| Summary: | This article analyzes the visual narrative expressed in the exhibition Contemporary North
American Painting during 1941. It was an attempt by the U.S. government to build an image
of the United States as a modern and industrialized society on South Americans. Over the last
decades, concepts such as cultural diplomacy, soft power, and cultural imperialism have
become part of academic analysis. They were used to talk about the relationship between the
United States and Latin America. Cultural diplomacy has often been utilized to analyze the
United States foreign policy during Cold War, understanding it as a set of cultural strategies
that the American government introduced to align Latin American countries against
communism in the USSR. One issue that differs between the Second World War and the Cold
War is that cultural diplomacy was regarded as a cultural battle against communism and the
USSR. In contrast, the Good Neighbor Policy was conceptualized as a paternalistic position
from the United States, committed to avoiding intervening in the domestic policy of Latin
American countries. Authors such as Gisella Cramer (2012) researched the OCIAA and
Roosevelt Politics and revisited aspects and results from the office. Darlene Sadlier (2012), in
her book “American All,” analyzed the different departments and the importance of Good Will
Tours from 1939 to 1945. Also, authors such as Ricardo Salvatore (2006; 2016), in his studies
on “Informal Empire,” have helped understand the relationship with the representational
machinery of the U.S. government. From the art perspective, Olga Herrera’s research (2017)
on Latin American Exhibition has enormous significance for my analysis. They do not delve
into constructing the visual narrative about Latin America as part of the Good Neighbor
exhibition complex. The article was based on reading, analyzing, and cataloging primary
sources. Likewise, the exhibited works of art were operationalized.
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