This informative and didactic article, published by the CGM (Club de Grabado de Montevideo), describes and explains a range of art styles that emerged and were developed in the United States and Europe after the Second World War. Referring to the common forebear spawned by abstraction in the early twentieth century, this article sets out to discuss movements such as abstract expressionism, gestural abstraction, and material abstraction. It introduces theorists such as Clement Greenberg and Anthony Everitt, and presents works by artists working in all those styles in Europe and the United States. Published in the early 1980s, this article reflects the CGM’s desire to provide its members with information about artistic trends that affect the Club’s work at a time when it was experimenting with new languages.     

In November-December 1982 the CGM started publishing a series of articles devoted to theoretical and artistic questions, focusing specifically on trends that had been developing since the 1950s. The first article in the series mentions theorists in the field of abstraction such as the North American Clement Greenberg and artists who were working in other branches of abstraction, a movement which was being split into different categories including “material,” “sign,” and “gestural” abstraction. The article profiles artists who were working in these styles, such as Jackson Pollock, Alberto Burri, Franz Kline, Antoni Tàpies, Wolfgang Schulze (better known as Wols), and many others, explaining that the Club de Grabado de Montevideo felt that it was incumbent upon them to introduce these ideas and artistic practices to its members. These articles were also produced for didactic purposes. Members regularly received critical reviews of local work; this issue, however, also provided a broader range of analytical material. By reporting on developments in the United States, France, Spain, and Germany the article provided a perspective that encouraged theoretical comparisons between an “outside” and an “inside” (of the local art world). This article also discussed the connection between these trends and the development of new techniques that the CGM’s members were already using, such as silk screen and offset printing, collage, and others at a time when woodcut printing was in decline and was being challenged by new ideas.

[As complementary reading see, in the ICAA digital archive, the following articles published by the Club de Grabado de Montevideo: “Concurso de grabado para edición” (doc. no. 863481); “13 años de actividad de Club de Grabado de Montevideo” (doc. no. 1183571); “El arte correo en el Uruguay” (doc. no. 1191850); “Boletín N° 7 Club de Grabado de Montevideo” (doc. no. 1182833); “Club de Grabado compra su casa” (doc. no. 1192649); “Club de Grabado de Montevideo 22 Aniversario 1953 - Agosto 1975” (doc. no. 1183514); “Club de Grabado de Montevideo a la población de Montevideo” (doc. no. 1183124); “Cuando el Tercer Mundo se mira a sí mismo. II Bienal de La Habana” (doc. no. 1184459); “De los grabados de ayer a las ediciones actuales” (doc. no. 1191787); “Entrevista a Luis Mazzey” (doc. no. 1186991); “Entrevista a Óscar Ferrando” (doc. no. 1186747); “Entrevista a Óscar Ferrando [segunda parte]” (doc. no. 1186802); “Fundamentos a propósito de su 22 aniversario” (doc. no. 1182640); “Mini Grabado Internacional de Cadaqués. España” (doc. no. 1191135); “La necesidad de la imaginación” (doc. no. 1190793); “Nuestra institución” (doc. no. 1182010); “Los nuevos movimientos de las artes” (doc. no. 1182868); “Opiniones (I)” (doc. no. 1185411); “Palabras de clausura para un año de apertura” (doc. no. 1191167); “Referencias sobre identidad, cultura y arte en Latinoamérica” (doc. no. 1183641); “Reflexiones en torno a la supuesta crisis de las artes plásticas” (doc. no. 1185539); and “Sobre el papel de la crítica” (doc. no. 1187071)].