In November 1939, a painting by Débora Arango Pérez (1907–2005) entitled Hermanas de la Caridad [Sisters of Charity] was awarded a prize at an exhibition held by the Sociedad de Amigos del Arte in Medellín. The award-winning work was not one of the two large-format watercolors depicting female nudes in unusual positions that Arango Pérez presented in that exhibition as well; those works gave rise to a polemic in which the press was forced to take sides. The jury’s decision to grant a prize to this painting—as opposed to one of the nudes—was a means to avoid greater scandal while also recognizing this talented Colombian artist.
Gustavo López (b. 1908), a painter who never gained much recognition, and Eladio Vélez (1897-1969)—who had been Débora Arango’s teacher and was an old friend and classmate of Pedro Nel Gómez (1899–1984) when both were studying in Italy—were the authors of this aggressive letter. In it, they assert that there are two distinct and antagonistic artistic currents embroiled in what they call a “battle to the death.” The first group consisted of the “Eladistas,” who defended the tradition established by Francisco Antonio Cano; the second consisted of followers of a new trend established by mural artist Pedro Nel Gómez, one that eschewed academicism and embraced humanist and nationalist concerns.
This document reflects the frictions occasioned by the first expressions of modern art in the Antioquia region, works that threatened the dominance of traditional art in a city like Medellín that was undergoing rapid economic modernization and industrialization while the elites clung to Catholic values and beliefs.