In this brief essay, Puerto Rican writer Fernando Cros asserts that thus far artist Antonio Martorell’s major contribution to the graphic arts has consisted of three seminal works: the ABC de Puerto Rico [ABC of Puerto Rico] (1967–68), Juego de Manos [Sleight of Hand] (1968), and Salmos [Psalms] (1971). On the basis of these works, Cros provides an analysis of Martorell’s production; he states that in each of them the artist expresses a social concern.

Based on the poems of Ernesto Cardenal (Granada, Nicaragua, born 1925), the folder Salmos [Psalms], produced in 1971, contains eighteen woodcuts, glue to cardboard supports. Martorell later produced a number of other folder-works, including: Oda a la lagartija [Ode to the Lizard] (1973), with text by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda; Las Moscas [The Flies], with a fragment of a text by Spanish poet Antonio Machado (1975); Loas [Praises], with text by Antonio Díaz Royo (1979); Juramento de Hipócrates [The Hippocratic Oath] (1979); Poemas de la oficina [Office Poems] (1981); Luto Absoluto [Absolute Mourning] (1982); Andando el tiempo [Running Time] (1982); and Nocturno Rosa [Nocturnal Rose] (1984) by Mexican poet Xavier Villaurrutia, a member of the Contemporáneos group. Antonio Martorell (Santurce, b. 1939) was trained at the Taller de Gráfica del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rican Cultural Institute Print Workshop] under Lorenzo Homar. During his career, Martorell worked as a theater set and wardrobe designer, poster artist, printmaker, painter, book illustrator, professor, and writer. But, most importantly, he has been a graphic designer. In 1968, he founded the Taller Alacrán [Scorpion Workshop]—a workshop-art school devoted to criticizing Puerto Rican social conditions and politics—and managed it until 1971. In 1974 he was among the prize-winning artists at the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial of Latin American Prints]. Two years later, on the eve of the 4th Biennial he resigned from the jury because he was opposed to using funds from the United States bicentenary to finance the event. Multiple protests led to the cancellation of the 4th Biennial in 1976, and the event did not take place until 1979. Martorell was honored with a retrospective exhibition at the 7th Biennial in 1986. A year earlier the FBI raided his home as part of an attempt to arrest presumed members of Los Macheteros [the Machete Wielders], an underground revolutionary group that worked tirelessly to promote Puerto Rican independence.  For information on this folder, see the text “Los salmos de Martorell” by Marta Traba (doc. No. 806325).