In 1960 and a few months after having created the Centro de Arte del Instituto Torcuato Di Tella (ITDT) [Art Center of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute]—directed by a Council made up of Lionello Venturi, Ricardo Camino, Guido Di Tella and Jorge Romero Brest— the ITDT Prize was made possible. The purpose of this center was to cooperate in the diffusion and promotion of the visual arts and to keep in contact with other centers connected with production at both a national and an international level. Within this context, the Premio ITDT [ITDT Prize] was created to provide an opportunity for young Argentinean artists to enrich their experience abroad; nevertheless, its creation did not just allow for the awarding of the grant-prize, but it also spurred the circulation of international art in the local arena, becoming an important reference point for the visual arts renaissance of the time. This prize was awarded to national or international artists, with some variation depending on the year in question, until 1967. Beginning that year, it changed its name and became Experiencias Visuales [Visual Practices], and then just Experiencias [Practices] in 1968 and 1969.
This document shows the choices made in the operation of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute Prize, especially in regard to the discussion of the jury, comprised of Jorge Romero Brest, the Italian critic Giulio Carlo Argan who replaced the recently deceased director Lionello Venturi, and James Johnson Sweeney, who had directed the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It is interesting to note that this is the first and only year that the discussion of the jury was published in its entirety.
In 1962, the following foreign sculptors participated in the program: Kenneth Armitage, Lygia Clark, Pietro Consagra, John Chamberlain, Lucio Fontana, Nino Franchina, Louise Nevelson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Gió Pomodoro, Pablo Serrano, and William Turnbull. In turn, the Argentinean sculptors represented were Julio Gero, Noemí Gerstein, Naum Knopp, Gyula Kosice, Aldo Paparella, Enrique Romano, Eduardo Sabelli, and Luis Alberto Wells.