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Description

Eugenio Maria de Hostos, with the support of late 19th-century Dominican liberals, spearheaded the transition from scholastic education to an education grounded on scientific principles and liberal ideals. Through the discussion of four fundamental principles for drawing instruction in Hostos’s educational project, I examine why teaching young people drawing skills was central to his anticolonial political project. Drawing from decolonial and critical frameworks, I analyze the connection between art classes in schools and the political struggles to democratize and modernize Dominican society. I argue that, despite seemingly good intentions, the influence of Western philosophy and 19th-century scientific rationalism led Hostos and his disciples to ignore the arts and culture of working-class Dominicans. This historical inquiry is based on the analysis of primary sources located mainly in the General Archive of Santo Domingo and a special collection at the City University of New York’s Dominican Studies Institute. This historical inquiry contributes to contemporary conversations seeking to democratize historiographical accounts in art education.

Funding Source

This article was published open access thanks to a transformative agreement between Milner Library and Taylor & Francis.

Publication Title

Studies in Art Education

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1080/00393541.2026.2675201

Disciplines

Art and Design | Art Education

Comments

First published in Studies in Art Education (2026): https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2026.2675201

Drawing and the Pursuit of Progress in the Late 19th-Century Dominican Republic

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