%C2%A9 2012 Artists Rights Society %28ARS%29%2C New York %2F SOMAAP%2C Mexico City
"Music is a Higher Revelation than Philosophy" Beethoven, 1966
Color lithographexpand_more
The John R. Van Derlip Fundexpand_more P.68.55
Not on Viewexpand_more
Like the United States, Latin America was caught up with abstraction in the 1950s and 1960s. But José Luis Cuevas resisted the trend. Instead he is drawn to the more expressive subject of the figure. He is an incessant sketcher—habits learned early growing up above his grandfather's paper mill in Mexico City—and he often imbues his figures with nightmarish qualities, such as the multiple heads imbedded here. One series of works was devoted to inmates at an insane asylum, another to corpses. Cuevas was famous in Mexico as the enfant terrible who, rather than using his art for reform as the muralists did, chose the more personal path of exploring alienation through his observations of Mexico's beggars, prostitutes, fortune tellers, and homeless.
Details
- Title
- "Music is a Higher Revelation than Philosophy" Beethoven
- Artist Life
- 1934 - 2017
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- P.68.55
- Provenance
- [Martin Gordon Gallery, New York]; sold to MIA, 1968.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Tamarind 1652
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City