The dramatic and narrative force of the Baroque style is assimilated by painters from the middle of the seventeenth century until well advanced in the eighteenth century in southern America and the Caribbean islands, They needed to please the public and their sponsors both ecclesiastical and laity in this region distant from Europe and the Baroque style offers great possibility of adaptability, this advantage was well used by the painters of the time.
Informative note.
In another separate article that follows this, baroque painting will be addressed according to the regions and countries, painting schools and most prominent painters in Latin America and the Caribbean. The magnitude of the information makes it necessary to divide it into these two articles for your best understanding.
In these Western regions initially works sent by Spanish, Portuguese and flamingos baroque painters that served the propaganda message of the faith well, as well as the personal presence of some painters that attracted by the New World were installed to work in the decoration of cathedrals and official buildings.
But once settled, the painters begin to put their own personal imprint, listening to what an audience certainly different from the bourgeoisie and European royalty requested of them and it is so that in their workshops they taught the Creoles their painting techniques that would be assimilated by the latter, but with the variant that they introduce even more, elements of their own local idiosyncrasy, reflected in religious syncretism the characters represented; according to the racial aspect of the region in which they painted, as well as the use of allegorical elements to regional flora and fauna.
The baroque style was used in churches and cathedral altars in those regions of America whose works, usually tell biblical stories and lives of saints, which was of great help to help friars teach religion among the new converts to the Catholic faith. Religion dominated everyday life and therefore, the arts.
Historical issues are also used in public buildings, as well as portraits and to a lesser extent landscapes in homes and palace of the Creole bourgeoisie.
Adapting these artisans and atmospheres painters, color palettes, characters and use of light and contrasts in accordance with the regions in which they developed their works in this continent, as well as in the Caribbean.
The Spanish and Portuguese painters were the ones who most influenced in America but from other schools in one way or another took the Western painters elements and techniques of internationally renowned painters, among which Rubens and Caravaggio stand out. Lugubres, dark atmospheres with large contrasts between dark and light colors are initially used, but gradually replaced by light scenes, light colors as well as brighter pallets with saturated and intense colors, consistent with the natural natural light of the regions of America and the Caribbean.
The vernacular in these western paintings are like an near and human aleum at the time, their intrigues, daily life, traditions and folklore, since; Although the main sponsor and client is the Church, the secular themes of the daily living are also discussed, especially in the portraits. The most used themes are the religious picture of Spanish influence, especially from the Sevillian school. The official portrait is treated with the usual characteristics of this matter throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, where the governor, the bishop or the main man are portrayed in “official possession” with their shields and paraphernalia of symbols. Portraits of members of portentous families by commission, were also made in this baroque era.
In the seventeenth century, the Creoles who worked painting and other artistic manifestations; Although they did it in local and national schools where they learned, they were considered artisans who worked for a salary or commission, many works of the time remain unidentified due to the artisanal and anonymous character with which the arts were treated. In addition to this there was discrimination between Creoles and peninsular in which painters and artisans born in the colonies lacked recognition or even privileges that painters and decorators born in Spain and the rest of Europe had in the colonies.
Already by the end of the seventeenth century artists are grouped into unions and the painters masters surround themselves with the “officers”, that is, young apprentices at their service. New formats of different sizes, more adaptable to beautify colonial houses, without having to be imported from Europe, are highly quoted by an audience eager to possess these works and decorate their stays.
When photography did not exist, the work of these artists on several continents fulfilled a commendable task, expressing a legacy of history and art of that time in their works.
Costumbrist scenes made by Creole painters reflect both religious syncretism and aspects of the life of the poor class, both mestizos and white and Asian population are represented. Many of the paintings and sketches made mostly in the middle of the 18th century are that name them. Especially the period that corresponds to the beginning of the 17th century in which the Baroque began to influence the then nascent artistic manifestation of the colonies.
Miniaturists were also announced as portraitists, as pictorial miniatures, despite being a portrait they were considered a separate genre; His growers were very requested and there are beautiful specimens of this specialty where the vernacle, humor, drama and secular gossip show us a society that despite the austere conflicts and life, governed by religious dogmas, even dances, merchants and works.
In the Caribbean area, especially in the 18th century, black and white engravings give us references to customs and traditions while showing class inequality and the dark slavery in the colonies. The costumbrista cartoon made by art students and local artisans address these issues with the characteristic exaggerated scanning drama of the Baroque.
The painters prepared their colors in the workshop although generally because it was a tedious and slow process that responsibility fell into students. In the different colonies along the Americas and the Caribbean there were several houses of “mercerías” that, among other things, sold the pigments. Coloring, resins and oils that came from Spain, Holland and England. Very used at the time were the golden gold, the Cardenillo, the Gutagamba, the Albayalde, the Carmine, the Ancorca, and others whose substances were more local obtained from flowers and other natural substances.
Summarizing the characteristics of the baroque style in regard to painting, we can say that the costumbristic scenes made by Creole painters reflect both religious syncretism and aspects of the life of the poor class, in some more dramatic cases, such as that of painting in the Caribbean; The terrible slavery is bravely reflected even and when they are works done by commission; Usually to decorate churches, palacetes and public buildings. The way in which the regional towns are represented in terms of flora and fauna as well as the native characters, mark a distinctive separation with the baroque work carried out in Europe.
Informative note.
As we indicated at the beginning of this article, in another separate article that follows this, baroque painting will be addressed according to the regions and countries, painting schools and most prominent painters in Latin America and the Caribbean. The magnitude of the information makes it necessary to divide it into these two articles for your best understanding.