This essay by Mario Soro was one of the chapters in the catalogue for the exhibition Chile 100 años (Chile 100 Years) covering the second period, 1950–73, titled “Entre modernidad y utopía” (Between Modernity and Utopia). Soro discusses the historical circumstances of 1950 in the wake of the so-called radical governments that began in 1938. Those administrations encouraged the didactic role of art in the fields of printmaking and mural painting, as practiced by Chilean artists such as Carlos Hermosilla, Julio Escámez, and Marco Bontá, among others. This period saw institutions turn their attention to developmental projects, the effects of the Cuban Revolution on Chilean society, and the emergence of a cultural interest in fostering a uniquely American identity. As regards printmaking, the essayist notes the tradition of engraving at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Chile and the founding of the Escuela de Arte de la Universidad Católica during what he describes as a time of “modernity.” He discusses the evolution of printmaking and the role played by the Taller 99, which avoided popular subjects and embraced a kind of abstraction in the style of Joseph Albers. He identifies the “diáspora penquista” from Concepción, Chile, explaining that the artists Eduardo Vilches, Jaime Cruz, Pedro Millar, and Santos Chávez had uprooted from their hometown and moved to Santiago, the capital city. The 1973 military coup d’état disrupted everything, changing how art was produced and taught, and prompting the dismissal of countless artists from Chilean institutions. Soro notes that the TAV (Taller de Artes Visuales), which was started by professors who had resigned from the Universidad de Chile, became an alternative gathering place for artists during the dictatorship, and discusses the abstract woodcut work produced by Sergio Rojas at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Viña del Mar.  

The fact that a chapter in a catalogue for an exhibition about Chilean art was devoted to printmaking helps us understand how the discipline known in cultural circles as a “minor art” has become increasingly important in Chile in recent decades. What flowered in the mid-1950s was crushed by the coup d’état in 1973. There are two factors to be considered in this evolution: first, the modernity that was seen to embody a drastic move away from figurative illustration; and second, the seriousness with which the discipline was treated at the Escuela de Artes Aplicadas. Engraving was embraced in industrial, print, and publishing fields, which welcomed new technologies and materials and saw the merits of photography and semi-industrial silk-screen printing as ways to communicate with consumers that in turn led to the production of posters, book covers, and record albums. Engraving thus became part of the commercial world but always remained true to its artistic nature.