Across the globe, new art traditions have responded to the radical changes of the 20th century.
1945 - present
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Mobilizing grief: Mahmoud Sabri’s acts of solidarity
Sabri’s work mobilized art’s potent expressive capacity in acts of solidarity with those who were not as fortunate or visible.
To see an eclipse: crescents in Jewad Selim’s Baghdadi modernism
Selim's modernist painting is filled with potent symbolism and references to the local culture of Baghdad.
Edna Manley, Negro Aroused
Manley's sculpture has become an icon of the Jamaican nationalist movement and of Caribbean art history.
Armando García Menocal, Campesino y soldado español (Peasant and Spanish soldier)
Following the Cuban War of Independence, Menocal seeks to create a distinct Cuban iconography.
Rafael Tufiño, La Plena
Originally made as a backdrop for the 1957 film La Plena, this mural celebrates the people and music of Puerto Rico.
Mahmoud Hammad, Arabic Writing no. 11
Hammad manipulates the texture, color, and spatial ratios of Arabic words to the point of abstracted illegibility.
Rafael Tufiño, Goyita
A portrait of the artist's mother, Goyita symbolizes the resilience of Puerto Rico.
Ramón Frade, Our Daily Bread
Artists like Frade found in the representations of jíbaros a way to push back against the cultural and political situation.
Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant
In a series of 100 paintings, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu tells the history of Zaïre, or present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The arts of Africa, c. 18th–20th century
African arts played a central role in their communities, whether to communicate royalty, sacrality, inner virtues, aesthetic interests, genealogy or other central concerns
Amrita Sher-Gil, Self-Portrait as a Tahitian
Sher-Gil engages with the artists Gauguin and van Gogh in her complicated self-portrait.
Battle of Adwa
This painting depicts the moment when the Ethiopian army defeated Italian aggressors, defending itself against colonization
