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Diez preguntas de Marta Traba a Beatriz González
1973In this interview, art critic Marta Traba poses ten questions to Colombian artist Beatriz González. Traba begins by inquiring about the ironic nature of González’s subjects and the kitschy character of the objects she produces. In [...]ICAA Record ID: 1343029 -
Beatriz González : la cursilería como arte
1971In this newspaper article, Marta Traba asserts that Beatriz González’s art epitomizes the Colombian avant-garde. It describes the difficulty of introducing González’s oeuvre at the XI Bienal de São Paulo, and states [...]ICAA Record ID: 1343013 -
Qué cara tiene el héroe
1969In this article, which appeared in El Espectador (Bogotá), Marta Traba defends the portrait of Simón Bolívar (“El Libertador”) made by Beatriz González from the attacks of conservative members of the Academia [...]ICAA Record ID: 1342998 -
¡Cláro que hay jóvenes con talento!
1964In this April 1964 magazine article, Marta Traba attests to Beatriz González’s artistic talents, reaffirming the decision by MAM (Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá) to exhibit the young artist’s work in a debut solo exhibition [...]ICAA Record ID: 1342966 -
Una América que se llama Szyszlo / Marta Traba
1964For Marta Traba, the Fernando de Szyszlo exhibition in Bogotá (Colombia) evidences that “the mistake does not lie in wanting to be American, but in how one is American.” In her opinion, the series of works by the Peruvian painter inspired by the [...]ICAA Record ID: 1292951 -
Cornelis Zitman
1976In this essay, Marta Traba presents a broad overview of contemporary sculpture. She bases her report on the writings of Werner Hoffmann, Gillo Dorfles, and Jean Clarence Lambert, who provide a breakdown of the various movements, trends, and artists [...]ICAA Record ID: 1167924 -
Gego
1977Marta Traba analyzes the special characteristics of Gego’s visual language by studying the public works rendered by the artist in Caracas. In her opinion, Gego’s work is based on an understanding of the structures that underlie nature and how [...]ICAA Record ID: 1160134 -
Escultura I : más sobre Gego
1977In her essay, “Escultura I: Más sobre Gego” [Sculpture I: More on Gego], Marta Traba writes an overview of twentieth-century sculpture, paying special attention to modern sculpture. She states that the history of modern sculpture [...]ICAA Record ID: 1160118 -
Negret
1963The text “Negret” by the Argentine art critic based in Colombia, Marta Traba, consists of an analysis of the entire body of work of the sculptor Édgar Negret up to 1964. This is probably one of the first articles on the artist to present all his [...]ICAA Record ID: 1133685 -
Tema 1: nacimiento del arte
1957This document is an excerpt from the first chapter of Curso de historia del arte [Art History Course] (broadcast by Radiotelevisora Nacional de Colombia [Colombian National Radio Television], 1957–58), the television series that was directed and [...]ICAA Record ID: 1131467 -
La resistencia : fragmento del capítulo "La resistencia". Dos décadas vulnerables en las artes plásticas latinoamericanas 1950/1970.
1984Renowned Latin American art historian, Marta Traba, establishes a theoretical link between cultural-economic dependency and the art of developing countries in these two milestone texts, “La resistencia” and “La cultura de la Resistencia.” [...]ICAA Record ID: 1126517 -
Historia abierta
1985Art critic Marta Traba authored the essay “Historia abierta,” which was included among the texts for the exhibition América: Mirada interior. Figari, Reverón, Santa María, in Bogotá, July 4 through August 18, 1985, published by the Banco de [...]ICAA Record ID: 1107039 -
Sin titulo
1973In this text, Marta Traba discusses painter José Campos Biscardi’s solo show Campos (Galería Living Art, Caracas, 1973) as well as his participation in different art salons in Venezuela in 1972 and 1973, asserting that his work has grown more [...]ICAA Record ID: 1106995 -
[Oswaldo Vigas ha reunido esta cuidadosa retrospectiva que abarca treinta años de su trabajo]
1973In Marta Traba’s criticism of the Venezuelan painter Oswaldo Vigas, she deems him one of the group of artists she calls “the remains” The critic uses that category to group Latin American artists who have remained faithful to their artistic [...]ICAA Record ID: 1106962 -
Alpuy en la Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango
1958In this article, published in Bogotá’s El Tiempo newspaper on the occasion of Julio Alpuy’s first exhibition in Colombia, the Argentine critic Marta Traba reiterates her earlier strong critiques of the constructive system proposed by Joaquín [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105143 -
Torres García en Bogotá
1957The Argentine critic Marta Traba wrote a weekly column for the Bogotá newspaper El Tiempo in which she discussed the theories of the Uruguayan maestro Joaquín Torres García. On the occasion of the arrival in Bogotá of the latter’s student, [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105127 -
Del Villar : la fiesta seria
1975The art critic Marta Traba wrote the introductory essay in the catalogue for the exhibition of works by the artist Hernando del Villar that opened at the Galería Belarca April 29, 1975. Traba describes the paintings as festive, decorative, and [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105111 -
Las dos líneas extremas de la pintura colombiana : Botero y Ramírez Villamizar
1969Critic Marta Traba’s premise in this essay is that the process by which art emerges has been a constant in the history of Colombia’s national culture. Traba uses the word “emerging” in reference to artistic expressions that transcend local [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105095 -
Grau Contradictorio
1962In this article, the well-known critic Marta Traba discusses the solo exhibition that Enrique Grau presented in Bogotá in September 1962. Traba sees a contradiction between Grau’s preferred subjects, and paradoxically, his rejection of them in [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105079 -
Los que son
1968This document is excerpted from the catalogue for Los que son [Those Who Are], the exhibition organized by Marta Traba at the Galería Marta Traba in Bogotá (May 3–16, 1968). The catalogue includes ten brief critical and biographical reviews of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105063 -
Cinco días en Cali-Fanny : grandezas y miserias de la cultura subdesarrollada
1964Marta Traba wrote an exhaustive chronicle on “the high and low points” of the Festival de Arte de Cali (1964). She highlighted the performance of the actress Fanny Mikey, the enthusiastic organizer of the event, who became “Califanny” for the [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105031 -
Norman Mejía : la vida física
1965In early 1965, Marta Traba placed the exhibition by Norman Mejía, a Colombian artist, in the Museo de Arte Moderno of Bogotá, as one that would serve to represent “a questioning of values and of the real position of the neo-figurative art trend [...]ICAA Record ID: 1105015 -
Wiedemann y Richter : dos descubridores de Colombia
1957In this article, Marta Traba maintains that the German artists Guillermo Wiedemann and Leopoldo Richter achieved an understanding of, and transmitted the essence and spirit of “the black race and the Indian race, and the ambience characteristic of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1104960 -
Fuyi-Yama y Pintura
1958Marta Traba responds to a column that Colombian artist Gonzalo Ariza had published a few days before in the newspaper El Independiente. In her biting retort, Traba denies that she had recommended imitating Argentine artist Emilio Pettorutti (and [...]ICAA Record ID: 1104924 -
El VII Salón Atenas : "Ya que estamos"
1981Written by Marta Traba and published in the magazine Arte en Colombia, “El VII Salón Atenas” is perhaps the harshest criticism of the Colombian salons held in November. Traba argues that despite belief to the contrary, the Salon Atenas has not [...]ICAA Record ID: 1104875 -
Una mirada sobre el Salón
1979In this article, the theoretician Marta Traba critiques the 1978 Salón Nacional de Artistas. The Salón has been an annual fixture since 1940, and is considered the most important event on the Colombian visual arts calendar. In her article, Traba [...]ICAA Record ID: 1104564 -
Exposición colectiva en El Callejón
1956In this article, art critic Marta Traba comments on the group exhibition held at “El Callejón” gallery in 1956. She asserts that the exhibition is of interest for two main reasons. First, because of the individual works and creators included and [...]ICAA Record ID: 1102741 -
El sentido de su mensaje escultórico
1995Originally published in La Patria newspaper based in Manizales, Colombia, this text is a journalistic version of the two television programs aired in 1956 that critic Marta Traba dedicated to the work of sculptor Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt. Traba [...]ICAA Record ID: 1100526 -
Jaramillo : pintura visible y audible
1962Marta Traba’s review of Insectos [Insects]—the exhibition of works by the painter Luciano Jaramillo at the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia [Colombian National Library]—appeared in the Art Criticism section of La Nueva Prensa magazine. [...]ICAA Record ID: 1099276 -
Pantoja es un caso asombroso de la pintura latinoamericana
1964The Museo de Arte Moderno [Museum of Modern Art] of Bogotá (MAM) printed this catalog to introduce the exhibition, Pantoja de Bolivia [Pantoja from Bolivia] (1964). The document provides a biography of Óscar Pantoja in which he is shown to be a [...]ICAA Record ID: 1098781 -
Problemas de influencias, de universalismo y localismo, de técnicas y de significados en la obra de Andrés de Santamaría
1974Marta Traba begins the fourth chapter of her book Historia abierta del arte colombiano [Open History of Colombian Art] (1970) with a quote from the Colombian art historian Eugenio Barney Cabrera, from which she extrapolates the three points around [...]ICAA Record ID: 1098661 -
Cecilia Porras : el triunfo de Arlequín
1956In this article, Marta Traba reviews the solo exhibition that Cecilia Porras presented at the El Callejón gallery in Bogota in November 1956. Traba is pleased to see progress and major improvements compared to the work the artist exhibited the [...]ICAA Record ID: 1098290 -
Salón de Arte Moderno de la Biblioteca del Banco de la República
1957Art critic Marta Traba assesses the work on exhibition at the Salón de Arte Moderno [Salon of Modern Art] that took place at the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango of the Banco de la República de Colombia. Traba claims that this event was the best [...]ICAA Record ID: 1098126 -
Nota biográfica
1965This document is the catalogue in brochure form accompanying an exhibition of work by Pablo Solano (1928?2013), entitled Óleos y Dibujos [Oil Paintings and Drawings], that opened at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Bogotá (MAM) on June 8, 1965. The [...]ICAA Record ID: 1097998 -
Primer Salón Intercol de Artistas Jóvenes
1964In this article, Argentine art critic Marta Traba presents the outcome of the Primer Salón Intercol de Artistas Jóvenes [First Intercol Salon of Young Artists] (1964), which she describes as a way to come into contact with emerging trends in [...]ICAA Record ID: 1097966 -
Primer Salón Intercol de artistas jóvenes
1964This fully illustrated catalogue to the Primer Salón Intercol de Artistas Jóvenes [First Intercol Salon of Young Artists] (1964) is divided into five parts: the cover, featuring a photograph of the exhibition that took place at the first seat of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1097933 -
Introducción
1977In this book, Marta Traba asserts that Colombian artist Beatriz González is “the ‘key figure’ to understanding a specifically Colombian strain of art.” Traba argues that on the basis of critical positions on culture in general and on popular [...]ICAA Record ID: 1097853 -
[La mayor dificultad para que la gente aprecie el arte abstracto...]
1958In the introduction to the catalogue of the exhibition Pintura abstracta de Colombia (Biblioteca Luís Ángel Arango, Bogotá, June 11-25, 1958), Marta Traba points out two problems related to the reception and production of abstract art in Colombia [...]ICAA Record ID: 1097805 -
El informalismo se llama cerámica
1961This text was written by Marta Traba in 1961 on the occasion of the second solo exhibition of Colombian artist Beatriz Daza. In relation to Daza’s formal experiments with enamel works exhibited in this show, Traba refers to Informalism as a return [...]ICAA Record ID: 1093867 -
Ramírez
1963In this text art critic Marta Traba analyzes the production of Colombian sculptor Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar up to 1963. Written for the catalogue of the exhibition Seis artistas contemporáneos colombianos, organized by Traba and Hernán Díaz [...]ICAA Record ID: 1093674 -
¿Por qué Berni, Alonso y Uria?
1963This document is the catalogue for the exhibition Tres pintores argentinos (1963), featuring the work of Antonio Berni, Carlos Alonso, and Carlos Uria. In addition to a text written by art critic Marta Traba that presents the artists and works—and [...]ICAA Record ID: 1093577 -
La obra más seria, interesante y esforzada del año : Judith Márquez
1957In this short article written in late 1957, Marta Traba writes about the work of the Colombian painter and editor Judith Márquez. As indicated in the title, Traba argues that it is “the most serious and interesting work, and shows the most effort [...]ICAA Record ID: 1093129 -
Tumbas : Juan Antonio Roda
1963The catalogue for the exhibition Tumbas (1963) by Juan Antonio Roda consists of a two-page leaflet; on the first page, which is fully illustrated, is the exhibition title and artist’s name. On the next page, there are four paragraphs written by the [...]ICAA Record ID: 1092548 -
Y la simulación en el público?
1956In this article, Marta Traba once again addresses the harsh and unsympathetic attitude of the Latin American public toward modern art. She explains that a lack of knowledge and a disinclination to learn, coupled with a presumption of connoisseurship [...]ICAA Record ID: 1091876 -
[Siempre la cerámica ha participado de la pintura y de la escultura...]
1959This text written by Marta Traba presents the first solo exhibition of Colombian artist Beatriz Daza. Traba asserts that “in the restless and discontented spirit of 20th-century visual art” ceramics runs the risk of losing its specificity as it [...]ICAA Record ID: 1091096 -
Los novísimos colombianos
1977This text by Marta Traba—a well known Argentine critic who lived in Venezuela at the time—introduces the exhibition Los novísimos colombianos held at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Caracas in 1977. Traba analyzes the overall development of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1090024 -
Propuesta para una doble lectura
1984The article “Propuesta para una doble lectura” is a statement of principle as well as a thesis that Marta Traba formulated on the occasion of an exhibition of Modern Colombian art in Paris. In this text, Traba provides a periodization of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1089871 -
Otra estación en el infierno
1986In this article, Marta Traba provides a critical analysis of the different stages of Luis Caballero’s career from the time he was awarded first prize at the Primera Bienal de Coltejer (held in Medellín in 1968) until 1980. Traba begins by [...]ICAA Record ID: 1088067 -
Una revista nueva
1957As the editorial to the first issue of the magazine Prisma, this text by Marta Traba introduces the magazine of art criticism, which was committed to publishing research and “objective” studies of local and international art. The members of the [...]ICAA Record ID: 1087526 -
Recordando con ira
1968In this text, critic Marta Traba reviews the exhibition entitled Pintura y Grabado Hoy en Venezuela [Painting and Printmaking in Venezuela Today] held at the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango in Bogotá in 1968. She questions the representativeness of [...]ICAA Record ID: 1080610