De las montañas al corazón de las montañas: Colombia en la pintura de lo natural

Abstract

Ever since the times of colonial rule, the relationship between image and space has been at the crux of Colombia’s political issues, and images of nature have been a tool used extensively by agents of the government, patriots, and critics of the status quo. This dissertation follows the development of nature painting in Colombia, and the nexus that ties specific images to specific ideological movements. These “practices of space” present images that reflect political agendas of the painters and their employers, and articulate a new reality to be promoted inside and outside of the country. The overly scientific and objective approaches to nature painting that were in vogue for the better part of the 18th and 19th centuries failed to make a territory as complex as Colombia seem cohesive or understandable, and instead contributed to the further racial, economic and political regionalization; in contrast, the second half of the 20th century saw painters abandon these practices to instead focus on the relationship of space and the individual, opening the door to the affective exploration of Colombia’s landscape.