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Visual Voyages: Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin
An unprecedented visual exploration of the intertwined histories of art and science, of the old world and the new
From the voyages of Christopher Columbus to those of Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, the depiction of the natural world played a central role in shaping how people on both sides of the Atlantic understood and imaged the region we now know as Latin America. Nature provided incentives for exploration, commodities for trade, specimens for scientific investigation, and manifestations of divine forces. It also yielded a rich trove of representations, created both by natives to the region and visitors, which are the subject of this lushly illustrated book. Author Daniela Bleichmar shows that these images were not only works of art but also instruments for the production of knowledge, with scientific, social, and political repercussions. Early depictions of Latin American nature introduced European audiences to native medicines and religious practices. By the 17th century, revelatory accounts of tobacco, chocolate, and cochineal reshaped science, trade, and empire around the globe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, collections and scientific expeditions produced both patriotic and imperial visions of Latin America.
Through an interdisciplinary examination of more than 150 maps, illustrated manuscripts, still lifes, and landscape paintings spanning four hundred years, Visual Voyages establishes Latin America as a critical site for scientific and artistic exploration, affirming that region’s transformation and the transformation of Europe as vitally connected histories.
Published in association with the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Exhibition Accompanies the exhibition Visual Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 16 September 2017—8 January 2018.
From the voyages of Christopher Columbus to those of Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, the depiction of the natural world played a central role in shaping how people on both sides of the Atlantic understood and imaged the region we now know as Latin America. Nature provided incentives for exploration, commodities for trade, specimens for scientific investigation, and manifestations of divine forces. It also yielded a rich trove of representations, created both by natives to the region and visitors, which are the subject of this lushly illustrated book. Author Daniela Bleichmar shows that these images were not only works of art but also instruments for the production of knowledge, with scientific, social, and political repercussions. Early depictions of Latin American nature introduced European audiences to native medicines and religious practices. By the 17th century, revelatory accounts of tobacco, chocolate, and cochineal reshaped science, trade, and empire around the globe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, collections and scientific expeditions produced both patriotic and imperial visions of Latin America.
Through an interdisciplinary examination of more than 150 maps, illustrated manuscripts, still lifes, and landscape paintings spanning four hundred years, Visual Voyages establishes Latin America as a critical site for scientific and artistic exploration, affirming that region’s transformation and the transformation of Europe as vitally connected histories.
Published in association with the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Exhibition Accompanies the exhibition Visual Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 16 September 2017—8 January 2018.
- GenresArt HistoryArtHistory
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 10, 2017
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49 people want to read
About the author
Daniela Bleichmar
9 books2 followersDaniela Bleichmar is Professor of Art History and History at the University of Southern California, where she also serves as Associate Provost for Faculty and Student Initiatives in the Arts and Humanities.
Professor Bleichmar grew up in Argentina and Mexico before immigrating to the U.S. to attend college. She studied at Harvard University (BA, 1996) and Princeton University (PhD, 2005). Before joining the USC faculty, she held a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship through the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, with which she remains actively involved. She is also a member of the executive committee of the USC Visual Studies Research Institute.
Professor Bleichmar grew up in Argentina and Mexico before immigrating to the U.S. to attend college. She studied at Harvard University (BA, 1996) and Princeton University (PhD, 2005). Before joining the USC faculty, she held a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship through the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, with which she remains actively involved. She is also a member of the executive committee of the USC Visual Studies Research Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 10, 2018
Any book that discusses New World exploration, natural history, and art all in one just makes me geek completely out. Living vicariously through this is just the greatest thing ever, and I was very happy NetGalley gave me the opportunity to read this. I will have to see if the library ends up getting a copy of this, so I can request it and hold in its fully glossy-page glory and admire all the artwork again.
This is an essay-based book, so if you’re looking for a book that’s more picture-laden, then I would look elsewhere (although that isn’t to say that the artwork included in here isn’t worth a look). Each of the four chapters covers a different time period, from Columbus’s arrival to Darwin’s exploration of the Americas (mainly South America, but Central America and some Caribbean islands are also in the scope), and they show the gradual evolving of viewpoints of the New World. From seeing the lands as mythical allegories from the Bible, to exploiting the resources, to seeing the land as simply a beautiful thing in itself, it was fascinating to see how viewpoints of the landscape gradually changed over the centuries.
The early centuries of the exploration, when illustrations were typically made by people who had never travelled to the New World, the lands were depicted as curious, frightening, and legendary, and were useful for attracting people to the resources, but not much else. But in later centuries, when illustrations started becoming essential scientific works that were made by scientists or artists who actually travelled through the New World, the lands started being recognized for the beauty, as well as for their useful resources. These later artists helped to grow the Linnaean system of classification of plants through their tireless attention to details in their gorgeous color plates. Without the thousands of plates these artists made, focusing specifically on the parts of plants, it would have taken a very, very long time for the Linnaean system to become a comprehensive one, if ever.
The essays did focus a lot on simply describing many of the artworks that were included in the book, and it did seem a bit redundant–I can see the painting right here on the next page, I don’t need you to describe it so I can imagine it! However by including these point by point descriptions of many of the larger works, it lent itself to a more critical analysis of the artwork from an art history standpoint as well. Many of the works could be seen as examples of the common art styles and cultural ideas of the time, and by pointing out why something was (or wasn’t) included, helps the reader to understand not just the natural history view, but the art styles of the time, and by extension, many cultural and societal norms of the time.
It always amazes me how art and art history can be applied to almost every discipline, from the most serious analytical sciences, to the most typical liberal arts, and this book is no different. These aren’t just pretty pictures, these works can tell a complete narrative of the New World.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
This is an essay-based book, so if you’re looking for a book that’s more picture-laden, then I would look elsewhere (although that isn’t to say that the artwork included in here isn’t worth a look). Each of the four chapters covers a different time period, from Columbus’s arrival to Darwin’s exploration of the Americas (mainly South America, but Central America and some Caribbean islands are also in the scope), and they show the gradual evolving of viewpoints of the New World. From seeing the lands as mythical allegories from the Bible, to exploiting the resources, to seeing the land as simply a beautiful thing in itself, it was fascinating to see how viewpoints of the landscape gradually changed over the centuries.
The early centuries of the exploration, when illustrations were typically made by people who had never travelled to the New World, the lands were depicted as curious, frightening, and legendary, and were useful for attracting people to the resources, but not much else. But in later centuries, when illustrations started becoming essential scientific works that were made by scientists or artists who actually travelled through the New World, the lands started being recognized for the beauty, as well as for their useful resources. These later artists helped to grow the Linnaean system of classification of plants through their tireless attention to details in their gorgeous color plates. Without the thousands of plates these artists made, focusing specifically on the parts of plants, it would have taken a very, very long time for the Linnaean system to become a comprehensive one, if ever.
The essays did focus a lot on simply describing many of the artworks that were included in the book, and it did seem a bit redundant–I can see the painting right here on the next page, I don’t need you to describe it so I can imagine it! However by including these point by point descriptions of many of the larger works, it lent itself to a more critical analysis of the artwork from an art history standpoint as well. Many of the works could be seen as examples of the common art styles and cultural ideas of the time, and by pointing out why something was (or wasn’t) included, helps the reader to understand not just the natural history view, but the art styles of the time, and by extension, many cultural and societal norms of the time.
It always amazes me how art and art history can be applied to almost every discipline, from the most serious analytical sciences, to the most typical liberal arts, and this book is no different. These aren’t just pretty pictures, these works can tell a complete narrative of the New World.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
October 16, 2017
I was expecting a different type of book then what I got. The book is more or less marketed as a book of photos depicting Latin America. There are quite a few pictures don't get me wrong, but the pictures themselves do not really tell the story as with most photography books.
The book is interesting don't get me wrong. It is like a book of essays on the birth and life of Latin America Flora and Fauna. There are 4 chapters in this book. Each chapter covers a different time period ranging over 400 years.
The book may not of been what I was expecting but it is a good book just the same, once you change your mindset.
The book is interesting don't get me wrong. It is like a book of essays on the birth and life of Latin America Flora and Fauna. There are 4 chapters in this book. Each chapter covers a different time period ranging over 400 years.
The book may not of been what I was expecting but it is a good book just the same, once you change your mindset.
October 7, 2017
I have to admit that I was expecting more pictures in this book. Instead, I found myself reading essays about how different explorers interpreted Latin American flora and fauna via artwork. The book also mentions the economic opportunities found in crops such as tobacco, cacao, and even those insects that produce red dye. For me, the most fascinating part was seeing how different animals and fruits evolved from barely identifiable in the earlier depictions to easily identifiable, slightly scientific illustrations.
October 24, 2017
An extraordinary intellectual journey into the representations of Latin America in over 150 maps, landscape and still life paintings and illustrated manuscripts. Noteworthy is that the depictions are also connected visually and through the written background material to the European heritage which shaped the original perception and interpretation of this part of the world. A couple of domains are covered, from the history and ethnography to the botanical representations.
Diclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Diclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
September 5, 2017
A collection of images showing how the area now known as Latin America was depicted and understood abroad. It is also clear how much the region impacted European culture (various fruits, chocolate, and tobacco are a few examples). Note: although the blurb on Goodreads appears to situate the book in a solely European framework ("Columbus to... Darwin"), indigenous people are acknowledged and discussed in the earlier chapters.
September 8, 2017
I think I expected something different -- a focus more on illustrations of the 'visual voyages', however this book seemed more of a history textbook. It contains a lot more information (text) rather than the images I expected. Still an informative resource, yet it seems to be for very specific readers than just a 'coffee table book'.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews