In the article “Hacia el arte revolucionario,” F. R. P. (Francisco R. Pintos, 1889–1968) opposes the tolerance expressed by JOS (Juvenal Ortiz Saralegui, 1907–59) of “pure art” as practiced by Uruguayan painters; Ortiz Saralegui saw “pure art” as a possible phase in a transition to revolutionary art. Pintos denies that “a neutralized art” is possible and lays out what a revolutionary artist’s approach should be. “For a fighter who wants to give himself over to the proletarian cause, there is no room for the good or the bad, the moral or the immoral, the just or the unjust,” he asserts. “The only thing good, moral, or just is that which serves the interests of the oppressed. Everything else must be rejected because it furthers the cause of the class enemy.” Both articles evidence the complicated situation that artists in Uruguay faced due to the sudden politicalization of the intellectual field and the contradictions that arose in the back and forth between aesthetic dogma, on the one hand, and political-ideological doctrine, on the other. In his response to Ortiz Saralegui, Pintos does not address the tactical nature of Ortiz Saralegui’s proposal. All he does is refute it on an ideological level from an orthodox leftist standpoint.
[For further reading, see in the ICAA digital archive the following texts, also by Juvenal Ortiz Saralegui: “Consideraciones sobre la expresión heroica” (1225615), “Fuera del Salón Oficial” (1221528), “Hacia el arte revolucionario” (1198856), “Hacia el arte revolucionario III” (1198748), and “Los jurados de los salarios artísticos de 1935 atentó contra la cultura” (1225596)].
