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.
In 1963, the ITDT Prize was national and international, and included the following foreign artists: Pierre Alechinsky, Janez Bernik, R. B. Kijat, Maryan, Hans Platschek, Achille Perilli, Paul Rebeyrolle, Larry Rivers, Antonio Saura. In addition to this, the Argentinean artists selected were: Roberto Aizenberg, Osvaldo Borda, Aníbal Carreño, Ernesto Deira, Luis Felipe Noé, Rogelio Polesello, Rubén Santantonín, Antonio Seguí, Silvia Torras, and Jorge de la Vega, in addition to Mario Pucciarelli, Clorindo Testa, and Rómulo Macció, who had previously received prizes; and the jury was in turn: Jorge Romero Brest, Jacques Lassaigne, and William Sandberg.
French art critic Jacques Lassaigne served as the chief curator of the Paris Museum of Modern Art. This document corresponds to the text sent by Lassaigne and it completes the presentation of each of the members of the jury published in the catalogue of the 1963 Torcuato Di Tella Institute International Painting Prize.
This document illustrates the alternatives for the procedures at the Torcuato Di Tella Prize; particularly concerning the follow-up of the International Contest. This allowed for the dissemination of both ideas and work of the innovative artists from abroad at that time, thus promoting the inclusion of national artists within the context of the Prize. At the same time, outstanding art critics and directors of international institutions invigorated the Argentinean cultural milieu while being invited as jurors.
