In 1967, Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, granted artist Lorenzo Homar a year sabbatical in Europe during which he visited France, England, Spain, and Germany. While there, he met with many printers, typographers, and printmakers. Over the course of the trip, which proved an enriching experience, he wrote a number of long reports to Ricardo Alegría on his comings and goings, and about what he was learning; these accounts would later be read to students at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas [School of the Visual Arts]. This document is the fourth of these reports. For the third report, see doc. No. 823878.
Lorenzo Homar (San Juan, 1913-2004) organized in 1957 the Taller de Gráfica [Graphics Workshop] at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, which he directed until his resignation in 1973. Some of the foremost artists of Puerto Rican art studied printmaking techniques in this workshop. Homar inspired in them dedication and love for the art, for, as he once said: “There is no vocation without discipline, and without discipline there can be no freedom in art, or elsewhere.” Homar was one of the organizers of the First Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano held in 1970. He developed the technique of silkscreen and offered numerous workshops in and outside Puerto Rico.