Coloniality at Global Scales: Reframing the Nineteenth-Century Exhibition Image

Abstract

This study advocates for the necessity of writing more lateral art histories across cultures and geographies in the global 19th century by placing two history painters, the Estonian Johann Köler (1826–1899) and the Peruvian Luis Montero (1826–1869), into conversation. Although the role of indigenous actors within local histories of colonial conquest loomed large for both artists, the enduring Eurocentrism of 19th-century art history has limited how we might understand the commensurability of coloniality in the period. This study serves as an experimental roadmap for transcending these historiographical limitations, establishing the 19th century as a significant period of cultural correspondence between Eastern Europe and Latin America.