Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This letter was written by the Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 12, 1977, to the Colombian artists Pedro Alcántara Herrán and Virginia Amaya Valdivieso. Homar begins his letter on a friendly note, [...]

In this letter, the Puerto Rican graphic artist, Lorenzo Homar, writes about developing the first portfolio and the objectives of the Taller Experimental de Artes Gráficas [Experimental Graphic Arts Workshop] at the Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia [...]

As a gesture of affection, Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar offers Colombian artists Maritza Uribe and Gloria Restrepo comments on his contribution to a collection of posters at the Museo La Tertulia in Cali, Colombia. In exchange for his remarks, [...]

This caricature by Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar depicts United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson climbing a staircase, enveloped in flames, which represent the Vietnam War. Johnson is dressed like a cowboy with boots, cowboy hat, belt, and [...]

Lorenzo Homar writes to the Colombian artist Pedro Alcántara to congratulate him on being awarded the Berlin Intergraphic Festival Prize. Homar asks Alcántara to refer to the notes he includes in his letter and read them to the artists who attended [...]

Lorenzo Homar writes to Ricardo Alegría, the director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rican Cultural Institute] (ICP), to thank him for suggesting to Zoran Krisnik that he (Homar) should take part in the Ljubljana Biennial [which [...]

The printmaker Lorenzo Homar writes to the Columbians Maritza Uribe and Gloria Restrepo to thank them for returning the works that were shown in the exhibition at the Museo La Tertulia, in Cali, Colombia. He mentions that he will send them some [...]

In this proposal, Lorenzo Homar, the director of his own workshop, and Professor Georg Fromm, the administrator, outline the basic requirements involved in the financial support of the Taller Homar [Homar Workshop]. They explain that the workshop [...]

In this letter to the editor of The San Juan Star newspaper, Lorenzo Homar comes to the defense of art critic Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata in the wake of the article written by the artist Rafael Rivera García, who said that Ruiz de la Mata’s columns [...]

In response to an article that appeared in the art section of The San Juan Star newspaper, Lorenzo Homar explains that there will not be a “counter Biennial” at the Tercera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [Third San Juan Biennial [...]

Lorenzo Homar, who was on a yearlong European sabbatical, writes to the Puerto Rican artist and critic, José Antonio Torres Martinó, with a summary of recent events. Homar explains that the glue used for the murals at the Olympic Pool at El Escambr [...]

Lorenzo Homar presents an ink caricature of the jury at the Primera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [First Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan] held in 1970, whose members were: Arturo Dávila, director of the department of fine [...]

Lorenzo Homar informs Ricardo Alegría, the executive director of the ICP (Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), of the difficulties he is having with his weekly class in printmaking techniques and creative design at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas [...]

Lorenzo Homar believes that the jury of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño’s art competition—Ketty Rodríguez Benítez, Harold Lasky, and Osiris Delgado—acted irresponsibly in rejecting four of the eight prints presented. One of the rejected works was [...]

Lorenzo Homar states that Puerto Rican artists were never informed that the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [IV Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan] would be financed with funds from the American Revolution Bicentennial [...]

Lorenzo Homar begins these brief notes on Puerto Rican art and artists by discussing painter Francisco Oller. He goes on to state that art should be at the service of society and that artists should not be concerned with imitating avant-gardes who [...]

Lorenzo Homar believes that the jury of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño’s art competition—Ketty Rodríguez Benítez, Harold Lasky, and Osiris Delgado—acted irresponsibly in rejecting four of the eight prints presented. One of the rejected works was [...]

Lorenzo Homar harshly criticizes Luigi Marrozzini, director of the Galería Colibrí in Old San Juan, for certain statements in Revista Avance. Homar asserts that Marrozzini was not the founder of the Galería Colibrí or the Bienal de San Juan de [...]

In this letter to Uruguayan artist Antonio Frasconi, Lorenzo Homar comments on a number of topics: his resignation from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP); issues related to the Portafolio Casals and Luigi Marrozzini; and the request he [...]

In this list, Lorenzo Homar provides detailed information about the personnel and equipment he would require for his printing workshop. In some cases, he offers thorough descriptions of the specific work to be performed by each printer and the [...]

In this letter that artist Lorenzo Homar wrote to Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), while he was in France, Homar states that there has been a problem with the glue used to stick the tiles on the mural of [...]

Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar apologizes for being so late with his preparations for the poster exhibition in Cali, Colombia. He comments that his work was not well received by the critics and he has doubts about himself when he finds out that [...]

Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar tells Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto Puertorriqueña [Institute of Puerto Rican Culture], what happened to Homar’s portfolio, Tres estrofas de amor para soprano [Three Stanzas of Love for Soprano], [...]

The artist Lorenzo Homar writes to Ricardo Alegría, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs at the time, about the selection jury for the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano (1974) [Third San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic [...]

Lorenzo Homar congratulates the Colombian artist Pedro Alcántara on the excellent lithographs donated by the latter to the Museo del Grabado Latinoamericano [Museum of Latin American Prints] at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [ICP, Puerto [...]

The printmaker Lorenzo Homar comments on the silk screen workshop he organized at the Museo del Grabado Latinoamericano [Museum of Latin American Graphic Art] for the museum’s inauguration at the time of the Segunda Bienal de San Juan del Grabado [ [...]

At the retrospective exhibition of his work held at the Museo de Arte de Ponce on April 13, 1978, Lorenzo Homar gave a talk entitled “Some Thoughts on Posters.” He discussed the importance of posters as a means of visual communication to the [...]

In this letter artist Lorenzo Homar replies to his colleague, Uruguayan professor Luis Camnitzer, who had suggested that some of the artists who planned to participate in the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial [...]

In this brief, cynical note, artist Lorenzo Homar informs the editor of the radical newspaper Claridad that he plans to suggest that the “Methadone Prize” at the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial of Latin [...]

In this letter sent to the Puerto Rican Socialist Party’s newspaper Claridad, printmaker Lorenzo Homar replies to an article by Puerto Rican writer Edwin Reyes. Homar attacks the position taken by Reyes—and by “Santitos,” a character who [...]

In this open letter, Puerto Rican artists Nelson Sambolin, Lorenzo Homar, Antonio Maldonado, and Rafael Rivera Rosa state their goals in connection with the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial of Latin American [...]

In this manifesto, Puerto Rican artists Antonio Martorell, Lorenzo Homar, Rafael Rivera, Juan O'Neill, Nelson Sambolín, Antonio Maldonado, and Ángel Casiano expressed their solidarity with oppressed and exploited nations that struggled to gain [...]

Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar writes to Félix Rodriguez Báez, who at the time was the director of the Escuela de Artes Plásticas [School of Visual Arts] of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [ICP, Puerto Rican Cultural Institute], to [...]

Luis E. Díaz Hernández, executive director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rican Cultural Institute] (ICP), sent a letter to the artist Lorenzo Homar with a questionnaire consisting of five questions. The objective of the [...]

Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar thanks Mariano Rodriguez (1912–1990), vice director of the Casa de las Américas, for inviting him to serve as the coordinator for an adjunct group of that organization in Puerto Rico. However, Homar turns down the [...]

In this letter to Colombian artist Pedro Alcántara, Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar explains the materials that are necessary to print silkscreens in Colombia. He explains what the dryer should be like, which thinner should be purchased, and [...]

In this letter to Ricardo Alegría, the director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) at the time, Lorenzo Homar discusses an array of topics, including the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [Fourth Latin American Print [...]

In this brief commentary, Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar alludes to his displeasure at the use of the word “assassination” in a recently published article. He goes on to refer to the tempestuous lives of Mexican mural artist David Alfaro [...]

In this text, Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar comments on the mural program organized by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) in the early-1970s. He states that most Puerto Rican artists support the program: since they are rarely able to [...]

Puerto Rican painter and master printmaker Lorenzo Homar comments briefly on everything artists do for society in spite of a lack of recognition. Homar asserts that there is a radical difference between members of society and a good artist, the [...]

In this brief letter to Pedro Alcántara, Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar expresses his view of art biennials. He states that many of them “act as lackeys to the North American market.” Homar believes that the jury should not be indifferent [...]

Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar informs Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), of his reasons for not being interested in participating in the selection committee for the Bienal de San Juan de Grabado [...]

In this long letter to his Colombian colleague Pedro Alcántara, Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar discusses a number of topics including the technical procedure by which to create a coat with a patina that looks like bronze on a sculpture made from [...]

This is the fourth account sent by Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar during his year-long sabbatical in Europe. In it, he tells Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), about the tapestries he saw at the Musée [...]

This is the third report that Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar sent to Ricardo Alegría, executive director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), while he was on sabbatical in Europe. Homar provides an overview of everything he has seen [...]

In his reply [contestación], Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar says that he does not think there is an artistic movement in Puerto Rico that could be compared to Cubism or Expressionism, among other examples. He says that the socio-political [...]

In this lecture, Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar asserts that the ideological content of art is determined by its stance on society since “art for art’s sake” is devoid of ideological content. For Homar, “socialist art” is a question of [...]