Anita Brenner
Anita Brenner | |
---|---|
Born | Hanna Brenner 13 August 1905 |
Died | 1 December 1974 Ojuelos de Jalisco, Mexico | (aged 69)
Nationality | Mexico United States |
Occupation(s) | Writer, anthropologist |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Anita Brenner (born Hanna Brenner; 13 August 1905 – 1 December 1974) was a transnational Jewish scholar and intellectual,
Brenner earned a PhD in anthropology at Columbia University and her first book, Idols Behind Altars was the first book to document the artworks, styles and artists of Mexico from Prehistory through the 1920s.[7] It was widely considered her most important work[8] and was filled with photographs by renowned photographers and interviews with the most influential and prolific artists of the period.[9] Her fourth published book was The Wind That Swept Mexico; The History of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1942, having in between printed a guidebook and a children's story. The first book to give a complete account in either English or Spanish on the Mexican Revolution,[10] it was the first to retell the events from a Mexican perspective.[11]
Early life
Anita Brenner was born 13 August 1905 in
In 1916, when Brenner was 11, the family settled in
Brenner moved to Mexico around the age of 18[16] and settled in Mexico City.[17] Frances Toor introduced Brenner to the community of international artists, refugees, and intellectuals then residing in the capital. Brenner became an important member of this cosmopolitan circle and was an important link among them. She was also an important voice for bringing the Mexican artistic florescence to the attention of readers in the U.S., effectively representing it north of the Mexican border.[18][19] For the first time in her life, Brenner felt accepted and began to explore her Jewish roots. She worked for a brief period at B'nai B'rith, meeting recent Jewish immigrants at the port of Veracruz and helping them with their paperwork and resettlement.[5] Brenner quickly became part of the leftist bohemian group and as a journalist was a key voice in the indigenismo movement.[20]
Carleton Beals and Ernest Gruening were influential U.S. journalists whom Brenner met in this early period of her career. Beals helped her launch her publishing career. She was Gruening's research assistant for his book,[5] Mexico and Its Heritage, which he spent five years developing in Mexico before it was published in 1928.[21] In 1924, her first published article was "The Jew in Mexico," published by The Nation,[8] which Gruening had edited from 1920-1923.[22]
President
Modotti and Weston also took personal photographs of Brenner. The differences between them point to the different aesthetics of the photographers. Weston was known for the abstract qualities of his highly focused and "precisely composed black-and-white images of semi-abstract nudes, landscapes, and organic forms". His photographs of Brenner's back[24] are devoid of human interest and a study of form. Modotti attempted to capture scenes and personality, and social context over form were emphasized. Her photographs of Brenner show her dressed in a man's suit and fedora.[25] Though feminists of later decades saw these photographs as uninhibited gender expression, Brenner was discreet about her sexuality,[26] and like most of the female artists of the period, was not a feminist.[12] Their works questioned their personal restrictions, but not as an expressly feminist statement.[27]
New York years
In 1927, Brenner left Mexico for New York to attend
Although she never finished a bachelor's or master's degree, and did not conduct
Brenner's travels through Mexico with the fellowship resulted in a travel book entitled Your Mexican Holiday which was published in 1932. The next decade of her life was spent in the publication of hundreds of articles which appeared in "The Nation (seventeen articles) and the New York Times Sunday Magazine (twenty articles), Mademoiselle, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (fifty articles),[13] as well as stories of Mexican art, culture, refugees and politics which were chronicled in the Jewish press – The Menorah Journal, the Jewish Morning Journal, The Jewish Daily Forward, and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.[8]
During this period, Brenner helped many of Mexico's artists expand their U.S. audiences. She introduced José Clemente Orozco to Alma Reed, who helped plan his first New York showing and guided his career.[30] Brenner and Orozco later had a falling out.[31] She wrote reviews and helped with the translation[citation needed] of Mariano Azuela's The Underdogs, which sold 3,000 copies. She promoted the work of Diego Rivera, though they at times had a contentious relationship, as well as Carlos Mérida[32] and David Alfaro Siqueiros.[33]
Politics
Many of the Mexican artists of the post-
As an independent reporter in Spain, Brenner evaluated the Russian role in the
Brenner occasionally wrote under a pseudonym "Jean Mendez" for Troskyist newspapers.[36] In 1936, it was Brenner who sent a telegram from New York to Diego Rivera asking him to use his influence to find Leon Trotsky a safe haven in Mexico. Trotsky had been in exile for nine years, and Norway was in the process of expelling him. Brenner, on behalf of the Trotskyite Fourth International, asked Rivera to assist in the crisis and secure asylum. Rivera immediately contacted President Lázaro Cárdenas and secured the necessary agreement.[38]
Return to Mexico
Brenner, with her husband and two children, emigrated to Mexico in 1940,[39] to the farm in Aguascalientes her family had left when they moved to Texas. She re-established it for specialty agricultural produce and grew asparagus and garlic.[13]
Brenner continued to publish in the U.S. and renewed her lifelong friendship with Jean Charlot to collaborate on several children's books.[40] In 1943 she published her fourth book, The Wind That Swept Mexico, for which she wrote the text, with George R. Leighton, publishing the vivid photos.[13] which was the first complete account in either the English–language or Spanish recounting the events that occurred during the Mexican Revolution.[10]
It was also the first telling in English that gave a Mexican perspective of the conflict. Many versions of the events of the war had been printed in the US, but mainly those were journalism pieces which negatively reported on events in Mexico. In particular, pieces by William Randolph Hearst's papers were designed to arouse anti-Mexican feeling to protect his own land holdings in Mexico. Brenner defended Mexico's right to determine its own path without foreign intervention.[11] The book was widely acclaimed at the time, and was received well when it was reprinted in the 1970s.[6][10][41][42]
In 1955, Brenner established a monthly publication, Mexico/This Month. Her familiarity with both Mexico and the U.S. gave her the expertise to make Mexico known to an English-speaking public.
Personal life
In July 1930, Brenner married David Glusker,[43] from whom she separated in 1951, ten years prior to his death in 1961.[13] She had two children, a daughter, Dr. Susannah Joel Glusker (1939-2013),[44][45] who taught at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City,[46] and a son, Dr. Peter Glusker (1936–2020),[45] a physician who had a medical practice in Fort Bragg, California.[12]
Two posthumous volumes were released after Brenner's death, by Susannah Joel Glusker, Brenner's daughter. Avant-Garde Art & Artists in Mexico, 2-Volume Set: Anita Brenner's Journals of the Roaring Twenties was prepared using diaries and notes Brenner had made and span the period from 1925 until her marriage in 1930 and photographs from Brenner's files. Some of the photographs were taken by Modotti and Weston for Idols behind Altars and also some images by Máximo Pacheco and Orozco which had not previously been published.[26] Susannah Glusker wrote a biography of her mother entitled Anita Brenner: A Mind of Her Own.[47]
She died in Ojuelos de Jalisco, 83 kilometres (52 mi) east of Aguascalientes, in an automobile accident on 1 December 1974, aged 69.[48][49]
Legacy
Brenner remains an important figure in post-Revolutionary art and history in Mexico, an enthusiast for Mexican art and culture and an active advocate for its importance to a U.S. audience. A prolific scholar and journalist herself, she has been the subject of studies by Mexicanist scholars. The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles hosted an exhibition focusing on Brenner in 2017-18, entitled "Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner's Mexico."[50]
Selected works
- Idols behind altars. New York: Payson & Clarke Ltd. 1929. ISBN 9780486145754
- The influence of technique on the decorative style in the domestic pottery of Cultuacan. Columbia Univ. Pr. 1930. ISBN 9780404505639
- "The Jew in Mexico". The Nation. 119 (3086): 211–212. 1924-08-27. OCLC 818916215.
- "Making Mexico Jew Conscious". The Nation. 133: 252–254. September 9, 1931. OCLC 818916215.
- Your Mexican holiday : a modern guide. maps and illustrations by Carlos Mérida. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1932. OCLC 651365263.
- "The Idols Are Not Forgotten". Mexican Life. 8. 1932. OCLC 269236280.
- "Art: Revolution in Art". The Nation. 136 (3531). March 8, 1933. OCLC 818916215.
- "Art: American Folkways". The Nation. June 13, 1934. OCLC 818916215.
- "Mexico in Transition". New York Times Magazine. January 15, 1939. OCLC 137344843.
- "The Mexican Renaissance: Its Rise and Eclipse". Harper's. Vol. 182, no. 22. January 1941. OCLC 60617860.
- "All Americanos". Mexican Life. 18. June 1942. OCLC 269236280.
- The boy who could do anything, & other Mexican folk tales. Illustrated by ISBN 9780208023537
- Brenner, Anita; Leighton, George Ross (1971). The wind that swept Mexico : the history of the Mexican revolution, 1910-1942. Austin: University of Texas Press. OCLC 1151774262– via Internet Archive.
- A hero by mistake. Illustrated by OCLC 1140660486– via Internet Archive.
- Dumb Juan & the bandits. Illustrated by OCLC 906140041.
- The timid ghost : or, What would you do with a sackful of gold. Illustrated by OCLC 1036959499– via Internet Archive.
- Brenner, Anita (2010). Glusker, Susannah Joel (ed.). Avant-garde art & artists in Mexico : Anita Brenner's journals of the roaring twenties. Austin: University of Texas Press. OCLC 607656856.
- Brenner, Anita (2021). San José Vázquez, Eduardo (transl. and ed.). Hoy las barricadas. Crónicas de la Revolución Española, 1933-1937. Sevilla: Editorial Renacimiento. ISBN 9788418818844
References
- ^ Rick A. López, "Anita Brenner and the Jewish Roots of Mexico's Postrevolutionary National Identity," in Open Borders to a Revolution: culture, Politics, and Migration, edited by Jaime Marroquín Arredondo, Adela Pineda Franco, and Magdalena Mieri. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press 2013, p. 125.
- ^ John A. Britton, "Anita Brenner" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 1, p. 467. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
- ^ Anita Brenner, "A Mexican Renascence." Arts 12 (September 1925): 127-50
- ^ López, "Anita Brenner", p. 123.
- ^ a b c d e f Lopez, Rick A. (2013). Arredondo, Jaime Marroquín; Franco, Adela Pineda; Mieri, Magdalena (eds.). "Chapter 7: Anita Brenner and the Jewish Roots of Mexico's Post-Revolutionary National Identity" (PDF). Open Borders to a Revolution. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press: 123–130. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Anita Brenner, Historiadora de la Revolución. Pintó pintores con sus letras" (in Spanish). Diario Judío México. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ a b Portal de Gobierno del Estado de Aguascalientes. "Anita Brenner (1905–1974)" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Villela, Khristaan D. (9 March 2012). "Jazz Age Chronicles: Anita Brenner on Mexico's Avant-Garde Art and Artists." Review of Avant-Garde Art and Artists in Mexico: Anita Brenner Journals of the Roaring Twenties, ed. Susanna Glusker". Pasatiempo: 18–23. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-8203-1331-9.
- ^ a b c Kolb, Charles C. (April 1999). "Review of Anita Brenner, George R. Leighton. The Wind that Swept Mexico: The History of the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1942". H-LatAm H-Net Reviews. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Anita Brenner A Mind of Her Own - Excerpts. University of Texas Press. 2 October 1998. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-292-72810-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kolb, Charles C. (April 1999). "Review of Glusker, Susannah Joel, Anita Brenner: A Mind of Her Own". H-LatAm H-Net Reviews. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Martinez del Campo, Lynda (August 3, 2013). "Anita Brenner: A Bridge Between Nations and Religions". Mexican Museums and Mavens. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ISBN 0-7914-3179-7.
- ISBN 0-292-72810-7.
- ^ a b c "Anita Brenner (1905–1974)". Enciclopedia de los Munícipios y Delegaciones de México: Aguascalientes (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Helen Delpar, The Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican: Cultural Relations between the United States and Mexico, 1920-1935. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press 1992, p. 40.
- ^ Gilbert M. Joseph, "Revolutionary Encounters of the Transnational Kind: Cross-Border Collaborations, Border Thinking, and the Politics of Mexican State Formation" in Open Borders to a Revolution, Jaime Marroquín et al. eds., p. 244.
- ^ doi:10.18297/etd/327.
- JSTOR 2506192.
- ^ "GRUENING, Ernest Henry, (1887–1974)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-822-33665-5.
- ^ "Nude Study II (Anita Brenner), Mexico, 1925". www.artsy.net. Edwynn Houk Gallery. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-226-00551-5. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780292721845. Archived from the originalon 2015-04-19. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- S2CID 144542817. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ^ MacMasters, Merry (9 December 2010). "Los diarios de Anita Brenner se presentarán en México el próximo febrero" (in Spanish). La Jornada. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Delpar, The Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican, p. 76
- ISBN 0-8173-0582-3.
- ^ Delpar, Enormous Vogue, p. 84.
- ^ Delpar (1992) p 179, p 85, pp 123–128, p 142
- ^ a b Hemingway, Andrew (2002). "American Communists View Mexican Muralism: Critical And Artistic Responses". Cronícas: El Muralismo, Producto de la Revolución Mexicana, en América. 8–9. Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: 13–42. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Kenny, John (December 2006). "The Chicano Mural Movement of the Southwest: Populist Public Art and Chicano Political Activism". University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations: 50–55. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ^ Kutulas, Judy (1983). "The 'Scientific Morality': Independent Marxists and Stalin's Russia, 1935–1940". UCLA Historical Journal. 4: 66–91. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-8078-1716-3.
- ISBN 0-8223-1524-6.
- ISBN 0-8229-3824-3.
- ^ Deacon, Desley (November 3, 2011). "Anita Brenner: Transational Cultural Interpreter Across the Mexican-US Border 1920-1940". Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies School of Politics & International Relations. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ González, Omar (1 November 2014). "El fantasma tímido: Cómo forrarse de oro y no morir en el intento" (in Spanish). notasomargonzalez. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Woolbert, Robert Gale (January 1944). "The Wind That Swept Mexico By Anita Brenner". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires|magazine=
(help) - ^ "THE WIND THAT SWEPT MEXICO By Anita Brenner". Kirkus Review. Harper. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ "Author! Author!". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 13 July 1930. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^ Library of Congress (1999-02-22). "Glusker, Susannah Joel". LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
- ^ a b "Peter Glusker Obituary - (1936 - 2020) - Fort Bragg, CA". Fort Bragg Advocate-News. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
- ^ Adair, Marita (2013-12-05). "Anita Brenner's Journals Published Two Volumes Rich in Detail and Illustration". Mexico Premiere. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
- ISBN 978-0-292-72810-3.
- ^ "Anita Brenner, Wrote on Mexico". The New York Times. AP. 3 December 1974. Page 44, column 1. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Jalisco Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths 1856-1987: Anita Brener Durban". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner's Mexico". Skirball Cultural Center. 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
External links
- Brenner biodata Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Anita Brenner: A Mind of Her Own
- Anita Brenner Collection Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
- "Anita Brenner, a bridge between nations and religions"
- Miller, Beth; BRENNER, ANITA (1977). "An Interview with Anita Brenner". Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe. 4 (1/2): 113–118. JSTOR 25743715.
- Grabinsky, Alan (2017-08-01). "The Revolutionary Jewish-American Woman Who Exposed Rivera, Kahlo, and Siqueiros to the World". Remezcla. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- Anita Brenner: Hoy las barricadas. Crónicas de la Revolución Española, 1933-1937