Aldo Pellegrini (1903-1973) was a poet, playwright, essayist, and art critic with a prominent role in Argentine culture. Linked to the development of Surrealism from its inception, he directed several editorial projects. Pellegrini also supported and expanded the various trends of Abstract art, encouraging groups such as Artistas Modernos de la Argentina [Modern Artists of Argentina] and the Asociación Arte Nuevo [Association of New Art].
Letra y Línea, Revista de cultura contemporánea. Artes Plásticas. Literatura. Teatro. Cine. Música [Letter and Line. A magazine on contemporary culture. Visual Arts. Literature. Theatre. Cinema. Music]. Crítica was a magazine about contemporary culture directed by Pellegrini, whose four issues were published between October 1953 and July 1954. Among its many collaborators were writers, musicians, and poets: Edgar Bayley (1919-1990), Osvaldo Svanascini (1920), Oliverio Girondo (1890-1967), Enrique Molina (1910-1997), Juan Carlos Paz (1897-1972), and Norah Lange (1906-1972).
Oliverio Girondo was an Argentine poet married to the poet Norah Lange. He was connected to the writers of the magazine Martín Fierro, such as Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Raúl González Tuñón (1905-1974), Macedonio Fernández (1874-1952), Ricardo Güiraldes (1886-1926), and Leopoldo Marechal (1900-1970), among many others. During the 1930s Girondo participated intensely in the public literary life, and later, due to the experimental nature of his poems published in the book En la masmédula (1950) he had considerable influence on the generation of poets connected to Pellegrini and the magazine Letra y Línea.
Francis Picabia (1897-1953) was a French artist whose production first included Dadaist works, and later expanded to Surrealist figure painting and interest in literature.
This issue of the magazine includes the transcription of a text by Picabia, published also with other poems and an essay by Tomás Maldonado about this artistic and literary personality.
This source was selected because it proves Pellegrini's admiration for Francis Picabia.
