Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In this essay, Peruvian art critic and diplomat Raúl María Pereira provides an overview of Peruvian painting from the first half of the twentieth century. While the author praises the first generation of academic painters, he believes that their [...]

The introduction to Joaquín Torres García’s book, Universalismo Constructivo (published in Buenos Aires in 1944), was written two years earlier, and touches on many of the maestro’s fundamental ideas. It explains that his views are the result [...]

In his series of four articles, José Cúneo challenges Joaquín Torres García for having submitted to the VIII Salón Nacional de Bellas Artes—where he won the Grand Prize—a painting that, in the author’s view, has nothing to do with his [...]

In this text, journalist Sergio Antillano examines the life of his friend and contemporary, artist Héctor Poleo, commenting specifically on his studies at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Caracas and the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City. [...]

This review considers Julia Codesido’s work within the context of art and literature produced by women, noting that this genre “is uniquely attuned to feeling and expression.” Though historically recognized solely in terms of family or social [...]

The 1932 article "Armando Reverón,” written by Venezuelan journalist, writer, and lawyer Julián Padrón is a short biography of Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón, and a description of his working method. Rever& [...]

The artist Cícero Dias was the subject of this article that includes a combination of first-hand accounts on his artistic career. The text was originally published due to an exhibition on abstract art by the artist in Recife (Faculdade de Direito) [...]

The second part of a two-part essay published in the Bellas Artes newspaper, this text consists of a lecture given by artist Flávio de Carvalho at the Congrès International d’Esthétique in Paris, and later (in 1937), at the Salão de Maio in Sã [...]

The first part of a two-part essay published in the Bellas Artes newspaper, this text consists of a lecture given by artist Flávio de Carvalho at the Congrès International d’Esthétique in Paris, and later (in 1937), at the Salão de Maio in São [...]

This long and didactic article by art critic Charles de Gouffra introduces the theoretical principles underlying Impressionism. The text is divided into six sections: (i) an introduction, which formulates a periodization of that French painting [...]

In this review of the (1) Exposición de arte francés [Exhibition of French Art] held in 1922, artist and art critic Roberto Pizano discusses the importance of “cultivating oneself,” as well as the “Latin” origins of the works on exhibition [...]

In this article the Austrian critic Walter Engel reviews the exhibition of works by the painter Andrés de Santa María held at the Galerías de Arte in Bogotá. Engel begins his article by mentioning that the Colombian artist died in Brussels, [...]

This article by Ricardo Hinestrosa Daza is divided into ten parts. In the first, the author discusses the concept of “emotion” formulated by educator Baldomero Sanín Cano in the November 1904 and January 1905 issues of Revista Contemporánea. In [...]

This article contains two parts. In the first, its author—Colombian writer and critic Baldomero Sanín Cano—discusses Impressionism and its conception. He bases his disquisition on notions of the behavior of color and light formulated by [...]

This article is divided into two parts. In the first, its author, Baldomero Sanín Cano, reveals not only his ignorance about the craft of painting, but also how he envisions the text and the subject it addresses. In the second, he describes the [...]

Arturo Cintrón García recounts his experience as a disciple of Puerto Rican painter Miguel Pou. He remembers going to Pou’s home studio in the small city of Ponce where Pou gave art classes in the early twentieth century. After discussing the [...]

In this essay, the Venezuelan painter and art critic, Alejandro Otero, questions the chronicler of the city of Caracas, Mario Briceño Iragorry, about his article “Abstraccionismo y carillones” [Abstract Art and Carillons]. The painter finds [...]

In this essay, the painter and member of the Los Disidentes group (Paris, 1950) Alejandro Otero presents a long list of the major elements and people that contributed to the creation of Abstract art. The list includes: revolutions in art; the present [...]

This essay was included in the catalogue for the Exposição de Pintura Brasileira held in London in 1944. Organized by the critic Rubén Navarra, the show presented a broad selection of Brazilian paintings that covered the transition from the 1930s [...]

Carlos Mérida describes Impressionism as an artistic movement that promoted freedom of thought and opinion. This led to a great proliferation of schools and pictorial forms of expression that, in spite of having dealt the fatal blow to the stifling [...]

In this piece, González Lanuza explores the two primary modes through which man can interpret reality: an “analytical” perspective and a “synthetic” perspective. With respect to the first, the author references Impressionism and literature [...]

The writings of Roberto A. Ortelli had striking repercussions on the criticism of the pictorial work of Pedro Figari (1868-1938)—work that Ortelli considered completely without merit.  Ortelli described the works of the Uruguayan painter as “ [...]