The introductory text in the catalogue of the Héctor Poleo exhibition was written by Miguel Otero Silva. In it he presents a chronology on the work of the Venezuelan artist that focuses on how the artist interprets the human drama through his paintings, and how it noticeably leans toward figuration and the presence of man in the world. The writer divides his aesthetic concerns into four periods: the people/culture, pessimism, doubt, and poetry.

The introductory text by the writer and journalist Miguel Otero Silva (1908−1985) for the retrospective exhibition of Héctor Poleo (1918−1989), carried out at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas in 1974, is one of the most relevant of its time for its contribution to the understanding of his work. The anthropological concerns of the artist are exalted when making reference to the existential human drama. This exhibition was the most extensive and complete on Poleo to the time. It included more than four hundred paintings and drawings, as well as jewelry, sketches for stained glass, and tapestries. The catalogue is profusely illustrated. The exhibition was later presented at the Museo de Arte Moderno de México (Chapultepec) and the Center for Inter-American Relations (CIAR) in New York City. It is important to highlight the profound friendship that the essayist maintained with the Venezuelan artist and the interest he showed in his oeuvre. In the catalogue, there is some text about the curator of the exhibition, Alfredo Boulton. For other texts relating to the work of this artist, refer to the following ICAA digital archive: the summaries by Alberto Junyent, “Aromas de la gracia” (doc. no. 1153851) and “Obras recientes de Héctor Poleo” (doc. no. 1153835); the article by Juan Liscano, “Pedro León Castro y Héctor Poleo” (doc. no. 850175); the texts by Simón Noriega, the author of the present document, “Fuentes concretas del surrealismo de Poleo” (doc. no. 1153819) the essay from the book La Pintura de Héctor Poleo, “Poleo y la cultura figurativa de los años cuarenta” (doc. no. 1153776); the essay by Denys Chevalier, “Poleo: la opción simbolista” (doc. no. 1162167); the writing of Alfredo Boulton, “Introducción” (doc. no. 1153883) and “El tema de la figura humana en la obra de Héctor Poleo” (doc. no. 1153964); the presentation made by Bélgica Rodríguez for the exhibition catalogue Poleo desconocido (1997), “Héctor Poleo, inventor y fabulador de formas” (doc. no. 1153899); the essay “Imagen sucesiva de Héctor Poleo” by Sergio Antillano (doc. no. 1172085); “Arte y estilo de Héctor Poleo,” from the book Poleo: Categorías del espíritu, by Carlos Silva (doc. no. 1172190); and by Francisco Da Antonio, “Héctor Poleo, del realismo a subreal” (doc. no. 1153915) and “Los últimos veinte años en la pintura de Héctor Poleo” (doc. no. 1153932)].