Read down for an insight into fine art and sculpture in Argentina.
Colonial Art
Argentina (along with neighbouring Uruguay) is arguably the most European of Latin American cultures. Mass immigration and the 19th-century extermination of the few remaining indigenous peoples have created a mainstream culture which defines itself largely in relation to Europe. The exception to this is in the northwest of the country, where the great Andean civilizations struggle to retain their identity against the irresistible tide of westernization and the tourist industry.
As the region, which is now Argentina, was initially of little importance to the Spanish, there is relatively little colonial art or architecture in most of the country. However, in the northern regions of Salta, Jujuy and Misiones, there are some impressive colonial buildings and some good examples of colonial painting, especially the remarkable portraits of archangels in military uniform in the churches at Uquía and Casabindo, as well as some exquisite golden retables and pulpits in the churches of the Quebrada de Humahuaca. Yavi, at the very north, is the most remarkable of all these, with a golden sculpture of an angel in military uniform, and beautiful ceramic cherubs on the golden pulpit. Fine colonial art can be seen at the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco in Buenos Aires. In Misiones, there are several sites with remains of Jesuits missions, particularly impressive is that at San Ignacio. Córdoba Province too has remains of Jesuit churches and residences at Santa Catalina and Jesús María.
The 19th Century
In the 19th century, as Argentina gained Independence and consolidated itself as a modern
nation, the ruling elite of the country were determined to make Argentine culture as close to
Europe as possible, against what they saw as the 'barbarism' of native customs. The prosperous
Buenos Aires bourgeoisie commissioned European architects to build their mansions and
collected European fine and decorative arts to decorate them. Rich Argentines travelled to
Europe to buy paintings, and gradually began to demand that European painters come to
Argentina to depict the wealth and elegance of the ruling class through portraits and
landscapes. The most famous foreign artist was Carlos Enrique Pellegrini, whose fine society
portraits can be seen in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires.
By the middle of the century, as Argentina became more politically stable, a new generation of Argentine-trained artists appeared in Buenos Aires. They absorbed some of the techniques and interests of the European artists who were the first to depict their country, but they also discovered a new interest in Romanticism and Realism. Most famous in this period was Prilidiano Pueyrredón (1823-1870), whom many Argentines consider to be their first national painter. Of more obvious appeal is the rather eccentric Cándido López (1839-1902) whose work has only recently been re-evaluated. López followed the Argentine army to the north of the country during the wars with Paraguay and Uruguay, where he depicted the great battles in a characteristic naïve style. López left behind a remarkable series of paintings, which are often displayed in their own room in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. By the end of the century, many artists were working in Argentina, many of whom had been through the National Art School. Generally speaking, they absorbed European movements several decades after they appeared in their original forms. Benito Quinquela Martin's work celebrated the workers in the dockyards of La Boca, in a colourful naïve style, and his paintings can be seen in the gallery bearing his name in La Boca.
The 20th Century
In the 20th century, Argentina really found its artistic expression; the dynamism, size and
mix of nationalities in the capital created a complex urban society in which artists and
intellectuals have prospered. Some of the bohemian attraction of Buenos Aires can still be
felt in its more intellectual cafés and districts. This cultural effervescence has been at
the expense of the regions; the capital totally dominates the country, and most artists are
forced to move there to have any chance of success.
The first avant-garde artistic movement in Buenos Aires emerged in 1924 with the formation of a groups which called itself 'Mart n Fierro', in homage to the national epic poem of the same name. This group brought together a small number of upper-class intellectuals, the most famous of which was the writer Jorge Luis Borges. The most important visual artist was Xul Solar (1887-1963), who illustrated many of Borges's texts. Solar was one of the 20th century's most eccentric and engaging artists. He had a great interest in mysticism and the occult, and tried to create an artistic system to express his complex beliefs, mostly small-scale watercolours in which a sometimes bizarre visionary world is depicted. Many of them are covered in inscriptions in one of the languages he created: Neo-Creole or Pan-Lengua. During the final decades of his life Solar lived in a house on the Paraná Delta near Tigre, where he created a total environment in accordance with his fantastic world, even inventing a new game of chess with rules based on astrology. There is now a Xul Solar Museum in the house where he was born in Buenos Aires and where many of his watercolours and objects are displayed.
Intellectual life in the 1920s was divided into two factions, each named after districts in the city. The elegant Calle Florida gave its name to the Martín Fierro set, who belonged to the elite. Several blocks away, the working-class Boedo district gave its name to a school of working-class socialist artists who rejected the rarefied atmosphere of Florida in favour of socially critical paintings in a grim realistic style. Possibly the most important artist associated with this group was Antonio Berni (1905-1981), whose colourful paintings give a vivid impression of Buenos Aires working-class life, and are worth looking for in the Museo de Bellas Artes and MALBA in Buenos Aires.
In the 1940s, with the political crisis provoked by the Second World War, a new avant-garde movement emerged to overtake the Martin Fierro group. In the mid 1940s, a group of young artists founded an abstract art movement called 'Madí' (a nonsense word) which attempted to combine sophisticated abstract art inspired by Russian Constructivism with a more chaotic sense of fun. Madí works are characterized by blocks of bright colours within an irregular frame often incorporating physical movement within the structure of the work. As such, they are somewhere between painting and sculpture. For the first time in Argentina, Madí developed artistic principles (such as the irregular frame, or the use of neon gas) before the rest of the world.
Madí was a short-lived adventure plagued by infighting amongst its members and political divisions. The cultural climate under Perón (1946-1955) rejected this type of 'decadent' art in favour of a form of watered-down populism. It was not until the 1960s that cultural life regained its momentum.
The 1960s were a golden age for the arts in Argentina. As in many countries, the decade brought new freedoms and questions to young people, and the art scene responded vigorously. Artistic activity was focused around the centre of Buenos Aires between Plaza San Martin and Avenida Cordoba, an area known as the 'manzana loca' (crazy block). This area contained a huge number of galleries and cafés, and most importantly the Di Tella Institute, a privately-funded art centre which was at the cutting edge of the visual arts. Artistic movements of the time ranged from a raw expressionism called 'Nueva figuración' to very sophisticated conceptual art. The most provocative form of art during this period took the form of 'happenings', one of the most famous of which (by Marta Minujin) consisted of a replica of the Buenos Aires obelisk made in sweet bread, which was then eaten by passers-by.
After the military coup of 1966 the authorities began to question the activities of these young artists and even tried to censor some exhibitions. The Di Tella Institute closed, leaving the 'manzana loca' without a heart, and making it more dangerous for alternative young artists to live without harassment (often for little more than having long hair). During the 'leaden years' of the military government during the 1970s, there was little space for alternative art and many left-wing artists abandoned art in favour of direct political action. However, one space in Buenos Aires continued to show politically challenging art: the Centro de Arte y Comunicación (or CAYC), often through works which were so heavily coded that the authorities would not pick up the message.
Since the restoration of democracy in 1983, Argentina has been coming to terms with the destruction or inefficiency of many of its cultural institutions over recent decades. The last few years have seen a rebirth of activity, with improvements in the National Museum of Fine Arts and the creation of the important Centro Cultural Recoleta and more recently the Centro Cultural Jorge Luis Borges (in the Galerías Pacífico). There are important alternative art centres, especially the Ricardo Rojas Centre and the Klemm Foundation which show some of the most interesting young artists. The art scene in Buenos Aires is now very vibrant, if somewhat confusing, with myriad conflicting and apparently contradictory styles and tendencies.
