Rafael Fernando Squirru (March 23, 1925 – March 5, 2016) was an Argentine poet, lecturer, art critic and essayist.
Biographical notes
Born and raised in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Squirru was educated at Saint Andrew's Scot School and at the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
El Salvador Secondary School. He graduated with a Law Degree at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
in 1948.
After founding the
Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art
The Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art, known locally as the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (MAMBA), is a modern art museum located in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
History
The museum opened on April 11, 1956, and resu ...
in 1956, he went on to champion the cause of Argentine and Latin American art as Director of Cultural Affairs (1960) in the government of
Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (Paso de los Libres, October 28, 1908 – Buenos Aires, April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher, statesman, and politician. He was elected president of Argentina and governed from May ...
. Among his many initiatives of that period, Alicia Penalba’s sculptures and
Antonio Berni
Delesio Antonio Berni (14 May 1905 – 13 October 1981) was an Argentine figurative artist. He is associated with the movement known as ''Nuevo Realismo'' ("New Realism"), an Argentine extension of social realism. His work, including a series o ...
’s etchings were sent to the São Paulo and
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
s respectively, both artists obtaining First Prize.
Named Cultural Director of the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
(OAS) in 1963 with headquarters in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, he continued his task of promotion of North and Latin American culture until his resignation in 1970. It was at this time that he supported the construction of the impressive memorial monument to U.S. President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
by Uruguayan artist Lincoln Presno in Quemú Quemú, a vast deserted plain in the Argentine province of
La Pampa; his outspoken inauguration speech as official representative of the OAS, pronounced during the military government of General
Juan Carlos Onganía, won public acclaim while provoking angry reactions on the part of the authorities present, earning him the local government’s condemnation as
persona non grata
In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...
, revoked a few years later.
Back in Buenos Aires he has supported culture in all its forms through an incessant activity of lectures in his own country and abroad, prologues for artists’ exhibitions and a constant output of articles on Argentine daily ''La Nación'', with which he collaborated for over twenty years, often sharing the Culture page with
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
during the Eighties.
Several volumes of Squirru’s poetry and prose writings have been published over the years, most of which are today out of print and considerably difficult to find.
His friends, correspondents and acquaintances included such personalities as
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...
,
Fernando Demaría,
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915December 10, 1968), religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, Christian mysticism, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. He was a monk in the Trapp ...
,
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes.
Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...
,
Ned O'Gorman,
Huntington Hartford, Sir
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...
,
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...
,
Oswaldo Vigas,
Julio Cortázar,
Olga Blinder,
Alejandra Pizarnik,
Barnaby Conrad,
Paul Blackburn,
Amancio Williams,
Jackie Kennedy
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...
and
Robert F. Kennedy,
Batuz,
Renata Adler,
J. Carter Brown,
Benjamin Bradlee,
Nina Auchincloss Straight,
Kay Halle,
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.
Biography
G ...
,
Elsa Wiezell,
Hiram D. Williams,
Leopoldo Marechal,
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.,
Stefan Baciu,
Emilio Pettoruti,
Antonio Berni
Delesio Antonio Berni (14 May 1905 – 13 October 1981) was an Argentine figurative artist. He is associated with the movement known as ''Nuevo Realismo'' ("New Realism"), an Argentine extension of social realism. His work, including a series o ...
,
Eduardo Mac Entyre
Eduardo Mac Entyre (20 February 1929 – 5 May 2014) was an Argentine artist known for his geometric paintings.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Scottish father and Belgian mother, Mac Entyre began pursuing his talent for sketches at th ...
,
Pérez Celis,
Leopoldo Presas,
Leonardo Castellani and
Marco Denevi.
Books
Art criticism
* ''Barragán'', Buenos Aires, Galería Rubbers, 1960.
* ''
Leopoldo Presas'', Buenos Aires, El Mangrullo, 1972.
* ''
Pérez Celis'', Buenos Aires, Ediciones del Hombre Nuevo, 1973.
* ''Albino Fernández'', Buenos Aires, La Barca Gráfica, 1975.
* ''
Antonio Berni
Delesio Antonio Berni (14 May 1905 – 13 October 1981) was an Argentine figurative artist. He is associated with the movement known as ''Nuevo Realismo'' ("New Realism"), an Argentine extension of social realism. His work, including a series o ...
'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1975.
* ''Guillermo Roux'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1975.
* ''Pintura, pintura, siete valores argentinos en el arte actual'', Buenos Aires, Ediciones Arte y Crítica, 1975.
*''
Luis Seoane'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1978.
* ''Liberti'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1978.
* ''Arte de América: 25 años de crítica'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1979.
* ''Héctor Giuffré'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1980.
* ''
Batuz'' (con D. Ronte, R. A. Kuchta e C. Heigl), New York, Rizzoli International Publications, 1981.
* ''Buenos Aires y sus esculturas'', Buenos Aires, Manrique Zago, 1981.
* ''
Eduardo Mac Entyre
Eduardo Mac Entyre (20 February 1929 – 5 May 2014) was an Argentine artist known for his geometric paintings.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Scottish father and Belgian mother, Mac Entyre began pursuing his talent for sketches at th ...
'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1981.
* ''Aldo Severi'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1982.
* ''Arte argentino hoy. Una selección de 48 artistas'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1983.
* ''Juan Del Prete'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1984.
* ''Mariano Pagés: 1945-1983'', Buenos Aires, 1984.
* ''Four Contemporary Painters from Argentina: Horacio Bustos, Pérez Celis, Kenneth Kemble, Juan Carlos Liberti'', University of Florida, 1986.
* ''Miguel Ocampo'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1986.
* ''Kenneth Kemble'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1987.
* ''Elena Tarasido: la opción de la libertad'', Buenos Aires, Instituto Salesiano de Artes Gráficas, 1988.
* ''Inés Bancalari 1976-1987'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1988.
* ''Cuarenta maestros del arte de los Argentinos'' (with I. Gutiérrez Zaldivar), Buenos Aires, Zurbarán, 1990.
* ''Gyula Kosice: obras Madi'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1990.
* ''Quinquela: popular y clásico'', Buenos Aires, 1990.
* ''Juan M. Sánchez'', Buenos Aires, Ennio Ayosa, 1991.
* ''Mara Marini'', Iglesias Kuppenhein, 1992.
* ''Carpani cabalga al tigre'' (con M. Vincent), Madrid, Ollero y Ramos, 1994.
* ''Roma Geber. Imágenes urbanas'', Buenos Aires, Arte al Día, 1997.
* ''Leopoldo Torres Agüero'', Fragments Editions, 1999.
* ''Perez Celis'' (with Frederick Ted Castle and Peter Frank), Shapolsky, 1999
Art criticism in verse
* ''49 artistas de América: itinerario poético'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1984.
Poetry
* ''La noche iluminada'', Buenos Aires, Ediciones del Hombre Nuevo, 1957.
* ''Amor 33'', Buenos Aires, Ediciones del Hombre Nuevo, 1958.
* ''Números,'' Buenos Aires, Ediciones del Hombre Nuevo, 1960.
* ''Awareness of Love'' (poetical comment on the work of Juan Downey), Washington D.C., H.K. Press, 1966.
* ''Poesía 1957-1966'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1966.
* ''Poesía 1966-1970'', Buenos Aires, Juárez, 1970.
* ''Poesía 1970-1971. La edad del cerdo y otros poemas'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1971.
* ''Poesía 1971-1973. Quincunce americano'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1973.
* ''Poesía 1973-1975. Cuaderno de bitácora'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1975.
* ''Poesía 1975-1977. La Corona'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1977.
* ''Números. Veinte años de poesía (1957-1977)'', Buenos Aires, La Barca Gráfica, 1977.
* ''Chrysopeya del buen amor'', Buenos Aires, Albino y Asociados, 1986.
Essays
* ''Filosofía del arte abstracto'', Buenos Aires, Museo de Arte Moderno, 1961.
* ''Leopoldo Marechal'', Buenos Aires, Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1961.
* ''The Challenge of the New Man. A cultural approach to the Latin American scene'', Washington D.C., Pan American Union, 1964.
* ''Towards a World Community'', Chicago, Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1968.
* ''
Martin Fierro'' (with other authors), Buenos Aires, Instituto Salesiano de Artes Gráficas, 1972.
* ''Claves del arte actual'', Buenos Aires, Troquel, 1976.
* ''Ángeles y Monstruos. Ensayos Breves'', Buenos Aires, Gaglianone, 1986.
* ''Hacia la pintura: como apreciarla'', Buenos Aires, Editorial Atlántida, 1988
* ''Exigencias del arte'', Buenos Aires, Zurbarán, 1989.
* ''El artista y su tiempo'', Buenos Aires, Rozenblum, 1991.
* ''Arte y humanismo'', Buenos Aires, Fundación Praxis, 1993.
* ''Libros y libros, cuadros y cuadros'', Morón, Universidad de Morón, 1995.
Translations
*
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', Buenos Aires, Dead Weight, 1976.
* William Shakespeare, ''La tempestad'', Buenos Aires, Biblioteca Nacional, 1979.
Drama
* ''El Rey Salomón (drama bíblico en tres actos)'', Buenos Aires, Marchand Editorial, 1980.
Quotes
Prose
''On the importance of culture''
* The time has come when it must be acknowledged that art and thought are more than just a luxury: they are the abstract symbol of a community’s deepest longings.
* We should be careful not to raise economic and social issues above the level where they naturally belong for when that happens, we shall have succumbed to the pathetic idolatry of the golden calf.
* We are pained not so much by the ignorance of those who cannot read, as by the ignorance of those who cannot ''see''.
* Our enemy is not man but stupidity.
* I can see no higher privilege for a society than that of having the intellectual and the poet in its midst.
* Societies will not tolerate a state of spiritual vacuum.
''On the cultural identity and importance of Latin America''
* The great nations of Spain and Portugal, England and Scotland, Ireland and other European countries have given being to our communities and, happily for Latin America, in combination with the blood of the native Indian peoples which runs through our veins, sustaining and nourishing us.
* Latin America is underdeveloped economically. Latin America is not underdeveloped culturally.
* In the realm of creative achievement, many among the best artists, composers, writers and intellectuals of today are to be found in Latin America.
''On the functions of art''
* The purpose of art and thought is to reveal to man his true essence putting him face to face with his deeper self.
* Art is like a mirror and every man reacts to a work of art according to what he himself is.
* Very often what art reveals to man is something he would prefer not to see; that explains why art has so many detractors.
''On the responsibilities of artists and intellectuals''
* The poet must be a part of the world but he cannot be its creature.
* I cannot agree to reduce or limit the creative act to the needs and levels of sociological considerations.
* A poet is neither a politician nor an economist nor a sociologist. The intellectual, the artist and the creative mind does not adhere to this or that partial aspect of man but to man himself.
* The great legacies of any culture - whether their creators be called Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Kafka or Picasso - move us today because they present man with his problems, his pains and his joys, which are far more lasting than his social, political or economic condition.
* Those who have pledged themselves to the major revolution of the spirit must firmly refuse the compromise of minor revolutions and the distraction of partial goals.
''On Communism in Latin America''
* The Marxist alternative might well carry out a revolution, as in Cuba, but it would never be our own and would thus bring all the frustration that incompatibility implies.
* Take away the images of the Saints and you will get the image of Lenin in no time.
* Communism overruns any country which does not possess its own mystique.
(The above quotes are all excerpts from Squirru’s addresses delivered at the Panamerican Union in Washington D.C. between 1963 and 1964, which can be found in their entirety in ''The Challenge of the New Man. A cultural approach to the Latin American scene'', Washington D.C., Pan American Union, 1964.)
Books on Rafael Squirru
* Augusto Rodríguez Larreta, ''El Arte y Rafael Squirru''. Ediciones del Hombre Nuevo, Buenos Aires 1951
* Marta Campomar, ''Rafael Squirru - ojo crítico y palabra creadora''. Ediciones de arte Gaglianone, Buenos Aires 1997.
* Eloisa Squirru, ''Tan Rafael Squirru!'', Ediciones El Elefante Blanco, Buenos Aires 2008.
Distinctions
* Doctor Honoris Causa in Humanities, University of
Neuquén
Neuquén (; ) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers which form t ...
, Argentina
* Doctor Honoris Causa in Humanities, University of Morón, Argentina
* Konex Platinum Award in Visual Arts,
Konex Foundation, Buenos Aires
* Gratia Artis Prize of the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, Argentina
* Honorary Member of The Association of The
Corcoran Gallery
* Consultant Member of the CARI (Consejo Argentino Relaciones Internacionales) of Buenos Aires
* Honorary Member of the Miguel Lillo Foundation, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
* Honorary Member of the Academia de Bellas Artes of Chile
* Lorenzutti Foundation Prize for Art Criticism
References
External links
* https://www.rafaelsquirru.com/
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120207100721/http://www.zurbarangaleria.com.ar/expos/squirru05/squirru05.html
''El Poeta, fiel al amor'', essay.Newspaper La Nación's tribute for Squirru's 80th birthday.Thomas Merton's Correspondence Konex Prizes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Squirru, Rafael
1925 births
2016 deaths
Writers from Buenos Aires
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
20th-century Argentine poets
20th-century Argentine male writers
Argentine male poets
Argentine art critics
Argentine essayists
Argentine male essayists
20th-century essayists