Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

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 [...]

The article defines the characteristics of the Buenos Aires literary group “Florida”, however, in accordance with the personalities, which have been identified as protagonists, it denies the existence of this group, an adversary of the “Boedo [...]

In this critical essay, historian Francisco Da Antonio discusses the indebtedness of artist Héctor Poleo to Mexican muralism in terms of form and pictorial technique. He also explores the way in which Poleo’s work differs from the aesthetic- [...]

In this introduction, Luis Cancel explains the logic behind how he and his colleagues organized the exhibition The Latin American Spirit: Art and Artists in the United States, 1920-1970. He also explains, at length, the curatorial team’s larger [...]

David Alfaro Siqueiros describes and simultaneously defines the four positions or trends in the visual arts existing in the world. He wonders if the theoretical proposals coincide with the work of art, and chooses to explain only two: the non-realism [...]

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 [...]

In his book El largo instante de la percepción, Miguel Huertas included a chapter entitled “La pintura de Cárdenas y el ámbito arquitectónico.” One of the specific statements the author makes about the paintings Santiago Cárdenas created in [...]

The article “La pintura francesa en el Pabellón de Bellas Artes”[French Painting at the Fine Arts Pavilion] by Baldomero Sanín Cano describes the Exposición de arte francés [Exhibition of French Art] (1928) held at the Parque de Bolívar in [...]

Guillermo Whitelow explains the origin of the La postfiguración exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno (Buenos Aires, 1982). He also aesthetically defines “postfiguration” by exploring the nexus between appearances and reality [...]

Jorge Glusberg authors this text about postfiguration, mentioningthe precedents of this aesthetic viewpoint, along with other historical movements. Moreover, the theoretical aspects of representation, reality, and appearances are analyzed [...]

This is an analytical review of the differences between representative art and the “invention” proposed by the Asociación Arte Concreto — Invención [Concrete Art and Invention Association]. The text claims that representative art is not [...]

Guillermo Meneses discusses the foreign artists invited by the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva to work with him on his plan to incorporate art into the proposed Ciudad Universitaria in Caracas. Meneses begins by mentioning the artistic merits of [...]

In 1941, the magazine, Argentina Libre [Free Argentina], did a survey of Argentine visual artists on the system of juried shows and art competitions, and whether or not it served to spur artistic production. In this essay, Antonio Berni responds to [...]

In 1978, the French art critic Pierre Restany drafted a manifesto along with two artists, the Brazilian (born in Poland) Frans Krajcberg, and the Yugoslav based in Brazil Sepp Baendereck. The text is a rallying call in defense of art that is “ [...]

This review by the art critic Miguel González, published in the Revista Arte en Colombia [Art in Colombia Magazine], considers the work of Miguel Ángel Rojas, and discusses his constant questioning of the procedures involved in Realism and indeed [...]

This is a speech given by writer Aníbal Machado at the close of the Exposição de Arte Social, which he jointly organized with poet Álvaro Moreyra and artist Tomás Santa Rosa at the Clube de Cultura Moderna in Rio de Janeiro in 1935. Machado [...]

The “Semanariocultural” [Cultural Weekly], a supplement of the newspaper El Pueblo de Cali, (1975–86) published the article, “No salgas de tu barrio. Entrevista a Ever Astudillo” [Do Not Leave Your Neighborhood: An Interview with Ever [...]

In this article, published in A & D magazine, the artist and art critic Waldemar Cordeiro expresses his support for the autonomy and universality of art. In his opinion, a work of art is a real object in the real world. It is not the expression [...]

Antonio Berni responds to an opinion poll from the French journal Commune regarding the future of painting while the usage of new techniques, such as the airbrush, were being carried out. Berni defends both mural painting and realism, in addition to [...]

In this essay, Antonio Berni writes about the 19th century Peruvian artist, Pancho Fierro, calling him the first South American to portray a realistic version of the social life of the period and its relevance to traditional folk art [...]

Antonio Berni is interviewed by María Esther Gilio, and talks about his training, art criticism, hyperrealism, and the essential Argentine nature of his work [...]

In this document, Argentine artist Antonio Berni voices the outrage felt by artists who––like himself––were associated with Nuevo Realismo [New Realism], artists who defended “the uniquely Argentine in the visual arts.” Berni speaks [...]

In this article, Tomás Maldonado considers how the conflicts arising both within and beyond the borders of the Soviet Union affect communist artists such as Picasso and Matisse. He refers to the editorial published in Pravda (Moscow, August 11, 1947 [...]

Writer Alfonso Dávila divides this text on the work of Colombian artist Francisco Antonio Cano into three parts: (i) “El estudio,” (ii) “Lo místico,” and (iii) “Pintor objetivo.” The first section briefly describes Cano’s studio. The [...]

In this article, the critic Jorge Gaitán Durán discusses the work of the sculptor Edgar Negret. The former refers to the Colombian artist’s commitment to addressing the country’s social conditions in his work. This commitment is visible in the [...]

In order to provide a clear explanation of his great interest in New Realism, Antonio Berni speaks out against the War and fascism [...]

The lecture by the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti was one of a number of events organized to celebrate the opening of the Rio de Janeiro branch of the Sul América Terrestres, Marítimos e Acidentes (SATMA) insurance company. In addition to a [...]

In this article the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti seeks to clear up certain misunderstandings conveyed by the lecture he gave the previous year at the MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), titled “The Myths of Modernism, with Criticisms of [...]

In his essay “Realismo y crisis de la representación pictórica” (Realism and Crisis in Pictorial Representation), Guillermo Machuca addresses several critical points regarding the visual arts in Chile during the 1960s. They include, [...]

In this “Segundo Manifiesto”—jointly written by members of El Techo de la Ballena (Caracas, 1961–68)—the group identified the artistic movements they challenged as follows: traditional landscape painting, social realism, geometrical [...]

In this text, the lawyer and humanist Felix Betancourt submits one of the earliest philosophical reflections on aesthetic matters ever to be expressed in Antioquia. Betancourt claims that “perfect and ultimate beauty” arises from things and from [...]

This article by Marcel Gromaire was published in AIAPE magazine—a champion of social realism in art—at a crucial point in the debate over aesthetics in Montevideo: the beginning of painting’s slide toward a “politically committed” form of [...]

In this article, the well-known artist César Rengifo explains that art should be an instrument to help mankind restore the balance that has been shattered by the capitalist system. He discusses the class struggle that has been expressed in art [...]

Back in his native country after more than five years in Madrid, Colombian painter Domingo Moreno Otero speaks of his educational experiences at the Academia de San Fernando and at the Museo del Prado. In this interview, Moreno Otero praises Diego [...]