The comprehensive catalogue published in 1994 for the exhibition of "Art from Argentina 1920-1994", held at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, claimed to be the first book on twentieth-century Argentine art ever to appear in Europe. The exhibition organizers put this down to the fact that, while Argentina is the Latin American country that appears to be most like Europe, the reality is more alien: that of a new, fast-growing but isolated nation, searching for a modern identity against a background of permanent insecurity, political violence, entrenched conservatism and generalized chaos. Surprisingly little has yet to be written in English-speaking countries, even the United States, about the plastic arts in Argentina, despite the country's massive, sometimes innovative and often fascinating production over two centuries of nationhood
The search for an identity
It has been said that Argentina's artistic creativity was not decolonized until the
1920s
, when it finally ceased, albeit hesitantly, to draw its inspiration exclusively from France, Spain, Italy and other European countries. While a...
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All eyes on Europe
Nearly all of the ground floor at the MNBA is taken up by paintings and sculpture from France (mostly), Italy, Holland and Spain, plus later works by artists from the United States - José de Ribera, Tiepolo, Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Sisley, Pollock and...
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Breaking away and drifting back
The big break came towards the end of World War II, for most of which Argentina had remained neutral, essentially because the politicians favoured Britain and the Allies while large sections of the armed forces sympathized with the Axis and its fascist...
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Reactionary politics and artistic reactions
The 1950s and 60s were once again times of turmoil in Argentina; Peronism was replaced by democratic governments and military dictatorships that shared only one ruthless aim: eliminating Peronism. Perón himself returned to power briefly in the 1970s,...
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Contemporary Argentine art: Back to square one
The 1970s and early 1980s saw many Argentine artists leave the country, out of justifiable fear for their lives as dozens of artists disappeared during the brutal Proceso. Some preferred to stay, using indirect means of criticizing the Philistine...
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