The text “Negret” by the Argentine art critic based in Colombia, Marta Traba, consists of an analysis of the entire body of work of the sculptor Édgar Negret up to 1964. This is probably one of the first articles on the artist to present all his work to date in chronological order. After providing a complete overview of Negret’s work, Traba goes on to give a meticulous description of some of the particular characteristics of his sculpture (materials, techniques, finishes, formats, colors, etc.). Based on these characteristics, she deems him one of the most important contemporary artists, most representative of that moment in history both in Colombia and throughout Latin America.

Marta Traba (1923–83) played a major role in the art life of the Colombian sculptor Édgar Negret (1920–2012), accepting him as one of Colombia’s most appreciated artists. Given the significant access she had to the Colombian mass media, she made sure he was included in the list of the country’s most important modern artists. The text “Negret” (1964) was written for the catalogue of the exhibition Seis artistas contemporáneos colombianos held in 1963. The exhibition was organized by Traba for the opening of Galería 25, in Bogotá. This exhibition was the first group exhibition of the six artists she deemed the most significant representatives of Colombia’s Modern art: Alejandro Obregón (1920−92), Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar (1922–2004), Fernando Botero (n. 1932), Guillermo Wiedemann (1905−1969), Enrique Grau (1920−2004), and Negret, himself. 

Beyond the significance of the exhibition Seis artistas contemporáneos colombianos, the text written for the show sets forth a series of Traba’s arguments that points out how special Negret was among Colombian artists. The article is striking since it shows the kind of information Traba would give readers of that period to help them grasp the importance of what was shown in the gallery. This is one of the first texts on Negret to focus on a formal description of his works, finding arguments, in their physical characteristics, to justify their importance to art in Colombia. The critic invites the reader to take note of how Negret used materials that were unconventional in that period, such as aluminum, thin wooden sheets, wire and industrial paints. Traba also describes his use of new techniques such as assembly using nuts and screws left visible. Through her continual references to the modern, industrialized world, with a starting point of “what is material,” the critic urges the reader to take an interest in series such as “Aparatos Mágicos” and “Arquitecturas Submarinas”. All these formal references provided Traba with justifications for considering the sculptor an avant-garde artist who was nourished by the modern world around him and who, at the same time, proposed a reevaluation of sculpture in Colombia. Texts such as “Negret” contributed to making his art a benchmark in any conversation about Modern art and sculpture in Colombia.