This biography of the Venezuelan painter Armando Reverón (which he is said to have written) consists of memories recorded in the third person. According to Alfredo Boulton, Reverón dictated it to “Raquel, the secretary at the Escuela” [de Artes Plásticas y Aplicadas in Caracas] in about 1950. The document includes information about Reverón’s life, such as: his early education, the years he spent in Valencia (Venezuela), his art studies in his own country and in Spain, the influences he acknowledged, his involvement in the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Caracas, and his earliest exhibitions. The biography ends with an account of his move to Macuto (on the Caribbean coast) with Juanita Mota, and provides details about the construction of “El Castillete,” the studio and home he built there.  

“Datos sobre el pintor Armando Reverón” [Information about the painter Armando Reverón] (1898–1954) is a valuable document. It is actually attributed to the Venezuelan painter himself, and is the only known text that provides details about his life. The version reproduced here is a transcript of the manuscript that was published for the first time, as an appendix, in the book Reverón by Alfredo Boulton (2nd. edition, 1979). On page 35 in the prologue, Boulton refers to “(…) a document I have had in my files for a number of years that could be described as his autobiography. It was given to me by another of the artist’s admirers. It has never been published. There are seven sheets of fine paper containing the transcript of the narrative that Reverón dictated, probably in about 1950. A reproduction of this document is included at the end of this book (…).” There is a note at the end of the document that says: “Mr. Lira, these are the notes that Reverón left for you.” This must refer to Armando Lira, the Chilean painter and teacher who lived in Caracas in 1936 and was actively involved in the educational plans being developed by Rómulo Gallegos, who was the Minister of Education at the time. Although Boulton, the historian, did not mention this document until 1979, it is safe to assume that it is where he got the biographical details he used in his essay for Armando Reverón o la voluptuosidad en la pintura, the retrospective exhibition of Armando Reverón’s work presented in 1955. 

“Datos sobre el pintor Armando Reverón” was published again in 2002 as an appendix in the book I Simposium Internacional Armando Reverón (Caracas: Proyecto Armando Reverón (PAR), 2002). It was published as a complementary, support document to “Armando Reverón: el lugar autobiográfico,” the lecture given by Luis Enrique Pérez-Oramas. In Note 1 of his text, Pérez-Oramas observes that: “This is a carbon copy of the original typewritten document, which includes the mention of ‘AB/gtm.’ There is no signature or heading. It is from Alfredo Boulton’s files and is currently being held by the Fundación Vollmer in Caracas (…).”