The text in this document is taken from a catalogue that mentions the sponsorship of the OAS (Organization of American States) and the ESSO Company for the 1965 Salón de Artistas Jóvenes Latinoamericanos [Young Latin American Artists Salon] and their support of modern Latin American art. The introduction states that the objective is to evaluate Latin American art as a complex tapestry; as heterogeneous and changing works of art that reflect the temporal and spatial conditions in each country and the specific characteristics of individual artists and groups. The goal is also to challenge art histories written by Europeans and North Americans who are unfamiliar with Latin American realities and simply attempt to relate the artistic works of the area to crude Pre-Columbian archeological discoveries.
This document contains information on the Salón de Artistas Jóvenes Latinoamericanos that was organized in 1965 at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC to exhibit a selection of the best contemporary works of art produced in the area stretching from Mexico to Argentina. Each of these works was a winner at one of the local salons for artists under the age of thirty-five that were organized in Latin American countries where the ESSO oil company had affiliates. The salons were organized by the director of the Visual Arts Department of the Pan-American Union, the Cuban art critic José Gómez Sicre (1916–1991), and enjoyed the support of institutes and museums throughout Latin America.
This Salon included works by the Colombian artists Fernando Botero (b. 1932) and Feliza Bursztyn (1933–1982), the Peruvian Fernando de Szyszlo (b. 1925), the Venezuelan Humberto Jaimes Sánchez (1930–2003), and the Mexican Fernando García Ponce (1933–1987). The jury for the Salon included distinguished members headed by the North American museologist Alfred Barr Jr. (1902–1981). This document is related to the “Primer Salón Intercol de Artistas Jóvenes” [First Intercol Salon for Young Artists] [see doc. no. 1097933].