapes of Cuba largely reflects the complex ways in which Cuba has been viewed and imagined by its northern neighbors. As cultural constructs, the landscapes in this volume map desire, imagination, and political and economic developments.
Not simply the depiction of natural scenery, landscapes serve as the perfect metaphor for real and imagined worlds. In the Mind's Eye tells many stories about Cuba that reflect the island's significance, both as the place from which Cubans fled, and a destination to which Americans flocked. While the dynamics of the Revolution in 1959 frame many conversations about Cuba, this volume seeks a longer historical trajectory by focusing on the nineteenth century--with visual interpretations and commentary by twenty-first-century artists. US artists William Glackens, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, and Willard Metcalf are featured alongside contemporary artists such as Juan Carlos Alom, Mar a Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Juana Valdes.