Biblioteca de Historia del Arte Imaginarios en conflicto: lo español en los siglos XIX y XX XVIII Jornadas Internacionales de Historia del Arte. Madrid, 14-16 de septiembre, 2016 (Imaginaries in conflict: Spanishness in the 19th and 20th centuries - 18th International Conference on Art History. Madrid, September 14th–16th, 2016)

This collective work is edited by Miguel Cabañas Bravo and Wifredo Rincón García, senior researchers with the Departamento de Historia del Arte y Patrimonio del Instituto de Historia (Institute of History’s Department of Art History and Patrimony) of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC; Spanish National Research Council) and published by the latter institution. Founded by the Spanish government in 1907 as the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios and refurbished as CSIC after the Spanish Civil War, this is the foremost research organization in Spain; globally, it ranks 7th as a public research institute. Its scope ranges widely, from the physical and biological sciences to philosophy, as it is organized in several departments.
 
One of these departments is devoted to art history studies. Besides its many activities, since 1981, the Department of Art History and Patrimony has been holding an international biennial congress called Jornadas de Arte, where, by invitation, specialists present their research within a given frame of reference. The 18th edition, held in Madrid in 2016, was consecrated to the analysis of visual representations and interpretations of Spanish identity, both inside Spain and abroad. This international perspective stems from the fact that many stereotypical images of Spain and its culture were elaborated by foreign onlookers, especially during the 19th and 20th centuries. The title of the congress, whose proceedings were compiled in this eponymous book, Imaginarios en conflicto: lo español en los siglos XIX y XX (Imaginaries in Conflict: Spanishness in the 19th and 20th Centuries), also makes reference to the fact that there are many different visual representations of Spanish identity and culture, often in conflict with each other. A classic example in this respect is the contrasting images of Spain developed in the immediate postwar era by artists linked to the Franco regime, on one side, and those made by exiled artists, on the other.
 
In order to articulate the field of research, which encompasses many creative media and an extended chronology, both the congress and the book were divided into three sections:
 
1. Stereotype and tradition: Ranging from Goya’s bullfighting images to the contradictory artistic representations of 19th century Spanish bandoleros or the reception of Spanish Golden Age painting in 20th century Japan, this section explores the relationship between art and the vernacular, a relationship complicated by factors as diverse as Romantic ideology, nationalist policies, and tourism development.
 
2. Institutional representations and popular expressions: In this case the focus is on the manipulation of regional and popular culture by institutions, such as the state, the art world, and the entertainment industry. Subjects like the artistic depictions of lower-class women known as “majas” or the cinematic visions of Spanish folklore are analyzed here.
 
3. Regionalism, nationalism, and identity politics: This final section assembles a series of papers delving into the topic of the construction of Spanishness as it is related to different regionalisms, nationalisms, and identity politics. Early 19th century monarchical ceremonies and the present-day usage of “mudejar” art as a regional identity marker are analyzed in this section, among other themes.
 
Twenty-nine papers are therefore included in this publication, complemented by photographic reproductions of the artworks concerned. The work is heterogeneous in its areas of investigation, and the reader will note that a significant number of studies are concerned with the Franco era and its aftermath, a reminder of its impact on contemporary Spanish society. Beyond this particular point, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the problematic definition of Spanishness in art, and its findings can be fruitfully compared to other national or regional contexts.
 

(Written by Isaac AIT MORENO, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / 2022)