Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

Damián Bayón writes about the work of Argentinean-Japanese artist Kasuya Sakai by analyzing his different stages; that is, concerning the harmony of contrasting colors; the influence of Hartung and calligraphy; black forms in a more complex [...]

This is a critical essay that discusses Nuevas Realidades. Arte Abstracto, concreto, no figurativo [New Realities. Abstract, Concrete, Non-Figurative Art], the exhibition that was presented at the Galería Van Riel September 12-25, 1948. The [...]

Damián Bayón analyzes some of the reports by critics, both French and North American, on the Latin American exhibition that was held in Paris from August to September 1962 at the Musée de la Ville. In these reports he finds lines of reasoning that [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón describes and analyzes the painting of Juan Batlle Planas, an Argentine painter influenced by surrealism. Bayón believes him to be one of the “most gifted surrealists, replete with great pictorial knowledge and a [...]

This brief but thorough review by the Argentine critic Damián Bayón explores the development of Argentine art from the eighteenth century to the present day. He mentions artists, architects, and sculptors who have helped to define the concept of [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón analyzes the work of Carlos Torrallardona. To do so, he focuses on the composition, iconography, lines and use of color among other elements, including the adequate (or inadequate) visual tension he observes within [...]

This article reviews and analyzes the collection of the Museum of Modern Art [MoMA] in New York, the Whitney Museum and three exhibitions: Salvador Dalí, Roberto Matta and Jean Dubuffet, all of them simultaneously presented in the same city. With [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón focuses on a description of the formal characteristics of the work each of the fourteen Czechoslovakian painters who exhibited at the Asociación Estímulo de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires). He maintains that despite [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón, who lived in Puerto Rico during the 1950s, believes that the five-year hiatus in the Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art] was harmful to the event. [...]

In this article Damián Bayón comments on an exhibition of work drawn from museums in Berlin, which was held at the Petit Palais in Paris. Based on his observations of the European public, Bayón states that the way “to recognize the superior [...]

Damián Bayón provides a far-reaching reading of Cubism on the basis of an exhibition held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris that ran from February to April 1953. Before delving into specific concerns, he explains the overall perspective of his [...]

Damián Bayón reviews Alejandro Otero’s paintings and sculptures in search of what he calls their “dynamic space.” The Argentine critic and historian discusses Otero’s earliest work and the synthesis in his landscapes, then associates his [...]

The critic Damián Bayón, who lived in Puerto Rico for a period, considers Marta Traba a “critic-judge,”“radical critic,” and even a “theorist-critic” due to her social and political commitment. Bayón discusses how early on Traba [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón briefly summarizes the state of Latin American art in Europe. Many artists are there for just a short time, they come and then leave; most are men and the majority live in Paris. Most are painters, although there [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón, who lived in Puerto Rico in the 1950s, claims that the exodus of Latin American artists was good for their aesthetic education. He adds that some artists left their countries when they were very young and were [...]

In “El nuevo giro de la Historia del Arte en los Estados Unidos,” [The New Turn of Art History in the United States], Argentine historian and critic Damián Bayón criticizes an article by journalist Grace Glueck published in the New York Times [...]

In this article Damián Bayón conducts interviews with two Italian artists: the first with Massimo Campigli and the second with Léon Gischia. Bayón formulates his questions to both interviewees around the problem of explaining the “success” of [...]

This article is an interview that Damián Bayón conducted with Henry Russell-Hitchcock on the subject of modern Latin American architecture. Bayón praises Russell-Hitchcock, the scholar and curator, as “one of the great world authorities on [...]

In this article Damián Bayón interviews art historian Pierre Francastel (1900–1970) regarding the problem of abstract art, based upon what Bayón read in [Francastel’s] books. Before beginning [the interview], he states that the questions he [...]

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

This article deals with the work of the different Spanish artists that Damián Bayón had the opportunity to analyze during his stay in Barcelona, where he was reporting for Ver y estimar. He covered the sets and costumes that Salvador Dalí designed [...]

In this article Damián Bayón critiques the book Espacio, tiempo y arquitectura [Space, Time and Architecture] by S. Giedion. He focuses on the research methodology of the author, whose objective it was to prove, according to Bayón, “the [...]

In this document Damián Bayón analyzes the different periods of the work and thought of Piet Mondrian. He believes that in his search for balance, this Dutch artist adopted the right angle as the only constant relation. At the same time, and so [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón expresses his views on Colombian, Mexican, and Venezuelan architecture. He considers Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to be a chaotic, disjointed city where confusion reigns supreme. However, in spite of that, [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón reviews modern architecture in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. He believes there is a great deal of talent among young artists in Buenos Aires. Projects are impressive in spite of the bleak economic [...]

In this text, Damián Bayón considers the question: What qualities make art produced by Latin American artists Latin American? He begins by declaring that the art of Latin America becomes Latin American when an artist—because of his or her [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón deals with the pictorial production of Jorge Larco. He analyzes his use of materials (oil as well as watercolor), motifs and color, among other elements. Bayón concludes that he is “a great painter” for he [...]

In his text, Damián Bayón points out the fact that Venezuelan artist Julio Pacheco Rivas makes use of linear perspective to paint large architectonic constructions that house systems of signs organized in a hierarchy of values in the style of the [...]

This article by Damián Bayón presents and analyzes the book by Wilhelm Wörringer, Form in Gothic [Formprobleme der Gotik, 1912]. He states that it is a “masterpiece,” but this does not prevent Bayón from pointing out certain discrepancies [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón went to Cuba in July 1979 to interview Cuban architects Fernando Salinas, Roberto Segre, and Daniel Taboada. While he was in Havana, Bayón noticed that a governmental ban on private commerce had led to an absence [...]

In this text, which is the foreword to the catalogue for the exhibition 22 Contemporary Argentine Painters, Damián Bayón establishes the exclusive relationship with Europe of the visual art culture in Argentina, since there was “no relationship [...]

In this text, Damián Bayón considers what kinds of “characteristic forms” are visible in American art across historical periods encompassing pre-Columbian, colonial, and modern art and architecture. He conducts his inquiry [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón addresses some of Auguste Rodin’s ideas on creation and art. Bayón describes certain aspects of the French sculptor’s working method and personality, while also analyzing some specific works. Before doing so, the [...]

In this article Damián Bayón questions the general state of the art world and the place occupied by Latin American artists within it. He defines the preeminent art trends of the time and then analyzes the way in which Latin American [...]

Damián Bayón begins with a brief characterization of the conflicting personalities of Van Gogh and Gauguin, and then characterizes their respective pictorial qualities—drawing, composition, color, impasto, and light—always examining them from a [...]

The Argentinean professor Damián Bayón reviews Frente a la máquina, the exhibition presented at the Maison de L’Amérique Latine. He reports that there are plans to organize regular exhibitions of works by Latin [...]

According to the Argentine critic Damián Bayón, who lived in Puerto Rico in the 1950s, Paris is the city that every artist dreams of, but he cautions that it is not easy to succeed there. Hundreds of Latin American artists arrive in Paris every day [...]

In this text, Damián Bayón introduces a collection of essays on Latin American art with a broad overview of what he argues are the most critical issues when considering the historical and contemporary art of the region as a whole. He begins by [...]

In this article, Damián Bayón analyzes the work of Argentine painter Ramón Gómez Cornet. He states that coming to a just “judgment” of the work will be difficult because he is one of “those [artists] who goes directly to the sensibility of [...]

 Damián Bayón reviews an article by J. M. Richards that appeared in the magazine Architectural Review in March 1950 that questioned some aspects of modern architecture. Bayón analyzes its development within the discipline and believes it is the [...]

Damián Bayón presented the La Inestabilidad [Instability] exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires in1964, basing his premise on the static nature of the Renaissance space that evolved from the proscenium of “Italian style [...]

The Argentine critic Damián Bayón writes about two El Greco exhibitions in Spain: El Greco de Toledo [El Greco of Toledo] at the Museo del Prado (Madrid), and El Toledo de El Greco [The Toledo of El Greco] in the city of Tajo (Ronda, Málaga). He [...]