El Whispering Clouds, Echoing Mountains: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Gonzalo Ariza’s Lyrical Landscapes

Abstract

This essay reevaluates the art of Gonzalo Ariza, a twentieth-century Colombian painter renowned for landscapes that merge Eastern and Western traditions. Challenging simplistic categorizations of his oeuvre as an “appropriated Japanese style,” my research argues that Ariza’s vision of landscape transformed into a contemplative attitude towards local Andean highlands after his return from Japan in 1938. It contextualizes the challenges Ariza faced when drawing inspiration from East Asian art amidst mid-twentieth-century modernist currents and political circumstances, shedding light on the critical narratives that marginalized his work and unraveling the complexities of Colombian modernism within a global art discourse. Building upon Warburg's concept of dynamograms to describe “pathos formula” in landscapes, this study argues that Ariza’s work transcends cultural boundaries, which links both traditions through the subtle emotions evoked by cloud-shrouded mountains, eliciting a universal appreciation for nature’s mystical splendor. Through cross-cultural comparison and an ecocritical lens, my essay delves into the interplay of transcultural exchange, nationalist identity, andrepresentations of nature in Ariza’s artworks, revealing his nostalgic proto-environmental consciousness. In doing so, it raises raising questions about the transformative power of landscape art to reflect and influence societal values and perspectives on nature within contemporary dialogues on environmental stewardship and the negotiation of cultural identity through art.