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Museum of Fine Arts Opens Dreams and Realities: Latin American Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors

Museum of Fine Arts presents Dreams and Realities: Latin American Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors, 1959-1991, open through Museum of Fine Arts Dreams and Realities: Latin American Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors, 1959-1991 February 6, 2011.

This exhibition is inspired by a large-scale etching and aquatint by the Cuban-born artist Julio Larraz in the Museum’s collection, Magic Eye (1989). In this still life, the viewer enters into a mysterious world. While based on seventeenth-century bodegones found in Spanish painting, the ordinary objects within the composition are transformed by Larraz, from the oversized melons to the expressive lighting and palette, all creating a mood of intense drama.

Organized thematically with over 30 works based on the imagination or on observation, or both, the exhibition suggests the nature of and themes found in Latin American art created after 1950. Influences are complex and multi-layered: Cubism, Surrealism, indigenous cultures, the tradition of caricature and social commentary, and magic realism. Among the other artists represented are José Luis Cuevas and Francisco Zúñiga (Mexican, born Costa Rica), Roberto Matta (Chilean), Carlos Poveda (Costa Rican), Omar Rayo (Colombian), and Antonio Seguí (Argentinean). Works by many of the artists represented in the collection and in Dreams and Realities are rarely seen in the area, making this a significant addition to ARTE 2010: Tampa Bay’s Festival of the Americas taking place November 5th through the 15th.

Image: Julio Larraz American (b. Cuba, 1944) Magic Eye, 1989 Colored etching and aquatint on paper Museum Purchase with funds donated by Hanna Koch

The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida was founded by Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896-1980) and reflects her vision of providing outstanding examples of world art in an inviting, elegant setting. The Museum opened to the public in 1965. The Museum is dedicated to serving all people by pursuing excellence in art from antiquity to the present through collection, exhibitions, and education for its diverse audiences.

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