Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This essay is on the letter from Antonio Berni (Buenos Aires) to Leonilda González (president of the Club de Grabado de Montevideo [Engravers Club of Montevideo], CGM) on occasion of the twenty-year anniversary of the CGM and on having requested [...]

The Argentinean visual artist Antonio Berni frequently visited the city of Montevideo from 1938, producing various exhibitions; in this article, he expressed his social and political vision of mural art, attributing it with a “constructive” [...]

This is Antonio Berni’s critical review of Latin American art during the last ten years, in which he identifies other problems that, in his opinion, “are still ignored by the critics.” The Argentinean visual artist refers to categories and [...]

In 1941, the magazine, Argentina Libre [Free Argentina], did a survey of Argentine visual artists on the system of juried shows and art competitions, and whether or not it served to spur artistic production. In this essay, Antonio Berni responds to [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the history of art from the nineteenth century on, and Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], which breaks with Argentine art that looks to Europe [...]

Antonio Berni analyzes the educational system and technical instruction and discusses the creation of an art academy in Rosario; he relates those general matters to the specific characteristics of Rosario [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the creation of a fine arts academy in Rosario as a means for furthering the arts there; he analyzes the political and artistic disputes surrounding such a possibility [...]

In this document, Argentine artist Antonio Berni voices the outrage felt by artists who––like himself––were associated with Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], artists who defended “the uniquely Argentine in the visual arts.” Berni speaks [...]

Antonio Berni writes about Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], which he defines as an aesthetic identity that, in Latin America, vacillates between form and content [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the continuing relevance of Leonardo’s method, and the deep affinities that exist between the work of Leonardo and contemporary art [...]

Antonio Berni writes about developments in modern art and of formalism in art. He analyzes the artists who adhere to Nuevo Realismo [New Realism] and discusses the meaning of that movement [...]

Berni himself wrote this text explaining the work, La masacre de los inocentes [The Massacre of the Innocents], whose origin, he says, goes back to nativity scenes. Berni also explains the aesthetic and political message of his work. This text was [...]

In order to provide a clear explanation of his great interest in New Realism, Antonio Berni speaks out against the War and fascism [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the Primer Salón de Arte Plástico [First Salon for the Visual Arts], the Uruguayan art exhibition organized by Latitud magazine in 1945. He also reviews paintings by Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós, comparing them to the [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the resilience of fascist attitudes and their attacks on the culture of Humanism. He sounds a cautionary note concerning the political history of Nazism, Falangism, and fascism, reminding his readers that these movements [...]

Antonio Berni chronicles the various points of view that were expressed during the exhibition of visual arts organized by Latidud [Latitude] magazine in the city of Mar del Plata in 1945. Berni’s comments range from the artistic to the political [...]

Antonio Berni writes about his early experiences in art, both in Spain and France, and the formation of his personal approach to Nuevo Realismo [New Realism [...]

Antonio Berni introduces the exhibition of drawings by Hugo Pereyra at the Galería Rubbers in Buenos Aires in June 1961. Berni puts on his literary hat to describe the quality of Pereyra’s work and the world it represents [...]

This is the text of Antonio Berni’s lecture to the gathering on the artistic reality in Latin America, the media, and fashions imposed on art. He also underscores the relationship between art from the countries of the center and art from Latin [...]

This document contains a description of the attendees at the opening of Antonio Berni’s show at the Galería Imagen (Buenos Aires, 1972) and an interview with the artist about the Latin American art scene. In his answers, Berni criticizes [...]

In this essay, Antonio Berni writes about mural painting in Argentina. He bemoans the fact that it has not fulfilled its potential in spite of the skill of local artists, and refers to the muralist’s dependence on assigned spaces and the limits on [...]

This is a brief literary essay by Antonio Berni on pre-Columbian structures atSacsahuaman (Cuzco), Machu Picchu, Peru, in which he suggests a way to understand the culture of the Incas by means of intuition or thought [...]

Antonio Berni introduces Rodrigo Bonome’s exhibition of landscape paintings at the Galería Velázquez in Buenos Aires (1961) with a formal discussion on order in composition, and on color [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the development of modern art since impressionism, focusing in particular on both Paul Cézanne and cubism. In particular, his analysis of surrealism stands out. The artist likewise analyzes the dehumanization of art, pure [...]

In his essay in the catalogue for the exhibition titled Antonio Berni: oleos y collages [Antonio Berni: Oil Paintings and Collages] (Buenos Aires, Imagen Galería de Arte, 1974), Berni writes about the Surrealist influence in his work, and about his [...]

In this essay we find Antonio Berni writing about the avant-garde in general—he discusses how the movement is faring in underdeveloped countries, describes the artists involved, and ponders its separation from the general public [...]

In this document Antonio Berni writes about a trip to the Museo Reverón in Macuto (Venezuela), and describes the coastal environment and the objects within the house museum. He critiques the commentaries concerning both the painting and madness of [...]

This is Antonio Berni’s essay on four Peruvian painters,José Sabogal, Julia Codesido, Camilo Blas, and Teresa Carvallo, in which he describes both their technical abilities and the subject matter of their works. Berni stresses the importance of [...]

In this essay, Antonio Berni writes about the 19th century Peruvian artist, Pancho Fierro, calling him the first South American to portray a realistic version of the social life of the period and its relevance to traditional folk art [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the sculptural works of the colonial period, paying particular attention to the colors used by the artists. He goes on to discuss the evolution of the Quito [Equador] school, and discusses the realistic nature of the [...]

Antonio Berni writes about painting in Quito during the colonial period, describing the quality of its works and the themes in [seen in] cloisters and churches. He places particular emphasis on the Prophets series that Gorívar painted at the Iglesia [...]

Antonio Berni describes Melchor Pérez de Holguín as the finest artist of the Potosí and Chuquisaca schools. He defines Pérez de Holguín’s work as being in the Spanish tradition, and analyzes the painter’s technique while commenting on [...]

Antonio Berni muses on the originality of Latin American colonial art, and suggests a way to distinguish between each of the three periods involved by naming them: pre-Columbian, colonial, and “contemporary” (post-independence). He goes on to [...]

Antonio Berni writes about moral issues, and discusses what people can actually do in response to the injustice and criminal activities in the world. He reviews the work of Raquel Forner, attempting to explain it through a series of formal, technical [...]

In this article, Antonio Berni reviews the exhibition of drawings by Ramón Gómez Cornet at the Viau Gallery (Buenos Aires, 1940) which, in his opinion, represent something new in Argentine art—something with a strong connection to the earth. [...]

Antonio Berni organizes the works he exhibited at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art] in 1932 into the following groups: Plastic art, subjective realist compositions, nightmares, and objective realism. Berni created these works between 1928 and 1932 [...]

The Argentinean painter Antonio Berni surmises that the perceived decadence of art is a result of a disconnection between the artist and the public. In his judgment, art has always been firmly rooted in a search for realism. Then, Berni proposes that [...]

Antonio Berni himself presents his works produced over a time span of three decades. Berni emphasizes that while he showed in the Sociedad Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art Society] his surrealistic production in 1932, there are many that do not know [...]

Federico Peralta-Ramos and Antonio Berni are shown in a photograph drinking “maté” as a cover for an exhibition catalogue. In his brief presentation, Berni updates both aspects of the Surrealistic approach to what is underneath the things as [...]

Antonio Berni responds to an opinion poll from the French journal Commune regarding the future of painting while the usage of new techniques, such as the airbrush, were being carried out. Berni defends both mural painting and realism, in addition to [...]

The Argentinean painter Antonio Berni harshly criticizes the artists linked aesthetically to Horacio Butler (the Paris Group as widely known in Argentina) as well as those linked to Atilio Chiappori (Fernando Fader, among others). Berni believes them [...]

In response to the absence of artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris at the Contemporary Spanish Art Exhibition shown at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in December 1947, the Argentinian artists expressed their disagreement by signing a [...]