The sharp defense of “rightwing,” as opposed to “leftwing” or “revolutionary” art, formulated by Colombian painter Eladio Vélez (1897–1969), (although he had not originated that terminology) highlights the clash between artistic tradition and modernism in the Antioquia region. The traditionalists defended classical images in keeping with academic canons and social notions of propriety; the modernists embraced expressionism and a determination to change the status quo.
In his attack on those who practiced the new tendencies, as well as jurors and commentators who defended them, Vélez was taking part in the debate between the “eladistas” and the “pedronelistas,” as the supporters of Vélez himself and of Pedro Nel Gómez (1899–1984) were called respectively. Veléz praises the decision of the jury to grant a prize to Colombian painter Ignacio Gómez Jaramillo (1910–70), who was not actually an “eladista,” but instead attempted to walk the middle ground between the two tendencies. Like Vélez, Gómez Jaramillo opposed Débora Arango Pérez (1907–2005), and openly competed with Pedro Nel Gómez, a mural artist who made use of an iconography that although nationalistic, was less “feísta”—or ugly-ist.