Américo Celestino Del Cioppo, who was known in journalistic circles as “Atahualpa del Cioppo” (1904–1993), was a poet, teacher, and widely acknowledged theater director both in Uruguay and abroad. He wrote this article on the subject of bibliographic novelties for AIAPE, the magazine published by the AIAPE, (Agrupación de Intelectuales, Artistas, Periodistas y Escritores), which first appeared in 1936. In this article, the author reflects on art and art criticism following the publication of Arte simple, the book by Cipriano Vitureira (1907–77). Both men were regular columnists for AIAPE, and shared the views that many intellectuals and artists in Uruguay subscribed to in the 1930s. This new sensitivity consisted of pro-democracy political beliefs (that were opposed to the dictatorship installed by Gabriel Terra in 1933), a belief and involvement in an independent, clearly anti-fascist culture, and a profound concern over the dramatic world events that were casting a long shadow over Uruguay, paramount among which were the Spanish Civil War and the looming hostilities in Europe. Both men also endorsed ideas and situations derived from a conviction that art has the power to change humanity for the better, a notion bequeathed by the traditions of the Enlightenment and its offshoots during the nineteenth century.
This document reveals the ideological views and sensitivity shared by these two AIAPE columnists. This institution, to a considerable degree, spoke for Uruguayan intellectuals in the 1930s, especially for the large group of ideologically independent artists with a social conscience who had embraced a spirit of renewal in their work, who were opposed to the government’s dictatorial and conservative oppression, and were alarmed by fascist advances in Europe.
