“Somera iniciación al ‘JELSE’” is the text of a talk that the writer, architect, and painter Pedro Prado (1886–1952) gave in 1916 at the first meeting of the group known as Los Diez at the Biblioteca Nacional de Santiago de Chile. The speech was published in the first issue of Las Ediciones de Los Diez (1916–17), which was not devoted solely to the painters, musicians, architects, and writers in the group; it was also presented as a platform for everyone who was wholly committed to the arts in Chile in the early twentieth century. The members had their first group show that year, which included works by Prado, Manuel Magallanes Moure (1878–1924), and Alberto Ried (1885–1965), three well-known writers who were making their debut in the visual arts at the Salon sponsored by the newspaper El Mercurio. Prado showed paintings; Magallanes Moure presented a number of drawings and etchings; and Ried exhibited sculptures. According to an article published at the time, the event was well received by the public, as evidenced by the “significant and encouraging” sales of the works. [See “La torre de Los Diez” (doc. no. 750456) by Prado in the ICAA Digital Archive.]
The driving principle behind Los Diez was the group’s belief that the evolution of art could be enriched by contributions from the different disciplines that each member represented and by a shared approach to addressing the socio-historic conditions of the times. The members were connected by bonds of friendship and the chance to create a space where they could meet and talk, bound by no particular agenda. Members included the literary critic and journalist Armando Donoso (1887–1946); the writers Augusto D’halmar (1882–1950) and Eduardo Barrios (1884–1953); the musicians Alfonso Leng (1884–1874), Acario Cotapos (1889–1969), and Alberto García (1886–1959); the painters Juan Francisco González (1853–1933) and Julio Ortiz de Zárate (1885–1946); and the architect and photographer Julio Bertrand (1888–1918). Prado and Bertrand were the founders of the group; they originally started an association of architects, which they described as the “the anteroom of Los Diez.” Some years earlier, D’halmar, Ortiz de Zárate, and Magallanes Moure, among others, were members of the Colonia Tolstoyana, a group of devotees of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) that included artists working in different disciplines who met to discuss art. [See “Los pintores en el grupo de los Diez” by Gaspar Galaz (doc. no. 765424) and “Notas de viaje” (doc. no. 749932) by Julio Bertrand Vidal.]