The critic Eduardo Dieste (1882–1954) writes about Pedro Figari (1861–1938) purely in terms of his painting, side-stepping the monumental importance of his public activities as a lawyer, politician, poet, educator, thinker, and cultural promoter. In keeping with the reviews Dieste produced in the 1920s, this article focuses on characteristics that Figari and the critic shared. Dieste describes the artist’s subject matter and local universes, referred to as bygone customs, and explains that his painting is related to formal contemporary European styles through syncretic, expressive compositions. Steeped as he was in European humanism, Dieste articulates a string of analogies that connect local reflections with that heritage, describing Figari’s “visions of memory” as native eclogues. Dieste defends Figari’s work as a form of humorous painting, against those who rate him as a caricaturist, by underscoring his dual themes: blacks and the country. Both elements contribute to an artistic anthropology of behaviors (jocularly portrayed in the artist’s paintings) that highlight forms of cultural miscegenation derived from a celebration of archaisms and a mélange of joyful animality. The author is no doubt referring to a redeeming primitivism. Once again he condemns the taste of the period, when Figari’s many paintings of black people were considered “an inaccurate picture of the country” and deemed unsuitable as decorations for refined environments.
[As complementary reading see, in the ICAA digital archive, the following articles published by TESEO: by Eduardo Dieste, “Bernabé Michelena, escultor” (doc. no. 1220780); “El Drama de la Pintura, Teseo, Discusión estética y ejemplos” (doc. no. 1217147); “Humberto Causa, otro pintor de la luz” (doc. no. 1221130); “José Cuneo Pintor de la luz” (doc. no. 1217703); and “El Milagro del Prisma [Teseo Discusión Estética y ejemplos]” (doc. no. 1217097). See also: “Boletín de TESEO [Agrupación de Artistas y Escritores Uruguayos],” written by por José Cuneo, Bernabé Michelena, et. al. (doc. no. 1182637); “Carta a Rafael Barradas” (doc. no. 1250919); “De la invención en la pintura” (doc. no. 1245854); “Escuela Taller de Artes Plásticas al Ministro de Instrucción Pública [carta institucional en borrador],” by the Escuela Taller de Artes Plásticas (ETAP) (doc. no. 1265434); “Primer Grupo Argentino de Pintores Modernos” (doc. no. 1228165); “Programa,” by Alberto Zum Felde (doc. no. 1196932); “Teseo. Los Problemas del Arte,” by C.L. (doc. no. 1223765); and “Uruguay Olímpico,” by Alberto Lasplaces (doc. no. 1254039)].