A new exhibition at the National Gallery in London highlights the contributions of Mexican artist Jose Maria Velasco to national identity formation through landscape painting. Unlike iconic figures like Rivera and Kahlo, Velasco, who is celebrated in Mexico akin to Constable or Turner in the UK, intelligently combined art with contemporaneous scientific study, reflecting the complex territorial anxieties between Mexico and the US. His evolution from European Romantic influences to more abstract interpretations marks a turning point in how Mexico expressed its cultural landscapes and national story.
"Landscape painting was a way to understand other nations. What did a country look like?" Reflecting on how Jose Maria Velasco’s work explored national identity through landscape.
"While his early work fits into the European Romantic tradition, what is really impressive is how this changes... to make work that is much more stark and abstract." Explaining Velasco's evolution in style.
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