Landscapes of Desire: The Caribbean

About

Edward J. Sullivan, the Helen Gould Shepard Professor Emeritus in the History of Art, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, examines the significance of paintings and prints from the 16th to 20th centuries that depict Caribbean landscapes.

Over this historical period, the islands were sites of imperial expansion by Spain, England, and France, as well as the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and, ultimately, the United States. European and locally born artists evoke them as places of natural grandeur and wealth; equally at the heart of much of their work is extraction of the natural resources of the Caribbean and surrounding continental basins, accomplished through the use of slave labor—by Indigenous peoples and 10.5 million enslaved Africans brought to the Americas.

Sullivan also addresses the role of both scientific information and Romantic longing in drawing artists to the Caribbean from Europe and North America. Today, the islands’ landscapes continue to serve as images of desire, luring tourists to a myriad of vacation destinations. Meanwhile, contemporary photographic images document the region’s depredation by climate change, as well as enduring political intervention on the part of powerful governmental entities in places such as Cuba and Venezuela.

Generously sponsored by the Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque Memorial Lectureship Fund.