Page 331 - Arte e Historia
P. 331
Art and History
at the Banco popular dominicano visual arts collection
nation at that point: weak political institutions, the ma- Other structural changes, like the one in communica-
jority of the population lived in rural areas, the peasants tions, do not impede the isolation of regions and villages,
were illiterate and relied on empirical knowledge and fes- although these are transformed into modest developing
tive devotions and beliefs. Also, many joined the battle- cities such as Puerto Plata, Santiago de los Caballeros,
fields in a new process of insurgency driven by regional, San Pedro de Macorís, and even the first city of the New
non liberal warlords. These aspects explain the return World, Santo Domingo, the capital city and the site of the
of Buenaventura Báez, the most committed politician first manifestations in arts, literature, education and the
to the new republican process once the annexationist civic societies in charge of social and cultural promotion.
Pedro Santana disappears. Despite the growth of liber- Eugenio María de Hostos and Salomé Ureña develop a
alism among traders and urban intellectuals, and the new and positive educational endeavor. Showcasing, in her
ascendancy of patriotic leaders like Gregorio Luperón, case, her part of a remarkable generation of writers which
Báez and his followers continued imposing themselves includes José Joaquín Pérez, Manuel de Jesús Galván, Fran-
over the government with various mandates. Báez and cisco Gregorio Billini, César Nicolás Penzon, José Gabriel
his supporters imposed a violent dictatorship for six García and Pedro Francisco Bonó, among others.
years (1868-1874), persecuting opponents involved in a
nationalist armed resistance, whose eventual success is A generation of sculptors, photographers and native
considered another liberal political independence, and a painters is formed for the first time: Ángel Perdomo, Luis
more definitive influence in the national character. The Desangles, Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta, Leopoldo Na-
new order excluded Baez’s conservative authoritarianism varro, Julio Pou, Adolfo García Obregón, Alfredo Senior,
and annexation ideals, but did not shed the autocratic Ramón Mella Ligthgow, José Fco. García, Alejandro Bo-
tendencies, nor the partisan conservatism, political fac- nilla, Arturo Grullón Julia… The latter is a Hostos’ fol-
tions with local rebel troops which constituted the new lower. He is a painter from Santiago, whose initial artistic
tendency of modern military authoritarianism based on training is linked to Juan Fernández Corredor, a Spanish
personality cult. painter who don Eliseo Grullón met while traveling on
a ship coming from Europe and then convinced to land
Between 1875-1900, the liberal governmental ten- in Santo Domingo. As a result, he is associated with a
dency led to a change in economic structures with the drawing school, sponsored by the Friends of Teaching
development of industries that replaced archaic forms, Association in 1883. Within months, Corridor school
especially the case of the more capitalized sugar produc- conducted the first national exhibition which highlights
tion compared to the traditional mode of production eleven distinguished students, including the young Ar-
and marketing of tobacco. This economic trend involves turo Grullón Julia.
a change in the socio-cultural structure and population
makeup since it entails the presence of West Indians The cultural growth within the urban centers has its
and European immigrants, some of them political exiles representation in different cities of the country and pro-
(Cubans and Puerto Ricans) and others moved by a «civi- vides national romantic nuances, as the National Anthem,
lizing» breath (Europeans) or by the labor needs of black with lyrics and music by Emilio Prud’homme and José
British islanders (cocolos) as well as a displacement of na- Reyes. The manifestation of patriotic fervor, which raises
tives that mark out a concentration of population in San the name of Juan Pablo Duarte, starts a cult without prec-
Pedro de Macorís, the southeastern port city surrounded edent with other patriots, including José Ramón Matías
by sugar mills. Mella and Francisco dddel Rosario Sánchez. The appear-
ance of the first Dominican newspapers and magazines
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