Photographer, historian, and an art critic, Alfredo Boulton (1908−95) sent this correspondence to his friend, Venezuelan artist Alejandro Otero (1921−90). According to Ariel Jiménez, the editor of said missive exchange, the subsequent letter from Otero (Paris, May 23, 1950) in response to the long postscript by the critic was lost. Justly, Boulton’s interest in the reproduced postscript was the sincere concern of somenone whose flexibility towards accepting new trends, and having worked in favor of abstract art, suddenly feared for the acknowledgement of his “pupils.” It can be inferred that Boulton’s reaction was due to the shocking effects generated by the circulation in Caracas of the first issue of Los Disidentes (Paris, 1950). Unlike the young artists, the critic embraces with considerable maturity and tolerance the importance of the Venezuelan tradition, dominated by landscape art and social realism, and while it includes the avant-gardes, he considers that there is room for everyone, even for pompier art. Acting as a critic, Boulton felt compelled to a great extent to recognize talent where it existed without looking at the language used by the artist, or to presume of all the dissenters the same sincerity or the authenticity they invoked.
This letter highlights an important side to Boulton, whether it be as an intellectual humanist or as a Latin American; and despite his European training and being a passionate connoisseur of art universally, Boulton bestowed an immense importance to the history and to the art of Venezuela, focusing his research efforts and resources to their study, which included promoting the most talented artists of his country without differentiating between applied languages or avant-garde postures.
This letter belongs to the selection compiled by Ariel Jiménez, He vivido por los ojos: correspondencia Alejandro Otero-Alfredo Boulton, 1946-1974, for the Fundación Museo de Alejandro Otero (Caracas: Fundación Alberto Vollmer/Museo Alejandro Otero, 2001), under the auspices of the Alberto Vollmer Foundation.