Latin Masters

Before the Second World War, in Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Uruguay, and elsewhere, another American modernism was taking shape.

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Forging a New Art

Banksy, Mona Lisa Smile

What happens when artists imitate their imitators? By Jonathon Keats In the first few months of 1963, the Mona Lisa was seen by nearly two million people in New York and Washington, D.C. Shipped to the United States on a diplomatic mission – escorted by the French culture minister and received by President John F.…

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It’s Complicated

Patek Philippe

Wristwatches that do a lot more than tell time are very much of the moment. By Jonathon Keats On Christmas Day, 1969, Seiko introduced the Astron, the world’s first quartz wristwatch. While it wasn’t cheap—at 450,000 yen, it cost the same as a new Toyota—within several years, inexpensive Japanese quartz threatened to put traditional Swiss…

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