Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In his unfavorable review of an exhibition at the Galería Van Riel, Argentine art critic Eduardo Baliari argues that abstract art has yet to find a language of its own capable of providing “absolute freedom.” Baliari deems Informalism a form of [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the history of art from the nineteenth century on, and Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], which breaks with Argentine art that looks to Europe [...]

Antonio Berni analyzes the educational system and technical instruction and discusses the creation of an art academy in Rosario; he relates those general matters to the specific characteristics of Rosario [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the creation of a fine arts academy in Rosario as a means for furthering the arts there; he analyzes the political and artistic disputes surrounding such a possibility [...]

Antonio Berni writes about Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], which he defines as an aesthetic identity that, in Latin America, vacillates between form and content [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the continuing relevance of Leonardo’s method, and the deep affinities that exist between the work of Leonardo and contemporary art [...]

Hugo Parpagnoli recounts the public controversy provoked by the Premio Di Tella awarded to the works of Luis Felipe Noé and Rómulo Macció, both members of the group Otra Figuración [Other Figuration]. Parpagnoli reflects that these works were [...]

The Nazi-affiliated nationalist newspaper Crisol [Melting pot] writes about the exhibition of Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros that took place at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art], a liberal institution that promotes the modernization of the [...]

This text, taken from the art-news section of Signo [Sign] magazine, run by the art critic Leonardo Estarico, briefly reports on the June 1933 exhibition of the Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art], an event that [...]

Miguel Angel Rozzisi writes about Antonio Berni’s art as though it has overcome the decadence of the system. He maintains the existence of class warfare between the official culture and that of the people, with Berni as the representative for the [...]

Eduardo Zaldívar writes about the Antonio Berni exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, where the artist presented his series of prints on Ramona Montiel [...]

This document is an interview with Antonio Berni in which he describes the relationship between the landscapes he painted in the 1950s and the collages of his Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel series. He also comments on some aspects of his engraving [...]

Santiago A. Ferrari writes about meeting Antonio Berni in New York; he discusses the artist’s everyday life and the changes in his political views concerning Marxism [...]

In this essay, Hernández Rosselot claims that reality competes with art in Antonio Berni’s work. He writes about the materials Berni uses and reviews the collages in the Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel series. Rosselot goes on to compare Berni [...]

Antonio Berni states his position on hyperrealism; he mentions the work of his surrealist stage in order relate the mechanisms of creation for photomontage and the collages from his Juanito Laguna series [...]

This article, dated October 14, 1981, describes the death and burial of Antonio Berni, the artist, and mentions the official visitors at his funeral service [...]

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 [...]

Originally published in Romanian, this unsigned text describes the career of Antonio Berni, who is presented as an intellectual and artist deeply committed to the social situation of the Argentine people. This essay was written on the occasion of the [...]

Braulio Solsona writes about the success Antonio Berni achieved with his exhibition in Paris (Galerie R. Creuze, 1955), while also affirming the importance of representing local problems; he also comments on the introduction by Louis Aragon [...]

Rubén Vela writes about the relationship of Argentine artists to international art. He believes that Argentine artists are working on a purely aesthetic plane of creation. He studies the Juanito Laguna series in Antonio Berni’s work, previously [...]

Gérald Gassiot-Talabot writes about discovering Antonio Berni’s work at the Venice Biennial, and describes the Ramona Montiel series. He speaks poetically about the artist’s Monsters, discussing the allegorical aspect of Berni’s production, [...]

Horacio Safons reports on Antonio Berni’s exhibition at the Centro de Artes Visuales (Buenos Aires, 1965) at the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, principally analyzing his Ramona Montiel series from a formal perspective and with regard to the nature of [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the resilience of fascist attitudes and their attacks on the culture of Humanism. He sounds a cautionary note concerning the political history of Nazism, Falangism, and fascism, reminding his readers that these movements [...]

Antonio Berni chronicles the various points of view that were expressed during the exhibition of visual arts organized by Latidud [Latitude] magazine in the city of Mar del Plata in 1945. Berni’s comments range from the artistic to the political [...]

Antonio Berni writes about his early experiences in art, both in Spain and France, and the formation of his personal approach to Nuevo Realismo [New Realism [...]

This document contains a description of the attendees at the opening of Antonio Berni’s show at the Galería Imagen (Buenos Aires, 1972) and an interview with the artist about the Latin American art scene. In his answers, Berni criticizes [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the development of modern art since impressionism, focusing in particular on both Paul Cézanne and cubism. In particular, his analysis of surrealism stands out. The artist likewise analyzes the dehumanization of art, pure [...]

In this essay we find Antonio Berni writing about the avant-garde in general—he discusses how the movement is faring in underdeveloped countries, describes the artists involved, and ponders its separation from the general public [...]

In this document Antonio Berni writes about a trip to the Museo Reverón in Macuto (Venezuela), and describes the coastal environment and the objects within the house museum. He critiques the commentaries concerning both the painting and madness of [...]

This is Antonio Berni’s essay on four Peruvian painters,José Sabogal, Julia Codesido, Camilo Blas, and Teresa Carvallo, in which he describes both their technical abilities and the subject matter of their works. Berni stresses the importance of [...]

Antonio Berni writes about the sculptural works of the colonial period, paying particular attention to the colors used by the artists. He goes on to discuss the evolution of the Quito [Equador] school, and discusses the realistic nature of the [...]

Antonio Berni writes about painting in Quito during the colonial period, describing the quality of its works and the themes in [seen in] cloisters and churches. He places particular emphasis on the Prophets series that Gorívar painted at the Iglesia [...]

Antonio Berni muses on the originality of Latin American colonial art, and suggests a way to distinguish between each of the three periods involved by naming them: pre-Columbian, colonial, and “contemporary” (post-independence). He goes on to [...]

The text praises the exhibition organized by Francisco Llobet at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art] with works by Jean-Louis Forain lend from Argentinean collections. Forain’s works are considered as real art, in comparison with those previously [...]

Antonio Berni organizes the works he exhibited at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art] in 1932 into the following groups: Plastic art, subjective realist compositions, nightmares, and objective realism. Berni created these works between 1928 and 1932 [...]

Anti-Semitic critique of modern art that takes into account the exhibition of the Seven Painters at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art] (Buenos Aires, 1935). In his judgement, the author stresses the abnormality and deformity of avant-garde art, in [...]

Cover and listing of artists who participated in the exhibition 7 pintores abstractos [Seven Abstract Painters], held at Galería Pizzarro in Buenos Aires from October 1 to 19, 1957. Essentially, it brings to the fore a singular grouping in the 1950s [...]

Poet Julio Llinás writes about the works of Marta Peluffo (Galería Peluffo, 1958) by analyzing her desperation brought about by her “innermost explosion.” Most of all because it happens at the core of a modern art with its [...]

Juan Grela speaks about painting in the city of Rosario at his lecture, beginning with the Mutualidad [Society]. He refers to his respect for the university and his long-standing relationship with Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art]. The author tells [...]

William Sandberg writes about the impact he experienced when he got to know the cultural life of Buenos Aires. He mentions the solidarity of the artists who worked in groups, using as an example the artists from Otra Figuración [Another Figuration [...]

Jorge Romero Brest writes that the jury he was a member of awarded Rómulo Macció the International Prize from the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella (1964), in which he distinguished himself from among the works of foreign artists. By the way and in overt [...]

In this pamphlet, written in 1935, the Agrupación de Intelectuales, Artistas, Periodistas y Escritores (A.I.A.P.E) [Association of Intellectuals, Artists, Journalists, and Writers] in Rosario, Argentina, urged the Latin American intellectual [...]

Julio Rinaldini criticizes the exhibition of modern artists in Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art] and maintains that it conceals a disturbing situation under a pleasant tone: modern painting is not liberty without control, he states. The critic defends [...]

Carlos Moog writes a theoretical essay on the relationship between aesthetics and politics in Latin America. The author believes that art is a political weapon. He studies the relation between Marxism and art, including the differences in social [...]

Hugo Parpagnoli declares that he does not have much to explain about Barbazul [Bluebeard]. Because it is only a story; the public should just go in and have fun. The exhibition evolves over time, like a theatrical play in which the spectator walks [...]

Romualdo Brughetti writes about artists who abide by visible and formal American constants and others who are defined by a formalism that originated in modern Europe. The article is about a question that came to light during the Peruvian artist Julia [...]

Dora de la Torre wrote about the exhibition Las Monjas [The Nuns] by Alberto Greco at the Galería Pizarro, pointing to the artist’s success; moreover, signaling him as head of Informalism, someone whose jeers were taken seriously by the critics. [...]

Samuel Paz wrote about the artist’s current situation, brought about by a crisis around the concept of style and a state of hypersensibility, in addition to a demand for inventiveness. The critic emphasized how Luis Gowland Moreno made use of [...]

The journalistic note explains the career of art dealer Alfredo Bonino from his beginnings to his international expansion. It points out how his gallery marketed artists and made them known in different venues. In particular, Bonino is recognized for [...]

Response of Cayetano Córdova Iturburu to the survey sponsored by the magazine Contra [Against]: “Should art serve social problems?” He challenges the response given by Jorge Luis Borges en Contra, issue 3, stating that it is mere humor and [...]