Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz
Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz (San Miguel de Allende, 1713–1770, Mexico City)[1] was an 18th-century Mexican painter, a mestizo according to the system of racial classification.[2] He is most well known for his casta paintings.
Born in 1713 in
Morlete Ruiz's paintings are significant to Mexican art history because Morlete Ruiz was one of the first artists to employ what would become standard elements of 18th century Casta painting. In his Casta sets, much could be determined about the status of the subjects based on their clothing, hair, and surroundings. His paintings featured the Spanish men as the dominant figures in the family. He also used body language to express attitudes and emotions that supposedly resulted from racial mixing.
Apart from Casta painting, Morlete Ruiz followed the trend of exoticism by painting local flora and fauna, especially fruits to show a Spanish audience the bounty of the New World. Color contrast, sharp detail, and positioning of the figures reflect the influence of Dutch and Flemish genre painting in his work.[5]
Some of Morlete Ruiz's paintings can be seen today at the
See also
References
- ^ Sanchiz, Javier (2003), 'El grupo familiar de Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, pintor novohispano', in Aneles del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, vol. XXXV, n. 103, http://www.analesiie.unam.mx/index.php/analesiie/article/view/2505
- ^ Ilona Katzew. "Valiant Styles: New Spanish Painting, 1700-85", in Painting in Latin America, 1550-1820, Luisa Elena Alcalá and Jonathan Brown. New Haven: Yale University Press 2014, p. 169.
- ^ New Acquisition; Three Casta Paintings by Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz.http://lacma.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/new-acquisition-three-casta-paintings-by-juan-patricio-morlete-ruiz/
- ^ Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz: Conservation of the Ports of France. lacma.org.
- ^ Ilona Katzew. Casta Painting: Images of Race in Eighteenth-Century Mexico