Latin American Art History and Theory Authors You Need to Know

Nov 29 / Daniela Galan

The 20th century was a transformative period for Latin American art, marked by groundbreaking movements, political upheavals, and the rise of global recognition.

But where should you start if you want to explore this fascinating subject in depth?

In this blog post, we introduce the most influential 20th-century authors in Latin American art history—scholars, curators, and critics who have illuminated the region’s rich artistic legacy. Whether you’re a seasoned art historian or a curious beginner, discover the voices that have shaped how we understand Latin American art and its global impact.

Foundational Authors

The first half of the 20th century in Latin America saw pivotal thinkers shaping art and culture, blending modernist ideas with regional identity to redefine artistic narratives. Below are some of its most influencial authors. 

Jose Enrique Rodo

Ariel, by José Enrique Rodó, targets Latin American youth, advocating cultural supremacy rooted in spirituality and idealism. Using The Tempest’s Ariel and Caliban, it warns against North American utilitarianism, emphasising intellectual and cultural independence.

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José Carlos Mariátegui

José Carlos Mariátegui’s Seven Essays of Interpretation of the Peruvian Reality and his magazine Amauta laid the foundation for indigenismo, reimagining Peru’s identity through art, literature, and Marxist analysis to build a modern, culturally rooted state.

José Lezama Lima 

José Lezama Lima was a writer, poet, and essayist, and he is considered a key figure in American Neo-Baroque literature. He co-founded the magazine "Orígenes," which played a crucial role in the cultural development of Cuba during the first half of the 20th century. The magazine emphasized nationalism and helped shape a new modernist style on the island.

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Jose Maria Arguedas
Jose Maria Arguedas was a prominent Peruvian enologist and writer whose insightful anthological perspective on Andean culture played a vital role in the cultural revival of the early 20th century. He enriched indigenous literature and explored Peruvian folklore to provide a deeper understanding of national identity, emphasising the importance of both Indigenous origins and European legacy.
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz was a writer, poet, and essayist whose literary perspective enriched our understanding of artists such as Rufino Tamayo. His connections with influential contemporaries, such as Leonora Carrington and his partner, the writer Elena Garro, significantly enriched our cultural understanding of post-revolutionary Mexico, moving beyond the political constraints imposed by the government's mainstream narrative.
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Joaquin Torres Garcia
Although Joaquín Torres García was primarily an artist, his writings on constructivism, art theory, and critique had a great influence on 20th-century artists in the region, steering the aesthetics of the time towards geometric abstraction.
Oswald de Andrade
José Oswald de Souza Andrade was a Brazilian poet, novelist, and cultural critic. His writings on Pau-Brasil and Anthropophagy significantly shaped Brazilian modernism, alongside fellow artists and writers such as Mário de Andrade, Anita Malfatti, Tarsila do Amaral, and Menotti del Picchia. For this reason, he played a pivotal role in the creation of the Week of Modern Art in 1922, which propelled this new aesthetic movement in Brazil.
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The ultimate Art influencers

Towards the mid-20th century, visionary critics shaped the discourse on Latin American art, influencing movements and enhancing its global recognition.

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Jorge Romero Brest
Jorge Aníbal Romero Brest was a prominent art critic in Argentina who played a pivotal role in shaping avant-garde art, particularly during his tenure as the director of the Instituto Di Tella. His passion for art theory culminated in his first book, *El problema del arte y del artista contemporáneos* (The Problems of Contemporary Art and Artists), published in 1937. This work significantly influenced experimental art movements in the 1960s and 1970s in Argentina and throughout the region.
Ferreira Gullar
José Ribamar Ferreira, better known by his pen name Ferreira Gullar, was a Brazilian poet, playwright, essayist and art critic. He played a crucial role in the formation of the Neo-Concrete Movement and contributed to the theory of non-object art from a Latin American perspective. He chronicled the gradual disappearance of the object in art history, emphasising the viewer's role in the ultimate creation of a work of art.
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Marta Traba
Marta Traba Taín was a prominent art critic and writer who played a key role in promoting modernism in Latin America, especially in Colombia. She had a strong focus on geometric abstraction and became a significant influencer within the art community. Traba supported contemporary artists of her time, including Beatriz González, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, and Feliza Bursztyn. Her views were shaped by her active involvement as a co-founder of the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá and her teaching positions at the University of Los Andes and later at the University of Maryland.
Juan Acha
Juan Wilfredo Acha Valdivieso was a prominent Peruvian art critic, curator, theorist, and professor. He addressed the unique challenges of artistic creation in Latin America, focusing on capitalism, political art, and the cultural divide between modernity and indigenous traditions. In his work "Non-objectualist Theory and Practices in Latin America," Acha explores 1970s and 1980s artistic practices, arguing that Non-Objectualism reflects a shift in how objects are signified, rather than a rejection of the object itself.

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Contemporary Scholars

Today’s leading voices offering fresh perspectives on Latin American art, blending historical depth with innovative analysis that is focused on the region's perspective.

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Nelly Richard
Nelly Richard is a prominent Chilean cultural theorist and serves as the editor of the *Revista de Crítica Cultural*. She is the author of notable books such as *The Insubordination of Signs* and *Cultural Residues*. Richard has been instrumental in shaping postmodern art in Latin America, particularly through her exploration of new avant-garde movements during both dictatorial and post-dictatorial periods in Chile. Her work pays special attention to the contributions of women and feminist artists in the region, highlighting how their influence has shaped postmodern thought in modern Latin American society.
Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui
Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui is a Bolivian sociologist, historian, and theorist. Her most important work highlights the concept of Chi'ixi, which represents a contentious space where diverse identities coexist without fully merging, yet collaborate through their differences. She has been very critical of the concept of mixed race (mestizaje), as it tends to dilute the internal colonialism that still exists. This dilution hinders the opportunity for conflicting identities to critically examine their synergies and oppositions.
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Andrea Giunta
Andrea Graciela Giunta is an Argentine art historian, professor, researcher, and curator who focuses on Argentine and Latin American art from the postwar era to the present. She emphasises the contributions of women artists and critiques the European-centric narrative of art history. Giunta also explores the internationalisation of Latin American art during the Cold War, particularly in crucial events like the Cuban Revolution, the Missile Crisis, and the Alliance for Progress.
Rafael Cardoso
Rafael Cardoso is a Brazilian art historian and writer known for his influential works on 19th and 20th-century Brazilian art and design. His book "Modernity in Black and White" offers a groundbreaking examination of modern art in Brazil, exploring cultural debates within the broader context of Brazilian life. He discusses the rise of favelas, the evolution of samba and carnival, and the impact of mass media and graphic design from the 1890s to the 1940s, highlighting often overlooked aspects of urban popular culture.
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Cecilia Fajardo Hill
Cecilia Fajardo-Hill is a British/Venezuelan art historian and curator specializing in modern and contemporary art, with a particular focus on Latin American and Latinx artists. She has published and curated extensively on contemporary Latin American and international artists. Notably, she co-curated the exhibition "Radical Women: Latin American Art 1960-1985," which played a significant role in reshaping the discourse around contemporary art by highlighting the work of women artists who have often been overlooked in mainstream art history.
Alexander Alberro
Alexander Alberro is the Virginia Wright Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at Barnard College and Columbia University, where he teaches modern and contemporary art from Europe, the United States, and Latin America. He has extensively studied Latin American art, authoring books such as "Abstraction in Reverse," which explores the development of geometric abstraction in the region. Alberro examines how these artists reimagined the relationship between art and its audience, giving spectators an unprecedented role in the realization of the artwork.
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Mari Carmen Ramirez
Mari Carmen Ramírez-Garcia is an American art historian and curator, serving as the Wortham Curator of Latin American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. As the first director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the museum, and through her collaboration with various other art institutions, she has played a significant role in rethinking Latin American art history from a curatorial perspective. Her influential exhibitions include "Inverted Utopias," "Heterotopias: A Half Century Without a Place," and "Contingent Beauty: Contemporary Art from Latin America."
Joaquin Barriendos
Joaquín Barriendos specialises in visual culture and contemporary art. He has published extensively on the globalisation of Latin American contemporary art and on the economic, aesthetic, racial, and epistemic disparities that shape the global art world. His current research includes a comparative study of different archiving practices in Latin American art museums and a manuscript that explores the interactions between 'soft power,' postcolonial geopolitics, and global art institutions in the post-Cold War era.

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Authors Bridging Politics and Art

Although the intersection between art and politics began with the Mexican Revolution, it became more pronounced during the mid-20th century’s dictatorships and guerrilla movements. This section covers authors who unveil how art challenges and reflects political realities.

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Luis Camnitzer
Luis Camnitzer is a German-born Uruguayan artist, curator, art critic, and academic known for his role in 1960s Conceptual Art. In his book, *Conceptualism in Latin American Art: Didactics of Liberation*, he traces the evolution of conceptualism in Latin America, emphasising it as a strategic approach rather than just a stylistic one. He connects its roots to early 19th-century thinkers like Símon Rodríguez and highlights the intersection of art and politics, particularly through movements like Tucumán arde in 1968 and the Tupamaros in Uruguay. Camnitzer also examines the shift of conceptualism back to more traditional forms of art post-1970 and discusses its transformation into what is known as "political art".
Gerardo Mosquera
Gerardo Mosquera is a Cuban curator, critic, art historian, and writer. He was one of the organisers of the first Havana Biennial in 1984 and remained a central figure in the curatorial team until he resigned in 1989. Mosquera played a crucial role in shifting the focus of mainstream art history towards the Global South. His theoretical essays on art and globalisation offer a critical perspective on the role of Latin American art within the global context. He is particularly known for challenging the concept of "Latin American Art" and rephrasing it as "Art from Latin America," which better reflects the cultural and geographical diversity of the region.
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Carlos Granes
Carlos Granés is a Colombian social anthropologist known for his insightful work, "El delirio Americano" (The American Delirium). In this book, he explores the crucial role that ideas and the arts have played in shaping Latin America and forging national identities amidst conditions of dictatorship and revolution. Granés navigates a complex narrative skillfully, revealing the intricate and often fragmented relationship between culture and politics. His essay facilitates a critical contemporary reading of the world, highlighting how it has progressively "Latin Americanised" in terms of politics. Furthermore, he discusses how artistic transformations have created groundbreaking impacts on today's international art scene.
Rachel Weiss
Rachel Weiss is a writer and educator, currently a Professor of Arts Administration and Policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In her book "To and from Utopia in the New Cuban Art," she presents a critical history of contemporary Cuban art, examining its achievements and role in public debate. Weiss draws on two decades of experience and artists' perspectives to analyse the relationships between artists, their audiences, and the Cuban state
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Emerging Voices

A new generation of thinkers redefining Latin American art history with bold, diverse, and boundary-pushing ideas.

Ana Maria Franco
Ana Maria Franco is a Colombian art historian currently teaching at the Universidad de Los Andes. Her book, "New Geographies of Abstract Art in Postwar Latin America," coedited with Mariola V. Alvarez, examines the history of abstract art in Latin America after 1945. The book highlights how abstract art gained popularity in the postwar period, often serving to establish a modern identity and reclaim a significant role for Latin America that Europe had previously dominated before World War II.
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Miguel A Lopez
Miguel A. López is a Peruvian writer and curator. His work focuses on the role of art in politics and public life, emphasising collective work, collaborative dynamics, and queer and feminist reinterpretations of history. Through his curatorial practice, he has sparked new conversations about several women artists, including Cecilia Vicuña, Teresa Burga, and Victoria Santacruz.
Gabriela Rangel
Gabriela Rangel is a Venezuelan curator and writer, currently serving as the Director of Visual Arts and Chief Curator at the Americas Society. Her curatorial practices focus on the dialogue between Latin America and the global art scene. She has organized exhibitions that highlight the work of numerous artists, including Carlos Cruz Díez, Lydia Cabrera, Consuelo Castañeda, Gego, Kati Horna, Marta Minujín, and Xul Solar, among others.
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