The Buenos Aires Museu Nacional de Bellas Artes
Modernism and Antonio Berni
This is only a tiny selection of a rich display of modern Argentinian art that was remarkable discovery for a first-time visitor in that country.
These works by Berni are part of an exposition on Argentinian Modernism from 1940 to 1970. The dates are important because modernism came to an end in the 1970’s with the military dictatorship and the “dirty war.”
Argentina, like other dictatorships, had an uneasy relationship with artists — especially leftists. Virtually all the modern art by Spaniards was done abroad during the Franco regime (e.g., Picasso). Brazilian art and music were often exiled along with the political opposition, though they were less likely to be tortured and “disappeared” than political opponents and opposition journalists. In the same way, Argentina’s “dirty war” inflicted thousands of casualties and disappearances on its own citizens.
This makes the modernist exhibit in Buenos Aires all the more poignant. It was a period of artistic and political ferment. There are many artists in the display, not all of whom are “political,” even though their styles may not have been popular with the dictatorship. Antonio Berni is one whose themes seemed to jump off the wall.
Berni and many of his fellow artists were aware of developments in European art, but had a strong critical identity of their own. Berni was a committed leftist before the left came under the dictatorship, ending opposition and opposition art.
This is just a personal opinion, but Berni’s work evokes elements of the satirical/critical work of Georg Grosz, the German artist of the Weimar era (though he continued his career in the United States later). It is deeply graphic and emotional, and sometimes borders on propaganda/poster graphics. Berni does not have the satirical edge of Grosz, however, and is more literally outraged at injustice of the authoritarian regime and its oppression of opposition. Grosz often expressed his opposition to German militarism and Nazism in satire and expressionist humor. Berni’s work has some similarity to German expressionist work of the time, but whatever satire is present takes the form of religious imagery and political outrage.
The Argentinian commentary says he was associated with “informalism” and “New Figuration.” These schools of art were fermenting in Argentina, but were aware of graphic movements elsewhere in the world.
