This essay by curator María Luz Cárdenas (b. 1952) on the life and work of José María Cruxent (1911–2005), a Venezuelan archeologist and artist of Catalan origin, is structured chronologically. It was published in the catalogue of the exhibition, “Homenaje a Cruxent. Siglo XX: El Hombre, Cultura y Desafíos,” held at the Museo de Coro in 1992—the last show of Cruxent’s work held during his lifetime. Unlike other texts on Cruxent that attempt to disentangle his artistic and scientific facets, Cárdenas addresses his work in archeology alongside his informalist and Kinetic artwork. Indeed, Cárdenas maintains that for Cruxent, those two spheres were always interconnected; his informalist art is a logical outgrowth of his work in archeology, to which nature and fragments of human creation were decisive. Along these lines, Cárdenas cites Venezuelan poet Juan Calzadilla (b. 1931) who said that “[Cruxent’s] artwork is not the secondary pursuit of an archeologist.” The author points out Cruxent’s enduring contributions to art and science, and also delves into his personality and how it affected his art. She quotes, among other texts, the description of Cruxent’s person offered by Venezuelan scientist Marcel Roche (1920–2003).
One of the achievements of this essay is that it manages to sum up the most important writings on Cruxent´s personality, by Cruxent himself, and by those close to his work in science and in art. In her text, Cárdenas frequently quotes Alfredo Boulton, “J. M. Cruxent: Obras Recientes,” first published in 1971 by the Galería Champs Elysées of Caracas and republished in 1973 by the Sala Mendoza (see ICAA digital archive doc. no. 1153711) and Juan Calzadilla, “Las pinturas de Cruxent,” featured in the catalogue for the exhibition presented at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas in 1962.
On José María Cruxent’s artwork, see the text of his authorship entitled “La libertad de crear” (doc. no. 1153727) and “Realidad vs ilusión: la obra de José María Cruxent” (doc. no. 1153760) by curator Adolfo Wilson.
