This text was written for the series Art of Latin America Today: Venezuela by the critic and art historian Clara Diament Sujo. The text historically summarized the development of contemporary art in Venezuela from the Pre-Columbian, colonial, and republican periods before entering the twentieth century. The author based her analysis on traditional figuration and geometric abstraction. She also felt the latter was the universal trend that in 1949 marked the revival of painting, sculpture, and ceramics in the South American country of Venezuela. It was Sujo’s opinion that contemporary art was particularly notable and emphasized the work of the artists Alejandro Otero, Jesús Rafael Soto, Gerd Leufert, Ángel Hurtado, Jaime Sánchez, Elsa Gramcko, Mercedes Pardo, Luisa Richter, and Gego [Gertrud Goldschmidt]. The author also took the Informalist inclination into consideration that was present in the work of artists such as Alberto Brandt, Teresa Casanova, Renzo Vestrini, Milos Jonic, and Ángel Luque.

This essay on contemporary art in Venezuela was commissioned by the Pan-American Union of the OAS (Organization of American States) and was originally written in 1961 for the English series Art of Latin America Today: Venezuela. The series was coordinated by José Gómez Sicre, and was published between 1958 and 1969. The OAS sought to enhance its presence among the English-speaking public and present to them, through distinguished art critics, the contemporary art survey developed in the Latin American countries. It was designed as a small hardcover book and followed a preexisting format with an introduction that was a historical summary of the development of contemporary art in Venezuela through the Pre-Columbian, colonial, and republican periods, before entering into the twentieth century; it includes a detailed analysis of artists and the art at the time. The countries included in the series were Haiti, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico (unpublished because the author did not finish the text), Paraguay, Peru, and this text on Venezuela.

The art critic, art historian, and gallery owner Clara Diament Sujo (b. 1921) currently lives in New York. She resided in Venezuela during the sixties and founded the Galería Estudio Actual. She moved to New York in 1981 where she relocated her gallery, naming it the CDS Gallery. For the series Art of Latin America Today: Venezuela, Gómez Sicre consulted with artists for their suggestions in the selection of authors for the series. This revised essay was edited and translated into English and was the main text of the seventy-seven page book, titled Art of Latin America Today: Venezuela, by Clara Diament Sujo (Washington, DC: Pan-American Union, Organization of American States, 1961).

[For other texts written by Clara Diament Sujo, please refer to the ICAA digital archive for the following: “Elsa Gramcko” (doc. no. 1153604), and “Una mañana con Gego” (doc. no. 864793)].