This document is an essay on Wolfgang Paalen published in the magazine Ciclo. Arte, literatura, pensamiento modernos. [Cycle. Modern Art, Literature, Thought]. In it, Aldo Pellegrini points out the three periods of his work: 1932–35, the period in which he collaborates with the Abstraction-Création Group of Paris; 1936–40, during which he is linked to André Breton’s surrealist group, and finally, the period of his cosmic intention painting. The critic analyzes the work, emphasizing its theoretical function, disseminated through the magazine DYN. Pellegrini likewise points out that Paalen bases his painting on the concept of the synthesis between imagination and reason—proclaimed by John Dewey—maintaining that this artist marks a new path between Surrealism and Abstract art.

Aldo Pellegrini (Rosario 1903–Buenos Aires 1973) was a distinguished poet, playwright, essayist, and art critic within Argentinean cultural circles. From the beginning, he was linked to the development of Surrealism, and he also directed various publishing projects. Pelligrini also supported and publicized various aspects of Abstract art, promoting some groups such as Artistas Modernos de la Argentina [Modern Artists of Argentina] and Asociación Arte Nuevo [New Art Association].  The only two issues of the magazine Ciclo. Arte, literatura, pensamiento modernos [Cycle. Modern Art, Literature and Thought] were published in November/December 1948 and March/April of 1949, respectively. Its editorial committee was composed of Elías Piterbarg, Aldo Pellegrini, and Enrique Pichón-Rivière; they granted space both to constructive and surrealist proposals.  Wolfgang Paalen (1905–59) was an Austrian artist and theorist who worked within the surrealist trend. Toward the end of the 1930s, he went into exile in America. In 1947, he settled in Mexico, operating within the same trend that brought a group of immigrant artists to this country, including among others Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, and Paalen’s wife Alice Rahon.  This text was selected because of its contribution in determining Pellegrini’s ideas regarding the contact points between abstraction and surrealism. At the same time, it also sheds light on the epistolary exchange he maintained with Paalen.