In this article, the critic Rafael Pineda discusses the unpublished diary kept by the Venezuelan artist Emilio Boggio while he was living in Caracas in 1919. Pineda writes about Boggio’s return to the country where he was born, his reunion with his family and, more importantly (according to the author), describes his interaction with young artists in Caracas. Pineda’s article is based entirely on Boggio’s narrative, and lists the painter’s acquaintances, various members of society, friends, family members, servants, and colleagues. The article is therefore mainly about Boggio’s daily life in Caracas, but also outlines his impressions of Venezuela. There is a reference to Boggio’s exhibition at the Escuela de Música y Declamación, with descriptions of specific paintings and a mention of their owners. There is also a report on the reaction from art critics, and how they influenced artists at the time.       

The critic Rafael Pineda discusses the unpublished diary written by the Venezuelan artist Emilio Boggio (1857–1920), focusing on the sections that refer to the latter’s visit to Venezuela. Pineda’s article provides firsthand information on a document that describes this artist’s stay in Caracas in 1919, an important time in the history of Venezuelan art. Pineda used the diary, which belonged to the antiquarian Baptistin Rinaldi, as the basis for this article, which was published in the catalogue for the exhibition of Boggio’s works at the Galería 77 in Caracas. Despite its extremely anecdotal nature (it is, after all, based on a diary), the article identifies people who were in some way connected to the artist, and describes Boggio’s exhibition at the Escuela de Música y Declamación in 1919. That exhibition was highly influential in the development of the Venezuelan visual arts because it was an opportunity to see the work of an artist who had trained in Europe, an artist with an acknowledged mature, solid talent. Boggio worked in a post-Impressionist style, and young Venezuelan artists—who had had no direct contact with Impressionism, and had been painting out-of-doors for a few years—were amazed by his paintings, and were able to question him in person. Pineda’s article offers many insights into daily life in Caracas in 1919.             

For another review of Boggio’s work, written by the Mexican poet and diplomat José Juan Tablada, see “La exposición de Boggio” (1919) [doc. no. 808640]. Enrique Planchart, meanwhile, describes Boggio as a member of the “Venezuelan landscape” in his article “Exposición del ‘Paisaje venezolano’” [doc. no. 855345], and Pineda also writes about the “Repatriación de Emilio Boggio” [doc. no. 1161684].