Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In 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 [...]

Argentine critic Marta Traba considers Puerto Rican artist Julio Rosado del Valle a key figure in Puerto Rican art because he was among those who paved the way for innovative approaches and experimentation in painting. She asserts that in the work of [...]

This 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 [...]

In this text, Marta Traba argues that there is not really a unified [Latin] American aesthetic in the visual arts and calls for an honest investigation of the question of such an aesthetic approach, even at the risk of affirming that no common spirit [...]

In the introduction to the exhibition Solidaridad held at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Bogota, Colombia, in 1976, Argentine critic Marta Traba—who lived in Puerto Rico for many years—explains that the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende was [...]

In 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 [...]

In 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 [...]

This 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 [...]

In this article, Marta Traba sets out to provide an overview of abstract art in Latin America on the basis of problems common to the countries in the region. She asserts that the first of these problems is a lack of knowledge of the art produced in [...]

In 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 [...]

Marta Traba, the Argentine critic who lived in Puerto Rico for some time, accepts that there is a political and cultural “art of resistance” in Latin America and in Puerto Rico. This “resistance” refuses to follow aesthetic models developed [...]

In this book, Marta Traba examines how the growing influence of art of the United States has shaped the art of Latin America during the 1950s and ‘60s, and how Latin American artists have both succumbed and resisted the effects of this influence. [...]

Marta Traba characterizes the Puerto Rican art world as extremely eclectic. With the exception of Francisco Rodón whose work focuses almost exclusively on a gruesome sort of portraiture, many other Puerto Rican artists from the same [...]

Argentine critic Marta Traba begins this article by stating that a country must confront its “artistic mythology” by revising and overcoming established concepts and values in order to “lay the basis for solid and worthy art” and to educate [...]

In this text, Marta Traba argues that the understanding, enjoyment, and appreciation of art are hindered by the common idea that it is comparable to reality. She defends the notion that art must be understood as an autonomous reality, which due to [...]

In June 1960, the exhibition, 3000 años de arte colombiano [3000 Years of Colombian Art], was held in Miami and Washington. The journal Lámpara [Lamp] (Bogotá, published 1952–85) printed a supplement with writings by the curators who performed [...]

In response to J. R. Guillent Pérez, art critic Marta Traba defines the term “apocalypse”—used by her in an article that unleashed a great controversy in Caracas—as the chaos and dissolution of existing social structures, as well as the [...]

In 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 [...]

In this review, the Argentine art critic Marta Traba discusses the exhibition of works by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. Traba describes the exhibition as a fitting tribute to the artist who “ [...]

“Burztyn [sic] above any suspicion” is the title of Marta Traba’s response to an accusation of plagiarism concerning the installation Las Camas [The Beds] by the sculptor Feliza Bursztyn in 1974 at the Museo de Arte Moderno [Museum of Modern [...]

In 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 [...]

Marta 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 [...]

In 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 [...]

The 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 [...]

In 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 [...]

Marta Traba argues in her paper that in the last five years, Latin American art “has suffered from a visible process of depersonalization” and “mimesis.” She points out the principal causes of the phenomenon, among them: artists who move [...]

According to the Argentine critic Marta Traba, eroticism “is one of the most effective ways for modern art to reconnect with mankind and with reality.” She compares the major differences between eroticism and pornography and claims, for example, [...]

The Argentine critic Marta Traba, who was based in Puerto Rico at the time of this article, evaluates the works presented on the occasion of the Primera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [1st San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic [...]

In this article, the art critic Marta Traba sought to define the quality of “genius” in art in terms of the concept of “anti-servile genius” suggested by the French novelist André Malraux. According to Traba, one of the main features of “ [...]

Marta Traba, the Argentine art critic, states that Francisco Rodón is “un hombre que pinta” [a man who paints]. She calls him this because he is a person who “considera la vida como su actividad fundamental y ha resuelto dar testimonio y [...]

This 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 [...]

Argentine art critic Marta Traba—who lived in Puerto Rico with her husband, Uruguayan literary critic Angel Rama—considers then-contemporary Neo-figurative art a true provocation. She makes reference to critics who believed that Neo-figurative [...]

In this essay, Marta Traba states that eighteenth-century painting in Latin America was a trade at the service of the local authorities and religious themes. She believes that the Puerto Rican painter, José Campeche, was a natural master of the [...]

In this text, Marta Traba considers the problem of how Latin American artists can produce art “continental” in character at a moment when realism is not the contemporary mode of expression. She introduces the problem by observing how European [...]

Originally 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 [...]

Written 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 [...]

In 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 [...]

In 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 [...]

In this essay, Marta Traba, an Argentine critic who resided in Puerto Rico for some time, analyzes the work of Puerto Rican artist Francisco Rodón. Traba asserts that rather than a painter, Rodón is “a man who paints.” She states that his work [...]

Marta 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 [...]

Marta 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 [...]

Marta Traba analyzes the entire body of artwork integrated with architecture in Caracas created by Gego, and contrasts them with those created by Jesús Soto and Carlos Cruz Díez, practitioners of Venezuelan Kinetic art. Traba observes [...]

In 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 [...]

Art 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 [...]

In this article, Marta Traba warns about the conditions she finds in Latin American criticism: its tendency to use flattery because its art world is small and its lack of aesthetic sense. In addition, she raises the issue that the Latin American [...]

In June 1960, the exhibition, 3000 años de arte colombiano [3000 Years of Colombian Art], was held in Miami and Washington. The journal Lámpara [Lamp] (Bogotá, published 1952–85) produced a special supplement with writings by the curators [...]

In 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 [...]

Marta 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. [...]

In 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 [...]

Marta Traba, an Argentine critic living in Puerto Rico, asserts that painting is a means of communication, a language that attempts to say something. As such, its message must be deciphered in order to be understood and read. She maintains that avant [...]