In this otherwise unflattering review of the exhibition of postwar Italian paintings at the Galería de Lima in May 1954, Antonio Flórez Estrada (alias “Tonón”) has one positive, albeit ironic, comment: he applauds the gallery for its unselfish willingness to show non-figurative European works that have limited sales appeal. In his opinion the inscrutable nature of the abstract works in the show represents a dereliction of art’s duty to educate and inform the public. According to him, “freedom has its limits when it comes to works of the spirit.” He also believes that abstraction can sometimes be used to excuse a lack of talent by invoking the avant-garde; in this case, his scathing remarks are directed at the works by Alberto Burri at the exhibition.

Writing under the pseudonym “Tonón,” the Spanish-Cuban critic Antonio Flórez Estrada produces a negative review of the exhibition of contemporary Italian paintings held in Lima in May 1954. He nonetheless has good things to say about the works by Antonio Sanfilippo (1923–80) and Carla Accardi (b. 1924). 

The Peruvian debate on the subject of Abstract art began when the painter Fernando de Szyszlo (b. 1925) returned from Paris in 1951 and stated that “there are no painters in Peru” [see the following article in the ICAA digital archive: “Dice Fernando Szyszlo que no hay pintores en el Perú ni América: el joven pintor peruano declara sentir su pintura y la de los demás pero no puede explicarla” [Fernando Szyszlo says there are no painters in Peru or in Latin America: the young Peruvian painter claims to be able to feel his own painting and the work painted by other artists, but cannot explain it] (anonymous) (doc. no. 1137793)]. The debate became even more intense in 1954 and 1955 as a result of the opinions expressed by the architect Luis Miró Quesada Garland (1914–94) and the writer Sebastián Salazar Bondy (1924–65), the main ideological champions of abstraction and realism, respectively. The first altercation between these two was sparked by the controversial exhibition of works by contemporary Italian painters at the Galería de Lima in May 1954. The non-figurative language of these paintings was, at the time, entirely new, especially the experimental use of “poor” materials in works by Alberto Burri (1915–95). The exhibition prompted negative reviews from Antonio Flórez Estrada (1898–1954) and from Salazar Bondy [see his article “Artes plásticas: pintores italianos contemporáneos” (doc. no. 857210)], both of whom saw no transcendent qualities at all in abstract art. Luis Miró Quesada Garland [“Opinión sobre las críticas al arte abstracto” (doc. no. 858807)] had a very different point of view, which led to a heated exchange with Bondy, who fought tooth and nail to defend the artist’s social commitment in his work of art. [See the following articles, all with the same title, “Artes plásticas: sobre arte abstracto” (doc. no. 858965), (doc. no. 859038), and (doc. no. 859095) by Bondy. See also the articles by Garland: “Sobre el arte abstracto” (doc. no. 858994) and (doc. no.859071)].