This introductory essay appeared in the exhibition catalogue for the retrospective of the painter Alicia Bustamante at the Museo de Arte y de Historia de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima, 1974). The essay was written by the historian Francisco Stastny, who at the time was the director of the museum. The author suggests that from a historical perspective, the importance of the Peruvian indigenist movement “is greater than the actual creative activity of its members” and that its “main attribute was its contribution to the opening of new horizons and the discovery of cultural realities that had not been widely understood until then.” Stastny also says that his study and reappraisal of local artistic values shows that Bustamante undoubtedly made her greatest contribution by focusing on traditional art. He lists her most important accomplishments as an artist and collector, and claims that she played a key role in Peruvian intellectual and artistic circles, explaining that she was highly influential in the development of a broader understanding of Peruvian history and culture.

The exhibition at the Museo de Arte y de Historia de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos was organized in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the death of Alicia Bustamante (1907–68); it consisted of a selection of her oils, pastels, temperas, and watercolors, as listed in an addendum to the essay.

In their attempts to find the true “Peruvian art,” painters in the indigenist movement used local motifs in their own work, and began to study and reappraise traditional visual arts. They traveled all over the country, looking for native and mestizo artisans whose names and works of art would soon become familiar to residents of the capital city, Lima. One of the major figures in this movement was the Peruvian painter and teacher Alicia Bustamante, who trained at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, where she studied under José Sabogal (1888–1956), the founder of the school of indigenist painting. Sabogal had a profound influence on Bustamante and her painting and interest in traditional art. 

Bustamante had several important exhibitions of her paintings—in Viña del Mar (1937), Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano de Lima (1944), La Paz (1944), and the Galería Lima (1956). But her greatest contribution was to promote traditional art in towns and cities, a move that led to a whole new understanding of Peruvian visual arts. Bustamante worked with Sabogal and a group of indigenist painters at the IAP (Instituto de Arte Peruano) at the Museo Nacional, studying traditional art. She also built the first and one of the most important collections of traditional Peruvian art, which was regularly exhibited at the Peña Pancho Fierro (Lima, 1936–67), a sort of salon for talks and debates on politics, literature, and art, a place that Bustamante actively supported. This venue was frequented by noted artists from the indigenist movement and the Peruvian avant-garde, such as César Moro (1903–56), Fernando de Szyszlo (b. 1925), and Jorge Eduardo Eielson (1924–2006), among others. On Bustamante’s death in 1968, at her request, substantial portions of her collection were donated to the Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima) and the Galería Latinoamericana at the Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba.

[As complementary reading about this artist, see the following articles in the ICAA digital archive: by José María Arguedas “La colección Alicia Bustamante y la universidad” (doc. no. 1139559); by M. F. F. I. (Moisés Fuentes Ibáñez) “De arte: la exposición pictórica de Alicia Bustamante” (doc. no. 1139459); by Winston Orrillo “En la cultura: homenaje a Alicia Bustamante, la madrina del arte popular” (doc. no. 1139542); and by C. R. “La exposición de paisajes de Alicia Bustamante” (doc. no. 1139476)].