Summary Of Barr's Journal By Alfred H. Barr

Alfred H. Barr’s Journal is an introduction to modern Cuban art is for readers who are unfamiliar with the subject. He begins the text by discussing Cuba’s newly acquired independence and its very traditionalist community. This is all written for the purpose of introducing San Alejandro, the only art school that existed when the artists Barr is discussing attended university. During the 1920s; the fact that it was the only art school in Cuba and Cuba’s history of Spanish colonization caused the school to have a more conservative teaching style than some students would have preferred. Those strict teachings pushed some of those students to become important artists in the Cuban modern art scene and lead to their works being exhibited at MoMa
He does this to make us understand and further appreciate the person’s role as a painter. The information he provides allows us to visualize the artist as experienced and serious about their craft, thus giving them more credibility. This method also gives a sort of break down to their art work. Knowing about their lives allows viewers to see those experiences reflected in their work. Another method that Barr uses to express the seriousness of Cuba’s art scene is that he names publicly accepted artists’ to boost Cuban artists
I liked how he explained everything in a way that would not scare away readers from this unknown subject. For instance, he used a timeline of sorts to explain the emergence of this genre of painting and began it by introducing people like Victor Manuel that, although older than the modern painters, was one of the first people to rebel against San Alejandro’s old-fashioned teachings. His explanation of how the Afro-Cuban influence in their artwork came about was also probably very helpful to readers that did not know much about Afro-Cuban culture and its origins. He clearly expressed how Afro-Cuban culture came about through slaves, how it expressed itself through dance and magic ceremonies, while also mentioning that its influence is something appreciated because of the lack of pre-Colombian culture in Cuba. He introduced the artists’ credentials and backgrounds in a very concise and clear way but left some things unsaid that I would have loved to hear about. One of those things being the impact those artists had in