Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In this essay, Peruvian art critic and diplomat Raúl María Pereira provides an overview of Peruvian painting from the first half of the twentieth century. While the author praises the first generation of academic painters, he believes that their [...]

This article by Marcel Gromaire was published in AIAPE magazine—a champion of social realism in art—at a crucial point in the debate over aesthetics in Montevideo: the beginning of painting’s slide toward a “politically committed” form of [...]

The article “La pintura francesa en el Pabellón de Bellas Artes”[French Painting at the Fine Arts Pavilion] by Baldomero Sanín Cano describes the Exposición de arte francés [Exhibition of French Art] (1928) held at the Parque de Bolívar in [...]

In this critical essay, historian Francisco Da Antonio discusses the indebtedness of artist Héctor Poleo to Mexican muralism in terms of form and pictorial technique. He also explores the way in which Poleo’s work differs from the aesthetic- [...]

Carmen Saco, who studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA) in the 1920s, was one of the first professional women sculptors in Peru. The time she spent at the ENBA proved decisive to the nationalist bent of a body of work characterized by [...]

In this article, Brazilian critic Marc Bercowitz reflects on the role of art criticism in Latin America, considering that a new group of young international-quality artists has emerged in Peru. Bercowitz perceives their understandable discontent at [...]

This review considers Julia Codesido’s work within the context of art and literature produced by women, noting that this genre “is uniquely attuned to feeling and expression.” Though historically recognized solely in terms of family or social [...]

In his book El largo instante de la percepción, Miguel Huertas included a chapter entitled “La pintura de Cárdenas y el ámbito arquitectónico.” One of the specific statements the author makes about the paintings Santiago Cárdenas created in [...]

Writer Alfonso Dávila divides this text on the work of Colombian artist Francisco Antonio Cano into three parts: (i) “El estudio,” (ii) “Lo místico,” and (iii) “Pintor objetivo.” The first section briefly describes Cano’s studio. The [...]

In 1978, the French art critic Pierre Restany drafted a manifesto along with two artists, the Brazilian (born in Poland) Frans Krajcberg, and the Yugoslav based in Brazil Sepp Baendereck. The text is a rallying call in defense of art that is “ [...]

These paintings by Antonio Henrique Amaral are introduced in this text by Olívio Tavares de Araújo, who calls into question the terms “realism” and/or “hyperrealism” used to describe the artist’s work. In the writer’s opinion, these [...]

In this article the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti seeks to clear up certain misunderstandings conveyed by the lecture he gave the previous year at the MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), titled “The Myths of Modernism, with Criticisms of [...]

This review by the art critic Miguel González, published in the Revista Arte en Colombia [Art in Colombia Magazine], considers the work of Miguel Ángel Rojas, and discusses his constant questioning of the procedures involved in Realism and indeed [...]

In this article, the critic Jorge Gaitán Durán discusses the work of the sculptor Edgar Negret. The former refers to the Colombian artist’s commitment to addressing the country’s social conditions in his work. This commitment is visible in the [...]

In this text, the lawyer and humanist Felix Betancourt submits one of the earliest philosophical reflections on aesthetic matters ever to be expressed in Antioquia. Betancourt claims that “perfect and ultimate beauty” arises from things and from [...]

In this article, published in A & D magazine, the artist and art critic Waldemar Cordeiro expresses his support for the autonomy and universality of art. In his opinion, a work of art is a real object in the real world. It is not the expression [...]

The lecture by the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti was one of a number of events organized to celebrate the opening of the Rio de Janeiro branch of the Sul América Terrestres, Marítimos e Acidentes (SATMA) insurance company. In addition to a [...]

Back in his native country after more than five years in Madrid, Colombian painter Domingo Moreno Otero speaks of his educational experiences at the Academia de San Fernando and at the Museo del Prado. In this interview, Moreno Otero praises Diego [...]

In this article César Rengifo explains why the art world is disappointed in abstract formalism, and notes a resurgence of the realist movement. He refers to statements made or positions taken by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, [...]

This article by the painter Pedro León Castro was written in response to the article by Alejandro Otero entitled “Cómo trabajamos los pintores venezolanos en París,” in which the latter mentions the negative comments about the Venezuelan [...]

In this introduction, Luis Cancel explains the logic behind how he and his colleagues organized the exhibition The Latin American Spirit: Art and Artists in the United States, 1920-1970. He also explains, at length, the curatorial team’s larger [...]

Guillermo Meneses discusses the foreign artists invited by the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva to work with him on his plan to incorporate art into the proposed Ciudad Universitaria in Caracas. Meneses begins by mentioning the artistic merits of [...]

In this “Segundo Manifiesto”—jointly written by members of El Techo de la Ballena (Caracas, 1961–68)—the group identified the artistic movements they challenged as follows: traditional landscape painting, social realism, geometrical [...]

The “Semanariocultural” [Cultural Weekly], a supplement of the newspaper El Pueblo de Cali, (1975–86) published the article, “No salgas de tu barrio. Entrevista a Ever Astudillo” [Do Not Leave Your Neighborhood: An Interview with Ever [...]

In 1981, Eduardo Serrano, the director of the Museo de Arte Moderno of Bogotá at the time, wrote a profile introducing to the Colombian public the life and work of young artist Miguel Ángel Rojas, which in Serrano’s view are intrinsically bound [...]

In this essay, the Venezuelan painter and art critic, Alejandro Otero, questions the chronicler of the city of Caracas, Mario Briceño Iragorry, about his article “Abstraccionismo y carillones” [Abstract Art and Carillons]. The painter finds [...]

In this article Miguel Arroyo disagrees with using the terms “Realism” and “Abstractionism” when referring to art, because several members of the latter movement also call themselves Realists, inspired by a definition proposed by Aristotle, [...]

In this article, the well-known artist César Rengifo explains that art should be an instrument to help mankind restore the balance that has been shattered by the capitalist system. He discusses the class struggle that has been expressed in art [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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

Miguel Angel Rozzisi writes about Antonio Berni’s art as though it has overcome the decadence of the system. He maintains the existence of class warfare between the official culture and that of the people, with Berni as the representative for the [...]

Eduardo Zaldívar writes about the Antonio Berni exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, where the artist presented his series of prints on Ramona Montiel [...]

In this interview, artist Antonio Berni explains his vision of North American culture, and contemporary art and techniques. He also speaks about his work in the print medium and his notion of realism [...]

This document is an interview with Antonio Berni in which he describes the relationship between the landscapes he painted in the 1950s and the collages of his Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel series. He also comments on some aspects of his engraving [...]

In this essay, Hernández Rosselot claims that reality competes with art in Antonio Berni’s work. He writes about the materials Berni uses and reviews the collages in the Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel series. Rosselot goes on to compare Berni [...]

Antonio Berni states his position on hyperrealism; he mentions the work of his surrealist stage in order relate the mechanisms of creation for photomontage and the collages from his Juanito Laguna series [...]

Antonio Berni is interviewed by María Esther Gilio, and talks about his training, art criticism, hyperrealism, and the essential Argentine nature of his work [...]

This is a speech given by writer Aníbal Machado at the close of the Exposição de Arte Social, which he jointly organized with poet Álvaro Moreyra and artist Tomás Santa Rosa at the Clube de Cultura Moderna in Rio de Janeiro in 1935. Machado [...]

This article was originally published in the “Lanterna mágica” [Magic Lantern] section of O Pirralho [The Brat], a magazine founded by Oswald de Andrade (in São Paulo, 1912). The article by the young writer lobbies for a “greater expression [...]

This text appears in the bilingual catalogue (Portuguese/ German) for the “Exposição Alemã de Livros e Artes Gráficas na América do Sul” exhibition, held in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and organized by gallerist Theodor Heuberger. The show [...]

Jorge Glusberg authors this text about postfiguration, mentioningthe precedents of this aesthetic viewpoint, along with other historical movements. Moreover, the theoretical aspects of representation, reality, and appearances are analyzed [...]

Guillermo Whitelow explains the origin of the La postfiguración exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno (Buenos Aires, 1982). He also aesthetically defines “postfiguration” by exploring the nexus between appearances and reality [...]

Originally published in Romanian, this unsigned text describes the career of Antonio Berni, who is presented as an intellectual and artist deeply committed to the social situation of the Argentine people. This essay was written on the occasion of the [...]

Braulio Solsona writes about the success Antonio Berni achieved with his exhibition in Paris (Galerie R. Creuze, 1955), while also affirming the importance of representing local problems; he also comments on the introduction by Louis Aragon [...]

Rubén Vela writes about the relationship of Argentine artists to international art. He believes that Argentine artists are working on a purely aesthetic plane of creation. He studies the Juanito Laguna series in Antonio Berni’s work, previously [...]