Mariachi is a style of Mexican music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Western Mexico. The story is that in 1907 General Porfirio Diaz ordered a mariachi band to play for visiting U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root, and the general told them to wear charro suits, which became the traditional dress of the mariachi bands. After the Revolution of 1910 mariachi music became more and more identified with Mexican nationalism and patriotism.
With his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso shocks the Paris art scene in 1907. The painting was presented on an eight foot square canvas at his studio. The painter Derain said “One day we shall find Pablo has hanged himself behind his great canvas.” Matisse was outraged by the painting because he thought it was a joke, an attempt to make fun of the Fauvists and of his paintings in particular. You can read more about this revolutionary work of art at Wikipedia.
