This newspaper article states that, in the ten years since the death of Daniel Hernández, the first director of ENBA, very little “progress has been made, due to the regrettable guiding principles of a faculty” that is committed to imposing an “aesthetic dogma” on students, a situation that has led to the dismissal of José Sabogal from his position as director of the school. The editorial in the magazine Cultura Peruana suggests that the newly formed Consejo Directivo de las Bellas Artes [Board] should assist the school to create a curriculum that is primarily based on technical training, so that “students are under no obligation to unconditionally accept their teachers’ views or styles.” When honestly assessed, the previous administration’s attempts did not meet expectations, mainly among the students. It must be remembered that the school should be “a center for technical education” so that “graduates will know how to use and rely on the tools of the trade to translate their feelings into things of beauty.” The editorial ends by saying that, before attempting any voluntary disfigurement of Peruvian Indians, artists should be abundantly skilled in the techniques of the visual arts.      

This editorial essay, published in the magazine Cultura Peruana, discusses the creation of the Board (the Consejo Directivo de las Bellas Artes) that was charged with supervising art education in Peru, and which would be responsible for reorganizing the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA). In the mid-1930s a powerful movement emerged to oppose the indigenist style—which was perceived as official and exclusive—and eventually, in 1943, Sabogal was dismissed from the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. Supporters of indigenism viewed this move as unjust, and rallied to the painter’s defense in letters, newspaper articles, and social events.

The Consejo Directivo de Bellas Artes was created in 1943. One of this Board’s main functions was to supervise the administration of art schools and state museums, propose the establishment of new museums, develop the criteria for art competitions, organize temporary exhibitions, and sponsor art conferences and publications. The original members of the Board were Alberto Jochamowitz (1881–1974), Manuel Vicente Villarán (1873–1958), Enrique D. Barreda (1879–1944), Aurelio Miró Quesada Sosa (1907–98), and Guillermo Porras Barrenechea. The Board was created largely in response to the mounting criticism of José Sabogal and his ideological policies, claiming that the arts in Peru at that time had not developed as they should have done as a result of Sabogal’s incompetent management of the ENBA. One of the Board’s first tasks was to supervise the reorganization of the school, promoting new teaching methods that respected the students’ priorities, thus avoiding the imposition of any particular styles or guidelines.