CITYist

Joaquín Torres-García, New York Docks, 1920.

For many Hispanic New Yorkers, the city was “Nueva York” first. Thus, appropriately named is El Museo del Barrio’s newest exhibition. Opening today, Nueva York is a collaborative effort between the cultural institution and the esteemed New York Historical Society. The multimedia collection, comprised of paintings, sketches, documents, books, maps, artifacts and more provides nearly 400 years of context through which to understand the compelling history of the Latin American, South American, Caribbean and Spanish people who journeyed to (not always by choice), settled and lived in New York.

Landscape paintings like Frederic Edwin Church’s Cayambe (1858) provide an image of the beautiful countries many left behind, while José Clemente Orozco’s The Subway brings us forward to modern life—or at least, the Mexican-American painter’s 1928 representation of an aspect of it. What’s more, listening stations play Latin music and an art installation screens a documentary about Latino New Yorkers from the mid-20th century onwards. What’s left is an understanding and appreciation for the part Hispanics had, and continue to have, in developing and enhancing the multiple facets of New York City life. The exhibition runs through January 11, 2010; check out the website for more info.

Frederic Edwin Church, Cayambe, 1858.

José Clemente Orozco, The Subway, 1928.

Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club, 1875. All images courtesy of El Museo del Barrio.