Retratos, 2,000 years of Latin American Art

Latin America has a long and rich tradition of portraiture. For more than two thousand years, portraits have been used to preserve the memory of the deceased, provide continuity between the living and the dead, bolster the social standing of the aristocracy, mark the deeds of the mighty, record rites of passage, and, in modern times, mock the symbols of the status quo. Portraits connect the individual to the family, the family to the community, and the community to the nation. They bind together disparate populations and help establish national identity. Portraiture is an art form with which most of us identify and is an expression that provides us valuable insight into the lives and minds of the artist and sitter, as well as their time and place.

Interesting web site from the exhibition sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, curated by Marion Oettinger, Jr., interim director and curator of Latin American art at the San Antonio Museum of Art; Fatima Bercht, chief curator at El Museo del Barrio; Carolyn Carr, deputy director and chief curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery; and Miguel Bretos, a historian with expertise in Latin America and senior scholar with the National Portrait Gallery