From the seven chapters of the book Poleo. Categorías del espíritu,written by historian Carlos Silva about the paintings of Héctor Poleo, this text represents the third chapter, “Arte y estilo de Héctor Poleo,” wherein the essayist analyzes his work by proposing four ontological categories based on oppositional categories: Love/Destruction (or Eros and Thanatos); Instant Time/Progress; Worldliness/Transreality; and Existence/Otherness. Based on these categories, Silva makes comparisons between different phases within the evolution of his style, also clarifying that these categories apply throughout his career, with greater or lesser intensity. To support his arguments, Silva chooses several works to analyze, connecting the aforementioned categories to specific moments in Poleo’s work.

Historian and art critic Carlos Silva (1937?2003) was recognized in Venezuela at the Primer Concurso de Investigacón en Artes Visuales, for his essay on Héctor Poleo (1918–89), awarded in Caracas (1999) by the Consejo Nacional de la Cultura (CONAC), Dirección General Sectorial de Museos y Artes Visuales. For the first and only occurrence of this competition, the jury included: María Luz Cárdenas, William Niño Araque, and María Elena Ramos. His book was published the following year by CONAC and includes sixteen illustrations of excellent quality that capture Poleo’s artistic production throughout all its stages. The analytical method used by the author in chapter three of the text—“Arte y estilo de Héctor Poleo”—is of a hermeneutic-philosophical bent. In support of his analysis, Silva uses three principal works by the artist: De la tierra a la tierra, Persistencia de la memoria and Mensaje de angustia, all created during the 1970s in Paris (using a casein technique), during a period of his work known as “poetic representation.” The originality of Silva’s work can be seen in his analysis (and in the perspective that can be deduced from it), which is remarkable in relation to the work of other critics such as Alfredo Boulton or Simón Noriega.

For other texts on Poleo’s work, see the reviews 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 text by Simón Noriega “Fuentes concretas del surrealismo de Poleo” (doc. no. 1153819); the essay by Denys Chevalier “Poleo: la opción simbolista” (doc. no. 1162167); the writings of Alfredo Boulton “Introducción” (doc. no. 1153883) and “El tema de la figura humana en la obra de Héctor Poleo” (doc. no. 1153964); as well as the text by Bélgica Rodríguez for the exhibition catalogue Poleo desconocido (1997), “Héctor Poleo, inventor y fabulador de formas” (doc. no. 1153899).