Nostalgia For My Island:
Puerto Rican Painting from the Museo de Arte de Ponce (1786 – 1962)
The exhibition Nostalgia for My Island: Puerto Rican Painting from the Museo de Arte de Ponce (1786–1962) presents together for the first time outside of Puerto Rico, a selection of works from the museum’s collection, including several works by José Campeche Y Jordán (1751 – 1809) and Francisco Oller y Cesteros (1833 – 1917), among other towering figures in the history of Puerto Rican art. The selection highlights the production of a group of artists active during the first six decades of the twentieth century, who were instrumental in the development of Puerto Rican painting. These artists were committed to the preservation of Puerto Rican identity, which they saw as being under threat from the political changes that occurred at the end of the nineteenth century, main among these the Spanish-American War and the invasion of the island by U.S. forces, ending four hundred years of Spanish rule over Puerto Rico. Organized around three main themes: My Island, My People, and My Home, the exhibition explores the notion of longing and the development of identity for those born in the diaspora.
The exhibition is curated by Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, Curator of the Museo de Arte de Ponce, and is accompanied by a fully illustrated, bilingual catalog.
