Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In this text, French sociologist Roger Bastide, who resided in Brazil, provides a biographical sketch of Carlos [Frederico] Bastos. He explains that, as part of a movement in the forties to renovate the art scene in Bahia, Bastos acted as a [...]

This text by architect Lina Bo Bardi describes the difficulties she faced as the head of the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (MAMB) and of the Museu de Arte Popular (MAP), both of which were located in the Solar do Unhão (since 1963), a seventeenth- [...]

This essay, by the landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx, appeared in the publicity brochure for his exhibition at the MAMB (Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, 1960). He suggests that a garden should express a desire for a better life, and should [...]

This text by sociologist Roger Bastide discusses drawings by Carybé, an Argentine artist who lived in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Bastide underscores the faithfulness of the iconography in Carybé’s illustrations and the connections between his [...]

In this letter to Lomanto Júnior, the governor of the State of Bahia at the time, architect Lina Bo Bardi requests public support for the Plano de Artesanato Popular, a project geared to encouraging craft production in northeastern Brazil. In a way [...]

This text was to be placed on the main wall of the exhibition on Brazilian painting organized by the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (MAMB) in 1960. The text asserts that the true innovating power of a culture is found by delving into its popular [...]

In this text, filmmaker Glauber Rocha describes architect Lina Bo Bardi’s tenure as director of the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (MAMB). He points out the polemic, rather than provincial or anti-academic, nature of her work and proposals, as well [...]

Through this commentary, critic José Geraldo Vieira introduces the folk figure of the cangaceiro [“farmhand guerilla” in northeastern Brazil, a bandit and a fugitive from the law who is heavily armed] as a theme in the works of writers and [...]

In this text, critic Wilson Rocha discusses the development of José Pancetti’s painting which, in his view, is of historical importance. Rocha considers Pancetti one of the greatest landscape painters in Brazilian history. He also asserts that [...]

This text by Wilson Rocha discusses the retrospective of printmaker Henrique Oswald that took place in the context of the Primeira Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas held in the city of Salvador, state of Bahia, in 1966 and 1967. Rocha considers [...]

Beginning at the end of the 1940s, writer Riolan Metzker Coutinho traces a history of wood engraving in the state of Bahia, which in his judgment, is a privileged endeavor in which engravers such as Oswaldo Goeldi, Poty Lazzarotto and Carl Hansen ( [...]

José Valladares comments on the issues debated at the Congrès International des Critiques d’Art, (Paris, 1948). At that crucial time just after World War II, the discussion revolved around the formation of an international association of art [...]

This text by José Valladares describes the Primeiro Salão Bahiano de Belas Artes, which the author deems a success due to its significant public repercussion. In Valladares’s view, the event marks the beginning of a new phase of art history in [...]

Here, José Valladares comments on the launching of his book Dominicais [Sunday Essays], which is a collection of his texts published  between 1948 and 1950 in the Diário de Notícias, a daily newspaper in the city of Salvador (state of Bahia). He [...]

This text was written by the Greek critic Theon Spanudis about the first Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas, held in 1966, in the city of Salvador (state of Bahia). The critic objects to the presence of artwork linked to Pop art and the New [...]

In this text, José Valladares discusses the transformations taking place in the art scene in the city of Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, during the forties and fifties. He comments on the new importance of the Salões de Arte, the emergence [...]

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 text, Brazilian painter Maria Leontina discusses the sculptures by Mário Cravo Jr. on exhibit at the time (1950) at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP ). Leontina asserts that Cravo Jr.’s aesthetic has yet to fully take shape. She [...]

The critic José Geraldo Vieira addresses the mural paintings and tapestries made by Genaro de Carvalho. He outlines the artistic career of the artist, his training and his initial creations, finally emphasizing the mural painted in 1950 at the Hotel [...]

This text on the young painter of Japanese origins, Jorge Mori, was written by the critic Sérgio Milliet, who noted that the 14-year-old artist had been painting since he was a young child. The critic states his admiration for Mori’s artwork, [...]

This is the catalogue for Nipo brasileiros. Mestres e alunos em 50 anos, the exhibition held at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo, 1984). It includes an essay by Maria Cecília França Lourenço, the art historian and curator of the [...]

This text was featured in the catalogue for 8º Salão de Artes Plásticas that was organized by the Grupo Seibi in 1964. It recounts the history of the group of artists from the Japanese community in the state of São Paulo, a group created in 1935 [...]

This article is about the founding of the Museu de Arte Negra (Rio de Janeiro, 1968). The author deplores the lack of study in the field of Afro-Brazilian art and the general ignorance concerning its contribution to Brazilian culture. The Museu de [...]

Testimony by painter José Cláudio on the social implications of his African ethnicity while operating as an artist in the northeastern region of Brazil. He affirms that there is no exact boundary between whites and blacks within this cultural [...]

This text by architect Luis Saia discusses the collection of popular sculptures he put together during his trip to northern and northeastern Brazil in 1938. The architect presents a thesis on the African origin of the “miracle,” the name used for [...]

The life and work of Afro-Brazilian artists is discussed in this text, which connects their work to contemporary folk arts. The author, Lélia Frota, focuses on those “artists of the people” who were able to develop their own styles, highlighting [...]

This text discusses the life and work of Francisco Biquiba dy Lafuente Guarany, a popular artist from Bahia whose work revolved around carrancas—figureheads used in small vessels that cross the São Francisco River, sailing through the states of [...]

This text discusses African sculpture and sculpture produced by African slaves and their descendents in Brazil. The analysis begins with statues used in Afro-Brazilian religions, some of which represent priests possessed by gods. Other works are [...]

This is a text about the life and work of Bahia sculptor Agnaldo Manoel dos Santos. The article points out certain characteristics of his personality and significant events in his life as a sculptor, including [his participation in] the fourth Bienal [...]

In this essay the art historian Mário Barata discusses various facets of the African-inspired sculpture produced by Brazilian artists. He notes the diversity in style from one African nation to another, and identifies the influences that are most [...]

This essay by the French Surrealist poet Benjamin Péret appeared in the catalogue for the exhibition of works by Maria Martins presented at the MAM-RJ (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro) in 1956. Péret discusses the artist’s sculptures, [...]

The catalogue for a solo exhibition of work by sculptor Maria Martins held at the Valentine Gallery in New York in 1943 included a group of texts on myths from the Amazon, specifically legends about mythological characters like Cobra Norato ( [...]

In this article, the writer and critic Mário de Andrade discusses the painter Ismael Nery’s creative process, mentioning aspects such as the unfinished look of his works, his compositional work in a Figurative vein, and his desire to build an [...]

Brazilian poet Murilo Mendes suggests certain autobiographical—and even religious and philosophical—considerations in the work of Ismael Nery. He cites and remarks on two texts on the painter written by Manuel Bandeira and published in 1929, that [...]

This manifesto was published on the occasion of the I Exposição Neoconcreta held in Rio de Janeiro (1959). The document, which is signed by the artists who participated in the exhibition, describes the “Neo-concrete” movement as a radical [...]

Prompted by the exhibition of work by the North American artist Minna Citron at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Waldemar Cordeiro discusses the historical connection between art and society in the United States. In his opinion, when “ [...]

This text addressing the international career of Mary Vieira, a Brazilian sculptor who lived in Switzerland, was published in the magazine HABITAT. It includes transcriptions of some parts of a lecture that took place at the Centro d’arte [...]

Brazilian art critic Ferreira Gullar argues that the sculpture of Amilcar de Castro is related to Neo-Concretism. Ferreira Gullar asserts that de Castro’s work eschews some of the characteristics of Concrete art, among them the use of serial [...]

In this text, Ronaldo Brito provides a critical analysis of Constructivist tendencies in modern art. He argues that the emergence of Neo-Concretism in Rio de Janeiro in 1959 was a consequence of the crisis of Constructivist ideologies. Brito presents [...]

The visual artist Willys de Castro reviews the exhibition of drawings by his lifelong companion Hércules Barsotti at the Galeria de Arte das Folhas, in São Paulo. De Castro discusses Barsotti’s technique in great detail, including [...]

This text is a historical balance sheet of Concrete art in Brazil. The art critic, Ferreira Gullar, introduces Concrete art as a movement of “rupture” whose radical nature contrasts with the painting that predominated in Brazil in the late 1940s [...]

In this text, poet and diplomat Murilo Mendes discusses Almir Mavignier’s poster designs. He comments on the painter and graphic designer’s training as an early student at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, where his teachers included Max Bill and [...]

This text by Brazilian artist Willys de Castro was written for the pamphlet announcing the solo exhibition of painter Alfredo Volpi held at Galeria de Arte São Luiz in São Paulo in 1961. In it, de Castro argues that Volpi produces original work [...]

In this text, Brazilian poet Augusto de Campos presents the aims of Concrete poetry and explains how it transcends the historical parameters of the poetry tradition. Noigandres—the group that de Campos represents—envisions “the word” as an [...]

This article by the Brazilian poet Augusto de Campos, which sounds like a manifesto, lists the conceptual guidelines and the historical and theoretical references of concrete poetry. It underscores that the movement represents “the end of a [...]

This essay was published in the leaflet produced for the 1960 solo exhibition of Brazilian painter Willys de Castro at the Galeria Aremar in the city of Campinas. The artist himself defines the most distinctive quality of his visual art, which he [...]

Swiss artist Max Bill analyzes the connections between form, beauty and function in the creation of utilitarian objects on an industrial scale. He defends the idea that everyday objects should combine functional and aesthetic qualities. In his [...]

This is the text of the announcement of Waldemar Cordeiro’s exhibition at the Galeria Astréia in São Paulo in 1963. In the text, the physicist and art critic Mário Schenberg outlines a view of concrete art that has little or nothing to do with [...]

In this article about the artists from Rio de Janeiro who took part in the Iª Exposição Nacional de Arte Concreta, Waldemar Cordeiro, as usual, scrutinizes the parameters of theory and practice that reveal radical differences in the defining [...]

This article, written by the Brazilian art critic and theoretician Waldemar Cordeiro, appeared in the brochure for his 1960 exhibition at the Galeria Aremar in the city of Campinas in the state of São Paulo. According to the visual artist and [...]