Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In 1930, Wladimir Raykis (director of Galerie Zak in Paris) sent this letter inviting Uruguayan artists José Cúneo and Bernabé Michelena to exhibit at his exhibition venue which promoted Latin American art between the wars. The dialogue and [...]

This document in diptych format is an invitation, with commentary, to the exhibition of the Club de Grabado de Montevideo (CGM) held in the city of Sèvres in March 1968. The official presentation of the exhibition was made by the Uruguayan [...]

Bélgica Rodríguez analyzes the work of sculptor Colette Delozanne, the Venezuelan artist born in France. In this text, she covers Delozanne’s artistic and personal trajectory, including her arrival in Venezuela in 1955. The author divides the [...]

Federica Palomero launches into this essay with a brief history of the MBA (Museo de Bellas Artes) in Caracas, and the steady growth of the Museum’s Collection of Latin American Art. Palomero posits that one can see the history of Latin American [...]

In this essay, Luis Enrique Pérez Oramas analyzes a fragment of modern Latin American art history, presented through the form of “penetrable” works. The critic describes the development of the form with respect to its representation as [...]

In this essay about Gego for the group exhibition, ERRE. Variations Labyrinthiques [ERRE: Labyrinthine Variations], presented at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, the French curators Hélène Guenin and Magali Le Mens include biographical details, such as [...]

This is the catalogue, written in French, for the exhibition of drawings by Juan Devéscovi and poems by Xavier Abril that was presented at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine [Latin American House] in Paris (November 1927). In his introduction, Jean [...]

Ventura García Calderón asserts in this prologue that, in Latin America, the Spanish and Indian races did not mix and that the former ignored the latter even though it was, in his view, “one of the most perfect civilizations in the world.” He [...]

Aníbal Machado writes about the printmaker Oswaldo Goeldi, noting his “moral profile,” his “impetuous temperament,” his humble, melancholy nature, and his “artistic solitude.” Machado describes Goeldi’s childhood in Belém (in the [...]

This article, written in the form of a poem, is about the series Excitáveis [Excitables] by the Brazilian artist Sérvulo Esmeraldo. The author, Erwin Leiser, pictures him walking through the back streets of Paris looking for images that will be [...]

The signatories of this manifesto—a statement of solidarity with the struggle of the Brazilian people defending freedom of expression in all areas—are opposed to the dictatorship’s practice of using art as a symbol of prestige for the military [...]

In this introduction to the catalogue for the (2001) exhibition Côte à Côte: art contemporain du Brésil [Side by Side: Contemporary Art in Brazil], Edemar Cid Ferreira states his conviction that art is a key product for commercial trade between [...]

This essay is about a conversation [in French] between the artists Henri Cueco and Gontran Guanaes Netto, in which Cueco analyzes Guanaes Netto’s drawing, describing its testimonial nature as the result of an unspoken agreement between his painting [...]

This text written by North American architect Frank Lloyd Wright is an account of the days in October 1930 that he spent in Rio de Janeiro, capital of Brazil at the time. Wright was invited to Brazil to participate in the jury to determine which [...]

The architect Attílio Corrêa Lima presents the book, Avant-projet d’aménagement et d’extension de la ville de Niterói au Brésil[Draft Proposal for the Development and Expansion of the City of Niterói, Brazil], which includes the thesis he [...]

Letter from Léon Degand—director of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP)—to René Drouin—a Parisian gallerist and the partner of Leo Castelli—discussing details related to the first exhibition at MAM-SP. According to the letter, [...]

The Brazilian artist Sérvulo Esmeraldo describes his interest in the phenomena of physics. He recalls some experiences in his childhood in northeast Brazil (Ceará), when he and his brothers turned ampoules into powerful lenses which they then used [...]

Photographer Pierre Verger affirms that Argentine artist Carybé, who lived in Brazil, had not changed his habits or the way he treated his friends despite the notoriety he had obtained for his art. He describes the artist’s house in the Brotas [...]

In this interview with Lygia Clark by art critic Vera Pedrosa, the artist discusses the radical change in direction at the heart of her research. Her work no longer revolves around formal questions, but rather around experiences that operate directly [...]

In this text, Brazilian artist Lygia Clark affirms the presence of man as the backbone of art. She goes so far as to formulate the loss of the object’s relevance as meaning and as means of communication. She posits a relationship between art and [...]

In this book, the French photographer and ethnologist Pierre (Fatumbi) Verger documents, in words and pictures, a number of cults and divinities that are worshiped in African countries (Nigeria and Benin) and in the city of Salvador, in the Brazilian [...]

During his visit to Brazil, the French art critic Pierre Restany notices that “the complex Brazilian reality” is reflected in “the small world of art,” to the point of expressing a certain “cultural confusion” (over and above questions of [...]

The synopsis and the annotations in English are coming soon.                                However, our bilingual readers can click on “Español” to access this information in Spanish [...]

In this study, Mário Pedrosa sketches a history of Brazilian architecture which he affirms did not appear spontaneously, but rather through the influence of Europe and Swiss architect Le Corbusier in particular. He compares this with a similar [...]

French anarchist and writer Charles Malato de Corné begins this brief article on Latin America for the first issue of Les Annales de la Jeunesse Laïque by informing the reader of border disputes that have been going on for too long and that are [...]

This suite of documents includes Charles (Carlos) Calvo’s (1824–1906) letter to Napoleon III, the response from M. Thouvenel, Minister of the French Foreign Office, and the introduction to Calvo’s book, Recueil complet des traités, conventions [...]

In this essay, Jean Clay reviews Fisicromías, the series of works by Carlos Cruz-Diez, and analyzes them from various perspectives. Clay discusses the evolution of the artist’s techniques, examining them through a prism of aesthetic principles. He [...]

In this selection from Michel Chevalier’s text Le Mexique Ancien et Moderne (1863), the author argues that France’s occupation of Spain, Mexico, and other Latin countries is in the best interest of all Catholic nations. Describing France as both [...]

These passages by Alaine Rouquié, a French political scientist, are excerpted from his book, Amérique latine. Introduction à l’Extrême-Occident (1989). Rouquié considers the lack of unity in Latin America and the problems encountered when [...]

In this article published in the Parisian journal, Annales d’histoire économique et sociale, (1948) renowned French historian Fernand Braudel responds to Luis Alberto Sánchez’s ¿Existe América Latina? Braudel considers Sánchez’s text (1945 [...]

In this second chapter of French academic Guy Martinière’s book, Aspects de la coopération franco-brésilienne: Transplantation culturelle et stratégie de la modernité (1982), he presents a history of the use and political implications of the [...]

André Siegfried’s introduction to Amérique latine (1934) begins with the term “the Americas,” used to conceptually reference the New World. The essay begins by pointing out that the term “North America” evokes a geographical personality [...]

This selection of documents begins with Raymond Poincaré’s—the future president of France (1913-20)—preface to Francisco García-Calderón’s book, Les démocraties latines d’Amérique. Poincaré praises Calderón’s book and traces the [...]

In this text, André Salmon considers the paintings of the young Guatemalan artist, Carlos Mérida, and their appeal to Parisian audiences, while also expressing nationalist sentiments specific to Guatemala. Salmon begins by recounting how young [...]

While living in exile on the Turkish island of Büyükada, Leon Trotsky writes to Diego Rivera, “a close friend of the left wing opposition,” in Mexico. In his letter, the Russian revolutionary recalls his first exposure to reproductions of [...]

This book illustrated in detail by painter Vicente do Rego Monteiro explores the legends, beliefs, and talismans of Amazonian natives. The artist offers vignettes, drawings of symbols, and illustrations based on indigenous motifs. It was published in [...]

The French art critic Maurice Raynal believes there is an innovative school of art in Brazil that is based on an intellectual aesthetic. The painter Vicente do Rego Monteiro is a member of that group. Raynal explains that Rego Monteiro, an artist [...]

This is a book of poetry by the painter and draftsman Vicente do Rego Monteiro, a Brazilian who lived in France for years and produced work in a variety of fields. The theme of the book Quelques visages de Paris [Some Parisian Faces] takes the [...]

French art critic Miguel Ragon writes about Antonio Berni’s engraving technique, as well as the question of narrative in his work with regard to the development of his chief characters: Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel [...]

The text states that—although France had always been a symbol of freedom—the French government, along with its curators and some artists, was willing to send a submission to the São Paulo Biennial despite the dramatic situation that Brazil was [...]

The text states that on December 23, 1968, the French newspaper Nouvel Observateur reported that the artists selected by art critic Gérard Gassiot-Talabot had declined to participate because of the French political situation several months after the [...]

The letter from [Greek artist] Takis tells Pierre Restany that he has not represented Greece at any international cultural event since Greece’s democracy was suspended. Takis thanks Restany for the invitation and hopes he understands the situation [...]

This text provides information regarding the measures imposed upon Brazilian culture after the state coup of 1964. It particularly refers to the actions derived from the Institutional Act No. 5, dated December 13, 1968. Once the Parliament was [...]

Text from a document written after a meeting at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, in which it was agreed to boycott the 10th São Paulo Biennial. The document points out that after May 1968 the artists took a position regarding the repression, [...]

This text transcribes the article published in the French newspaper Le Monde reporting that the Federal Police Department of São Paulo sent to the local newspaper Folha de São Paulo a list of news items forbidden to be published. The censored [...]

In this open letter, Hélio Oiticica writes against the 1969 São Paulo Biennial and expounds on the situation of strict censorship prevailing in Brazil. He considers that it is reason enough for France not to participate either. In addition, [...]

Hans Haacke’s letter shows that he pondered the invitation sent by Gyorgy Kepes and decided not to represent the United States abroad for a pair of reasons: because Americans were supporting an immoral war in Vietnam and a fascist government was [...]

E. de Wilde’s letter concerns the arguments that he submitted to The Netherlands Ministry of Cultural Affairs in order to withdraw the Dutch participation from the São Paulo Biennial. In this regard, he considered not only the prevailing [...]

Pol Bury’s letter states his decision to withdraw his participation from the 1969 São Paulo Biennial due to the fact that several Brazilian artists had informed him that another biennial, held in Bahia, was compelled to close and that paintings [...]

Text in which Julio Le Parc expresses his disagreement with the Denise René L’intrépide [Denise René: The Intrepid] title, because it refers to an exhibition in which the works were not made by the art-dealer but by the artists, who deserved [...]