Research Guides: POM ARHI 130 / Latin American and Latinx Art / Romero / FA25: Primary Sources and Art in Latin American Museums and Collections

Primary Sources in our Special Collections

Below are some examples of resources found in Special Collections that may be of interest to you.

🌟For more, check out this guide on Latin American Collections at The Claremont Colleges, which goes into detail about available materials.🌟

Archival materials related to artworks at The Claremont Colleges

José Clemente Orozco Scrapbook
This collection consists of articles and newspaper clippings about José Clemente Orozco's art on college campuses.
José Clemente Orozco Materials Collection
Collection of materials donated by David W. Scott; Pomona College 1937; Professor of Art, Scripps College, 1946-1963.
Merritt Collection of José Clemente Orozco
This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, clippings relating to the painting of the Prometheus mural at Frary Hall, Pomona College; and images of Frary Hall and the Prometheus mural.

Artists' books

Codex Espangliensis by Guillermo Gómez-Peña; Enrique Chagoya; Felicia Rice
ISBN: 9780872863675

Publication Date: 2001-01-01

Inspired by the pre-Hispanic codices that escaped immolation during colonial invasions, this artists' book opens out in accordion folds expanding to a length of over 21 feet.
Doc/Undoc by Guillermo Gómez-Peña; Felicia Rice (Artist); Jennifer González (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9780872867208

Publication Date: 2017-12-12

What does it mean to be documented or undocumented? How do these terms work across borders and boundaries, languages and nations? These are the questions fueling the experimental artwork-in-a-box,Documentado/Undocumented, a book art piece that explores the intersection of printmaking, typography, performance, video, sound art, and installation.

Mesoamerican manuscripts in facsimile format

Antiquities of Mexico by Edward King Kingsborough Viscount; Agostino Aglio; Guillermo Dupaix
Publication Date: 1830-48

Painted reproductions of Mexican manuscripts commissioned by Lord Kingsborough and illustrated by Agostino Aglio.
Codex Nuttall: Facsimile of an Ancient Mexican Codex Belonging to Lord Zouche of Harynworth, England
The facsimile is mounted on board, connected to form a continuous strip, folded into 42 leaves, the first and last attached to parchment covers.
Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus 1 by Otto Adelhofer
Publication Date: 1963

Text by Adelhofer is accompanied by facsimile of Mixtec manuscript, folded accordian-style in wooden covers.

Maps

Maps and Mapping at The Claremont Colleges
Maps and Mapping at The Claremont Colleges offers digital access to printed maps available at The Claremont Colleges Library Special Collections, as well as those available at Ella Strong Denison Library at Scripps College. Mostly historical maps (1600s-1800s) but includes early maps of Claremont and Pomona, a 1941 map of San Bernardino County, and a couple of Claremont Chamber of Commerce maps.
Rundel Latin American Map Collection
Finding aid to a collection of maps produced from the early 1600s to the late 1800s largely focused on South America, but also includes maps of Africa, Asia, North America, and Oceania.

Primary Source Resources

A primary source is "first-hand" information. They are sources that are as close as possible to the origin of the information or idea under study. Using primary sources is a key part of art historical research.

Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1-2

Why search here? Discover primary sources about U.S. Hispanic history, from political movements to literature and culture.
Content type: Primary sources, books, correspondence, essays, newspaper articles, pamphlets, photographs, poetry, reports, transcripts
Coverage dates: 1700s-1900s

Language: Spanish, English
Keywords: Arte Publico

International Center for the Arts of Americas (MFAH ICAA)
The Museum of Fine Arts Huston ICCAA's Documents of Latin American and Latino Art is an initiative dedicated to the recovery and publication of primary source materials and critical texts related to Latin American and Latinx art. The initiative addresses the endemic lag in access to documentation in the field of Latin American and Latinx art history, research, and teaching by digitizing writings by artists, leaders of artistic movements, critics, and curators from Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States.
José Guadalupe Posada Works in Mexico in History Database
Collection of works by José Guadalupe Posada published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo

Latin American Newspapers

Why search here? Explore full scanned images of Latin American newspapers from the 19th and early 20th century.
Content type: Newspaper articles
Coverage dates: 1805-1922

Includes access to Series I and II.
Language: Spanish, English, Portuguese, French
Latino American Experience: The American Mosaic

Why search here? Discover primary sources and background information related to Latino history and culture in the United States, ranging from ancient civilizations to the modern political engagement.
Content type: Primary sources, reference materials, biographies, correspondence, historical newspapers, government documents, photos, illustrations

Also includes some audio and video content, as well as historical newspapers published in Latin America and South Asia.
Language: English, Spanish

MoMA-Survey of Archives of Latino and Latin American Art
In July 2003 the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) sub-contracted The Museum of Modern Art Library to survey archives documenting Latino art in greater New York as part of METRO’s Documentary Heritage Project. This project aimed to identify and inventory the archives of New York institutions that have supported and showcased Latino and Latin American artists, and to establish a network of repositories. This website provides researchers with an overview of each archival collection surveyed and highlights their assets to facilitate access to materials and promote research on Latino art.

HathiTrust Digital Library

Why search here? Explore materials spanning a wide variety of languages, subjects, and formats, including full text access to those in the public domain and limited search for those still under copyright.
Content type: eBooks, government reports, scholarly articles, primary sources, reference materials, biographies, conference proceedings
Special Note: To download content you must login by selecting your college.

HathiTrust is a collective of academic and research libraries that digitizes materials, whether they are in-copyright or the public domain, for the purpose of preservation. Eligible students with a print disability can request a copy of any book in the collection, regardless of copyright status.
Language: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.
Keywords: Hathi Trust

Archives of American Art
Thousands of documents, photographs, diaries, sketches, writings, and rare published materials by and about artists, from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Museum and Art Collections

The museums listed below are good resources to explore artworks and collections across Latin America. Browsing collections can be a great way to find artworks you're interested in exploring further. These collection websites often provide useful information about the object (size, material, date), provenance (the history of an artworks ownership), and even artist information.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires (MALBA)
The mission of MALBA is to collect, conserve, study and create awareness of Latin American art from the early 20th Century to the present.
Pinacoteca of São Paulo (Brazil)
The Pinacoteca de São Paulo is a museum of visual arts with an emphasis on Brazilian production from the 19th century to the present and in dialogue with the cultures of the world.
Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru (MALI)
MALI's collection includes over 3,000 works of art from the Pre-Columbian to contemporary periods. Website includes a virtual collection.
Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City
The National Museum of Art preserves, exhibits, studies and transmits Mexican works of art produced between the second half of the XVI century and 1954, thus offering a global and synthesized vision of Mexican Art from this period.
Benton Museum of Art
The Benton has Latin American art in it's collections, so as you're thinking of developing a topic, it could be a great opportunity to study art first-hand!
Benton Museum Latin American Art Sources
This site includes Latin American art at the Benton Museum compiled by Professor Romero.

Virtual Exhibitions

When museums shuttered because of Covid-19, some institutions created digital versions of exhibitions they had planned. Below are some examples of online exhibitions.

Beauty and Struggle Latino Photographers Document Urban America
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Synopsis from the exhibition: "The photographs gathered in this online exhibition coincide with the decline of urban neighborhoods during the postwar era, when middle class populations moved from the cities to the suburbs and newly built highways cut through thriving communities. Latino photographers were driven to capture both the experience of urban neglect and the ignored beauty—to use a term coined by photographer and painter John Valadez—of urban residents during periods of social and economic struggle."
I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America
This exhibition is through the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale. Includes a gallery of artworks in the exhibition and a digital "walk-through" option, so you can virtually explore walking through the galleries.
Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) Virtual Museum
MASP has both digitized gallery space and "guided tours" of artworks.
The Avant-Garde Networks of Amauta: Argentina, Mexico, and Peru in the 1920s
This exhibition from the Blanton Museum of Art explores the history of Latin American modern art through the magazine Amauta, published in Peru by José Carlos Mariátegui from 1926 to 1930.