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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lee Ortega, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Phone: 305.673.7530
Fax: 305.673.7062
E-mail: lortega@bassmuseum.org

Exhibition to Premiere at the Bass Museum of Art

July 23 - October 2, 2005

Press Preview: Thursday, July 21, 2005

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Diane Camber, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Bass Museum of Art, commented, "This exhibition will be an artistic high point for the residents of Miami-Dade County and Miami Beach and the many thousands of visitors from all over the world expected to visit it. The museum is exceptionally fortunate to be one of the national venues for this outstanding exhibition and we will maximize education and outreach opportunities throughout the community during the time it is with us."

Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits was developed by a curatorial team led by: Dr. Marion Oettinger, Jr., Senior Curator, San Antonio Museum of Art, and scholar in anthropology; Ms. Fatima Bercht, Chief Curator, El Museo del Barrio, and art historian with expertise in modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art; Dr. Carolyn Kinder Carr, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, National Portrait Gallery, and American art scholar with a specialty in portraiture; and Dr. Miguel Bretos, Senior Scholar, National Portrait Gallery, and historian with expertise in the field of Latin America.

"Ford Motor Company Fund is proud to partner with such a distinguished team of scholars to make the Retratos project possible," said Sandra E. Ulsh, President, Ford Motor Company Fund. "Ford Motor Company Fund is dedicated to celebrating cultural diversity and to supporting arts and education programs that stimulate cross-cultural exchange. Following the Ford-sponsored exhibitions El Alma del Pueblo and Visiones del Pueblo, Retratos furthers Ford Motor Company Fund's commitment to honoring the heritage and achievements of the Latino community."

The Exhibition Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portrait
Most of the works featured in Retratos have never before been presented in the United States. Among the artists represented in the exhibition will be: Antonio Berni (Argentinean), Fernando Botero (Colombian), José Campeche (Puerto Rican), José Gil de Castro (Peruvian), Oswaldo Guayasamín (Ecuadorian), Frida Kahlo (Mexican), Anita Malfatti (Brazilian), Armando Reverón (Venezuelan), Diego Rivera (Mexican), David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican), and Rufino Tamayo (Mexican).

Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits will present works representing more than 15 countries in Latin America, and will include loans from private collections and institutions around the world such as Mexico's National Museum of Art; Chile's National Museum of History; Peru's National Museum of Anthropology and History; the Museum of Art of Ponce, Puerto Rico; and Madrid's Museum of America. The exhibition will offer visitors an unprecedented opportunity to explore the vibrant tradition of portraiture in Latin America through the faces of indigenous leaders; Spanish viceroys; bold revolutionaries; ordinary women, children, and men; cloistered nuns; scholars; and world-renowned Latin American artists. The exhibition will also offer insight into how portraiture was used over 2,000 years in Latin America to build support for individuals in power, commemorate the accomplishments of leaders, preserve the memory of the deceased, and undermine symbols of the status quo.

The team of scholars developing the exhibition has worked very closely with leading museums around the world and high-level diplomats to secure loans for Retratos. Cultural attachés in the United States, embassy representatives, and the cultural leadership within Latin American governments collaborated to encourage museums to lend major paintings and other important works.

• El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY: December 3, 2004 - March 20, 2005
  
  
• San Diego Museum of Art, CA: April 16, 2005 - June 12, 2005
  
  
• Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL: July 23, 2005 - October 2, 2005
  
  
• The National Portrait Gallery at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: October 21, 2005 - January 8, 2006
  
  
• San Antonio Museum of Art, TX: February 4, 2006 - April 30, 2006
  

Education & Community Outreach Initiatives
Education initiatives and community outreach programs have been developed through a committee of leaders in museum education drawn from the partnering institutions to bring this project to fruition. Nationally, the exhibition's bilingual education materials will include a teacher's resource guide, a family activity guide, a web site, a poster, and a comprehensive brochure. The educational outreach for this project has also received support from the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives.

Retratos offers an unprecedented opportunity for broad outreach and educational initiatives. Through an array of programs including guided tours, hands-on workshops, educator workshops and a family day, Latino and non-Latino students and families will be introduced to key figures of Latin American and Latino history, often missing from textbooks, as well as the lives of ordinary people representing the diverse culture and traditions of Latin America throughout history.

National and Local Committees of Honor composed of Latino and Latin American leadership in the United States are being organized to support the exhibition. These committees comprise international ambassadors and cultural attachés, as well as key governmental, civic, social and corporate leaders from the Latino communities on both the national and local levels. Local committees are being developed in close partnership with the presenting museums. The committee members will work to ensure that the project reaches as broad an audience as possible, supports educational initiatives within their communities, and provides a platform for exploring the historic roots and contemporary Latino experience in the United States.

The Catalogue
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue of approximately 300 illustrated pages. Encompassing 10 essays by leading scholars in their respective fields, the catalogue will explore the artistic, historical, and social trends and events influencing portraits in each section of the exhibition.

• Marion Oettinger, Jr., anthropologist and Senior Curator and Curator of Latin American Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, will contribute an introduction to the catalogue.
  
  
• Miguel Bretos, historian and Senior Scholar at the National Portrait Gallery, will explore Latin American portraiture through time and space, and will also contribute an essay on 19th-century Latin American portraiture.
  
  
• Elizabeth Benson, art historian and former Director of the Center for Study of Pre-Columbian Art, Dunbarton Oaks, will write an essay on Precolumbian portraiture.
  
  
• Carolyn Kinder Carr, portraiture scholar and Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, will develop text exploring Latin American portraiture in the context of international (particularly European and North American) portraiture.
  
  
• Christopher Donnan, archaeologist, leading Moche specialist, and former Director of the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, will discuss Moche portraits.
  
  
• María Concepción Garcia-Saiz, art historian and Director of the Colonial Department, Museum of America (Madrid), will discuss portraiture during the viceregal period.
  
  
• Renato Gonzales Mello, art historian and full-time Research Associate of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, National Autonomous University of Mexico, will contribute an essay on Diego Rivera's portraits.
  
  
• Kirsten Hammer, art historian and Director of the Latin American Department at Sotheby's, will explore portraits of the cloistered life.
  
  
• Luis-Martin Lozano, art historian and Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City, will provide an overview of modern portraiture.
  
  
• Teodoro Vidal, art historian, collector, and leading specialist on Puerto Rican colonial painter José Campeche, will discuss Campeche's work and the viceregal period in the Caribbean.
  
  
• Luis Perez Oramas, art historian, former curator of The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, and Adjunct Curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, will contribute an overview of contemporary portraiture.

Ford Motor Company Fund
Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, supports programs that enhance and enrich the communities where Ford Motor Company does business. Ford Motor Company Fund is committed to creating educational opportunities that stimulate creativity and promote cultural diversity. In 2003, Ford Motor Company Fund contributed more than $50 million to educational pipeline initiatives and cultural programs, including nationally touring exhibitions and performing arts events. For more information on programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund, visit www.ford.com

About the Bass Museum of Art
The Bass Museum of Art in the heart of the historic Art Deco District offers an overview of major European paintings, sculpture and textiles, plus temporary exhibitions of contemporary art from around the world. Its permanent collection, spanning more and 500 years and four continents, is the most varied in the region. The museum's original 1930 Art Deco building was expanded in 2002 by renowned architect Arata Isozaki and now offers a media center, a beautiful museum shop featuring one of a kind gift items, and a café and terrace that is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday. Educational programs, film series, lectures, and live performances complement the works on view in its five galleries.

Museum hours and admission
Tuesday through Saturday, 10AM-5PM, second Thursdays 10AM-9PM, closed Mondays and holidays. $8 adults, $6 seniors/students. Free, members & children under 6. Group discounts available. Second Thursdays free admission, 6PM-9PM (except special events).

The Bass Museum of Art is located at 2121 Park Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets) Miami Beach, FL 33139. To learn more about the Bass Museum of Art, please visit our website at www.bassmuseum.org or call 305.673.7530.