Overview

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 Schedule: Accompanies the exhibition Visual Voyages: Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 16 September 2017—8 January 2018.

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9780300224023

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The Huntington Library (09/16/17-01/08/18) The Huntington Library

`fascinating, sensitively written book' - Barbara Kiser, Nature's books and arts blog A View From the Bridge Daniela Bleichmar s Visual Voyages is the 2018 ALICE AWARD winner, given by the Furthermore grants in publishing, a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund Honorable mention received for the 2019 ALAA-Arvey Foundation Exhibition Catalogue Award

The Huntington Library (09/16/17-01/08/18) * The Huntington Library * The Huntington Library (09/16/17-01/08/18) The Huntington Library

Author Information

Daniela Bleichmar is associate professor of art history and history at the University of Southern California. 

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