Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

Fausto Castillo interviewed Mr. Miguel Salas Anzures who—when asked about the accusation that he was spending a great deal of money on the first Bienal Interamericana de Pintura y Grabado [Inter-American Biennial of Painting and Printmaking], [...]

Juan B. Climent interviews Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, who leaves no doubt about his position regarding the figures of Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros in Mexican art. Lozano talks about the need to vindicate the native figure stemming from [...]

In this interview, David Alfaro Siqueiros expressed his views on the Biennial. He began by critiquing the paintings exhibited by the United States, and warned Latin American painters against imitating hybrid ideas that made no sense, such as Tachisme [...]

The art critic Juan Climent thought that Rufino Tamayo’s painting was caught in the crossfire of conflicting opinions. Some thought that his œuvre represented the decadent formalism of the School of Paris, but others saw it as the dawn of a new [...]

This document relates the response of Uruguayan artist Vicente Martín to the survey regarding abstract or non-figurative art, in which he states that abstract values also exist in representational painting. With regard to the future of painting, [...]

This document relates the response of artist Tomás Maldonado to the survey regarding abstract or non-figurative art, in which he considers the term “abstract” to be both appropriate and inappropriate; it is appropriate when it is used to [...]

Manuel Mujica Láinez replies to the survey on abstract and nonfigurative art, noting his inclination to use the terms “abstract” and “concrete” interchangeably, insofar as the trend does not cease to be what it is because of the label it [...]

This document relates the response of critic Córdova Iturburu to the survey regarding abstract art or non-figurative art, in which he leans toward the expression “non-figurative art” because it permits the inclusion of not only the geometric [...]

This document relates the response of Spanish critic Eduardo Westerdahl to the survey regarding abstract art or non-figurative art, in which he considers it opportune to carry out a revision of terms used in these cases. Westerdahl also proposes to [...]

This document relates the response of Spanish sculptor Ángel Ferrant to the survey with regard to abstract, or non-figurative art, in which he indicates that the word “abstract” is inappropriate when it does not acknowledge a visual model. [...]

This document relates the response of artist Mathias Goeritz to the survey regarding abstract, or non-figurative art, in which he indicates that he prefers “abstract art” as the general and popular term, although he agrees with the possibility [...]

This is Hans Platschek’s answer to a survey on abstract and nonfigurative art, in which he suggests that signs could be used for didactic goals. But he doesn’t agree with the terms “abstract” and “nonfigurative” because the former is art [...]

This document relates the response of artist Gyula Kosice (1924-2016), to the survey regarding abstract or non-figurative art, in which he states that Madí adopted, in principle, the name "non-figurative" because it corresponded to the nature of [...]

This document relates the response of painter and sculptor Juan Del Prete to the survey regarding abstract or non-figurative art, in which he considers all such nomenclature conventional. In addition, Del Prete believes that this type of discussion [...]

This document is an open letter in which Julio E. Payró declares his difference of opinion with Guillermo de Torre regarding the application of the term “abstract.” This letter responds to the concepts discussed by Torre in the catalog for the [...]

The exhibition at Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, presented Rufino Tamayo as one of the four great Mexican artists. His works were part of the great modernism and, unlike those of his colleagues, no Communist symbols could be found in [...]

This interview consists of fourteen questions regarding the reception that the Mexican art exhibition experienced from the Parisian public. Fernando Gamboa believed that the event was a great opportunity for the Mexican people, and also was a great [...]

In artistic circles in those days, according to Rufino Tamayo, anything that was not purely Mexican was roundly rejected, and works that reflected our own experience and personal expression were lavishly praised. This had its positive aspects, but it [...]

In this document, Eduardo Ospina, a Jesuit priest, humanist, aesthete and director of the art pages section of the Revista Javeriana (Bogotá), wrote a review discussing the authorship of St. Jerome, [presumed to be] painted by the German painter, [...]

In this article signed “J. Nahuaca”—the anagram he used as an alias—Peruvian critic Juan Acha reflects on whether or not there is a painting tradition in Peru. He discusses the current state of painting on the occasion of the Premio [...]

The author identifies the principal characteristic of the works shown at the Primer Salón Annual de Pintura Peruana “as a strong and cohesive predilection for objectivity.” Among others, he highlights Alfredo Ruiz Rosas for his “successful [...]

Tomás Maldonado reflects on the role of the artist in society, given that it is the career-like class that enjoys success and acclaim. Maldonado fully identifies with the concept of rebellion, and says that he is prone to subvert the taste of the [...]

Juan Carlos Paz defines New Music and that which contributes efficacious elements and solutions and points out the importance of the rise of dodecaphony for these new proposals. He stresses that dodecaphony is responsible for the experimentation [...]

Most of this short article consists of the words of the artist from Guatemala, Rina Lazo—a naturalized Mexican—from an interview with the critic Raquel Tibol. Lazo recalls her training and the reasons she came to Mexico in 1946. At that time, [...]

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 this brief review Carlos González Bogen, a member of the Los Disidentes group, adopts a rather critical tone to discuss the negative aspects of an anonymous newspaper report—“De nuevo Los Disidentes,” published in the Márgenes column in [...]

This brief article, illustrated by a large caricature, uses a humorous tone to comment on the disputes generated by the declarations of sculptors, who were unable to reach an agreement. “Instead of joining forces to fight the little dictator who [...]

Painter Aquiles Ralli rejects the comments made by Fernando de Szyszlo that became a national scandal: “there are no painters in Peru.” He juxtaposes the work of the “good artists,” those who diligently “work in silence and never advertise [...]

This is an anonymous interview with Fernando de Szyszlo on his successful presentation at the III Salón Moncloa in Lima in 1955. The artist stated that it was the first artistic competition in which he had participated since 1951 due to his distrust [...]

The first part of the interview covers the start of his career and his training in Europe. After living in Buenos Aires (where he returned to his art studies), he returned to Peru in 1919. Sabogal states that “the Cuzco area cast a powerful spell [...]

In this interview, Fernando de Szyszlo states that the only painting tradition that exists is the European tradition, under the standards that emanated from Paris in the late 19th century, to which all other schools have been assimilated. Even “ [...]

This text is Samuel Pérez Barreto’s response to the article by the Agrupación Espacio published as part of the debate that took shape around the polemic statements by Fernando de Szyszlo (“there are no painters in Peru”) published in La [...]

In this text, Sérvulo Gutiérrez asserts that any classification that entails “dividing art” is conventional and falls into pigeonholing. It is misguided since it implies taking “a part for the whole.” Sérvulo Gutiérrez questions whether [...]

The synopsis and the annotations in English are coming soon. However, our bilingual readers can click on “Español” to access this information in Spanish [...]

The synopsis and the annotations in English are coming soon. However, our bilingual readers can click on “Español” to access this information in Spanish [...]

This document relates the response of Spanish critic Ricardo Gullón to the survey regarding abstract art or non-figurative art, in which he points out that it might be time to revise the use of the term abstract with regard to non-figurative works [...]

This essay by Murilo Mendes appeared in the exhibition catalogue for work by the sculptor Maria Martins at the MAM-RJ (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro) in 1956. Mendes thinks the uniqueness of her work arises from a confrontation at a [...]

This text by artist Alberto Brandt describes the artistic aims of his exhibition Alberto Brandt. Exposición de pinturas held at the Centro Profesional del Este in Caracas in 1957. As opposed to the “pseudo-classicism,” rationality, and formalism [...]

The visual artist Willys de Castro reviews the exhibition of drawings by his lifelong companion Hércules Barsotti at the Galeria de Arte das Folhas, in São Paulo. De Castro discusses Barsotti’s technique in great detail, including [...]

Lorenzo Homar begins these brief notes on Puerto Rican art and artists by discussing painter Francisco Oller. He goes on to state that art should be at the service of society and that artists should not be concerned with imitating avant-gardes who [...]

Ernesto B. Rodríguez analyzes Líbero Badii’s portrait sculptures. He claims that the visual arts strive to suggest the invisible by searching for its hidden laws, inventing new forms, and attempting to reveal a variety of sensitive spaces. [...]

This is a card bearing the letterhead of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá and a handwritten message. It was sent to Casimiro Eiger by Alejandro Obregón to introduce José Gómez Sicre, who is very interested in the plan for a modern art [...]

In his prologue to the catalogue for a show of the Taller Libre de Arte (TLA), Luis Berroterán asserts that the Liceo Fermín Toro played an important role in the origin of the TLA. He explains that the members of the TLA aspire to work with other [...]

While introducing the work of Gyula Kosice, the author refers to movements that sought to create an independent object instead of imitating or deforming one. Juan Bay identifies the difference between the works produced by members of certain [...]

Luis Felipe Noé begins with the notion that the artistic milieu in which he operates is still in formation, just as the artists of the Grupo Buenos Aires come together through their relation with the societal background. In his judgment, art is just [...]

[This text is] the first issue of Los Disidentes (Paris, 1950) magazine, in which [the group] explains succinctly the “essential mission” of the eponymous magazine and the “immediate aim” which they are pursuing with this [...]

This article reviews the first exhibition of the Grupo de Artistas Modernos [Modern Artists Group] of Argentina, presented at Galería Viau and featuring works by independent artists Sarah Grilo, Hans Aebi, Miguel Ocampo, and Fernández Muro, as well [...]

In this essay, Alfredo Hlito reflects on the particular features of Concrete art. He discusses the viewer’s perception of the meaning of Concrete works of art, which involve neither a process of recognizing objects nor any form of association, but [...]

In this document, Gregorio Vardanega discusses the importance of space in his work. He tried to address this question in a variety of ways, such as his plaster hemispheres, called complejos espaciales [spatial complexes] and his spiraling dots in [...]

Here the writer refers to the importance of movement in the work of art, explaining that it is the fleeting nature of movement that contributes both “lucidity” and “plurality” to the piece. Carmelo Arden Quin also mentions the role played by [...]