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Delesio Antonio Berni (14 May 1905 – 13 October 1981) was an Argentine
figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...
ist. He is associated with the movement known as ''Nuevo Realismo'' ("New Realism"), an Argentine extension of
social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
. His work, including a series of ''Juanito Laguna''
collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
s depicting poverty and the effects of
industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
in Buenos Aires, has been exhibited around the world.


Biography


Early life

Berni was born in the city of
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...
on 14 May 1905. His mother, Margarita Picco, was the Argentine daughter of Italians. His father Napoleon, an
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
from
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, died in the
first World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1914 Berni became the apprentice of Catalan craftsman N. Bruxadera at the ''Buxadera and Co.'' stained glass company. He later studied painting at the ''Rosario Catalá'' Center, where he was described as a child prodigy. In 1920 seventeen of his oil paintings were exhibited at the Salon Mari. On 4 November 1923, his
impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
landscapes were praised by critics in the daily newspapers ''La Nación'' and ''La Prensa''.


Paris

The Jockey Club of Rosario awarded Berni a scholarship to study in Europe in 1925. He chose to visit
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, as Spanish painting was in vogue, particularly the art of Joaquín Sorolla,
Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar, Guipuzcoa, near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascening, damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the orga ...
, Camarasa Anglada, and Julio Romero de Torres. But after visiting
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Toledo,
Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...
,
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
, Córdoba, and
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
he settled in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where fellow Argentine artists Horacio Butler,
Aquiles Badi Aquiles Badi (1894–1976) was twentieth-century Argentina, Argentine painter. He was born in Buenos Aires on April 14, 1894, and died in that same city on May 8, 1976. Education Badi studied in Italy and Argentina. He spent his childhood in Mil ...
, Alfredo Bigatti, Xul Solar, Héctor Basaldua, and Lino Enea Spilimbergo were working. He attended "City of Lights" workshops given by André Lhote and
Othon Friesz Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Biography Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of ...
at Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Berni painted two landscapes of Arcueil, ''Paisaje de París'' (''Landscape of Paris''), ''Mantel amarillo'' (''The Yellow Tablecloth''), ''La casa del crimen'' (''The House of Crime''), ''Desnudo'' (''Nude''), and ''Naturaleza muerta con guitarra'' (''Still Life with Guitar''). He went back to Rosario for a few months but returned to Paris in 1927 with a grant from the Province of Santa Fe. Studying the work of
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...
and
René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...
, Berni became interested in
surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
and called it "a new vision of art and the world, the current that represents an entire youth, their mood, and their internal situation after the end of the World War. A dynamic and truly representative movement." His late 1920s and early 1930s surrealist works include ''La Torre Eiffel en la Pampa'' (''The Eiffel Tower in Pampa''), ''La siesta y su sueño'' (''The Nap and its Dream''), and ''La muerte acecha en cada esquina'' (''Death Lurks Around Every Corner''). He also began studying
revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
ary politics, including the
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
theory of
Henri Lefebvre Henri Lefebvre ( ; ; 16 June 1901 – 29 June 1991) was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for furthering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of social ...
, who introduced him to the
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
poet
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...
in 1928. Berni continued corresponding with Aragon after leaving France, later recalling, "It is a pity that I have lost, among the many things I have lost, the letters that I received from Aragon all the way from France; if I had them today, I think, they would be magnificent documents; because in that correspondence we discussed topics such as the direct relationship between politics and culture, the responsibilities of the artist and the intellectual society, the problems of culture in colonial countries, the issue of freedom." Several groups of Asian minorities lived in Paris, and Berni helped distribute Asian newspapers and magazines, to which he contributed illustrations.


Nuevo Realismo Period

In 1931 Berni returned to Rosario, where he briefly lived on a farm and was then hired as a municipal employee. The Argentina of the 1930s was very different from the Paris of the 1920s. He witnessed labor demonstrations and the miserable effects of
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...
and was shocked by the news of a military
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
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 ...
(see Infamous Decade). Surrealism didn't convey the frustration or hopelessness of the Argentine people. Berni organized ''Mutualidad de Estudiantes y Artistas'' and became a member of the local Communist party. Berni met Mexican artist
David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
who had been painting large-scale political
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
s on public buildings and was visiting Argentina to give lectures and exhibit his work in an effort to "summon artists to participate in the development of a proletarian art." In 1933 Berni, Siqueiros, Spilimbergo, Juan Carlos Castagnino and Enrique Lázaro created the mural ''Ejercicio Plástico'' (''Plastic Exercise''). But ultimately Berni didn't think the murals could inspire social change and even implied a connection between Siqueiros artwork and the privileged classes of Argentina, saying, "Mural painting is only one of the many forms of popular artistic expression...for his mural painting, Siqueros was obliged to seize on the first board offered to him by the bourgeoisie." Instead, he began painting realistic images that depicted the struggles and tensions of the Argentine people. His popular ''Nuevo Realismo'' paintings include ''Desocupados'' (''The Unemployed'') and ''Manifestación'' (''Manifestation''). Both were based on photographs Berni had gathered to document, as graphically as possible, the "abysmal conditions of his subjects." As one critic noted, "the quality of his work resides in the precise balance that he attained between narrative painting with strong social content and aesthetic originality." In a 1936 interview, Berni said that the decline of art was indicative of the division between the artist and the public and that social realism stimulated a mirror of the surrounding spiritual, social, political, and economic realities.


1940s, 1950s and early 1960s

In 1941, at the request of the Comisión Nacional de Cultura, Berni traveled to
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, and
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
to study
pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the Visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Americas, visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North America, North, Central America, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European con ...
. His painting ''Mercado indígena'' (''Indian Market'') is based on the photos he took during this trip. Two years later, he was awarded an Honorary Grand Prix at the Salón Nacional and co-founded a mural workshop with fellow artists Spilimbergo, Juan Carlos Castagnino, Demetrio Urruchúa, and Manuel Colmeiro. The artists decorated the dome of the Galerías Pacifico. The 1940s saw various revolutions and coups d'état in Latin America, including the ousting of Argentine President Ramón Castillo in 1943. Berni responded with more political paintings including ''Masacre'' (''Massacre'') and ''El Obrero Muerto'' (''The Dead Worker''). From 1951 to 1953, Berni lived in
Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...
, a province in northwestern Argentina. The province suffered massive ecological damage, including the exploitation of
quebracho tree Quebracho is a common name in Spanish language, Spanish to describe very hard (density 0.9–1.3) wood tree species. The etymology of the name derived from ''quiebrahacha'', or ''quebrar hacha'', meaning "axe-breaker". The corresponding English- ...
s. While in Santiago del Estero, he painted the series "Motivos santiagueños" and "Chaco," which were later exhibited in Paris,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
and
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. In the 1950s he returned to expressionism with works like ''Los hacheros'' (''Axemen'') and ''La comida'' (''Food''), and began a series of suburban landscapes including ''Villa Piolín'' (''Villa Tweety''), ''La casa del sastre'' (''House of Taylor''), ''La iglesia'' (''The Church''), ''El tanque blanco'' (''White Tank''), ''La calle'' (''Street''), ''La res'' (''The Answer''), ''Carnicería'' (''Carnage''), ''La luna y su eco'' (''The Moon and its Echo''), and ''Mañana helada en el páramo desierto'' (''Morning Frost on the Moor''). He also painted ''Negro y blanco'' (''Black and White''), ''Utensilios de cocina sobre un muro celeste'' (''Cookware on a Blue Wall''), and ''El caballito'' (''The Pony''). From his position as Director Of Culture of the Argentine Foreign Relations Ministry (1960) during 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 ...
, art critic and friend Rafael Squirru sent Berni's engravings to the
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 (), ...
, where they obtained First Prize in their category. After Squirru became Director of the Cultural Department of the OAS in 1963, he promoted Berni's work once again organizing prestigious shows for the artist such as the 1966 exhibition at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton.


Juanito Laguna

Berni's post-1950s work can be viewed as "a synthesis of Pop Art and
Social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
." In 1958, he began collecting and collaging discarded material to create a series of works featuring a character named Juanito Laguna. The series became a social narrative on
industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
and
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
and pointed out the extreme disparities existing between the wealthy Argentine aristocracy and the "Juanitos” of the slums. As he explained in a 1967 ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'' interview, "One cold, cloudy night, while passing through the miserable city of Juanito, a radical change in my vision of reality and its interpretation occurred...I had just discovered, in the unpaved streets and on the waste ground, scattered discarded materials, which made up the authentic surroundings of Juanito Laguna – old wood, empty bottles, iron, cardboard boxes, metal sheets etc., which were the materials used for constructing shacks in towns such as this, sunk in poverty."
Latin American art Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions. The art has roots in the many different Indigenous peoples of the Americas, i ...
expert Mari Carmen Ramirez has described the Juanito works as an attempt to "seek out and record the typical living truth of underdeveloped countries and to bear witness to the terrible fruits of neocolonialism, with its resulting poverty and economic backwardness and their effect on populations driven by a fierce desire for progress, jobs, and the inclination to fight." Notable Juanito works include ''Retrato de Juanito Laguna'' (''Portrait of Juanito Laguna''), ''El mundo prometido a Juanito'' (''The World Promised to Juanito''), and ''Juanito va a la ciudad'' (''Juanito Goes to the City''). Art featuring Juanito (and Ramona Montiel, a similar female character) won Berni the Grand Prix for Printmaking at the
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 (), ...
in 1962. In 1965 a retrospective of Berni's work was organized at the Instituto Di Tella, including the collage ''Monsters''. Versions of the exhibit were shown in the United States, Argentina, and several Latin American countries. Compositions such as ''Ramona en la caverna'' (''Ramona in the Cavern''), ''El mundo de Ramona'' (''Ramona's World''), and ''La masacre de los inocentes'' (''Massacre of the Innocent'') were becoming more complex. The latter was exhibited in 1971 at the Paris Museum of Modern Art. By the late 1970s, Berni's Juanito and Ramona oil paintings had evolved into three-dimensional altarpieces.


Later years and death

After the March 1976 coup, which was like others in Latin America supported by the United States, Berni moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he continued painting, engraving, collating, and exhibiting. New York struck him as luxurious, consumerist, materially wealthy, and spiritually poor. He conveyed these observations in subsequent work with a touch of social
irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...
. His New York paintings display a great protagonism of color and include ''Aeropuerto'' (''Airport''), ''Los Hippies'', ''Calles de Nueva York'' (''Streets of New York''), ''Almuerzo'' (''Lunch''), ''Chelsea Hotel'' and ''Promesa de castidad'' (''Promise of Chastity''). He also produced several decorative panels, scenographic sketches, illustrations, and collaborations for books. Berni's work gradually became more spiritual and reflective. In 1980 he completed the paintings ''Apocalipsis'' (''Apocalypse'') and ''La crucifixion'' (''The Crucifixion'') for the Chapel of San Luis Gonzaga in Las Heras, where they were installed the following year. Antonio Berni died on 13 October 1981 in Buenos Aires, where he had been working on a Martín Fierro monument. The monument was inaugurated in San Martín on 17 November of the same year. In an interview shortly before his death, he said, "Art is a response to life. To be an artist is to undertake a risky way of life, to adopt one of the greatest forms of liberty, to make no compromise. Painting is a form of love, of transmitting the years in art."


Legacy

Since the late 1960s, various Argentine musicians have written and recorded Juanito Laguna songs. Mercedes Sosa recorded the songs ''Juanito Laguna remonta un barrilete'' (on her 1967 album ''Para cantarle a mi gente'') and ''La navidad de Juanito Laguna'' (on her 1970 album ''Navidad con Mercedes Sosa''). In 2005 a compilation CD commemorating Berni's 100th birthday included songs by César Isella, Marcelo San Juan, Dúo Salteño, Eduardo Falú, and Las Voces Blancas, as well as two short recordings of Berni speaking in interviews. After his death, he was granted the Honour Konex Award as the most important deceased artist from Argentina, given by the Konex Foundation in 1982. Several Argentine government organizations also celebrated Berni's centennial in 2005, including the Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología de la Nación, and Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación. Berni's daughter Lily curated an art show entitled ''Un cuadro para Juanito, 40 años después'' (''A painting for Juanito, 40 years later''). Through the organization, ''De Todos Para Todos'' (By All For All), children across Argentina studied Berni's art and then created their own using his collage techniques. In July 2008, thieves disguised as police officers stole fifteen Berni paintings that were being transported from a suburb to the Bellas Artes National Museum. Culture Secretary Jose Nun described the paintings as being "of great national value" and described the robbery as "an enormous loss to Argentine culture."


See also

*
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...
*
Culture of Argentina The culture of Argentina is as varied as the country Geography of Argentina, geography and is composed of a Demographics of Argentina, mix of ethnic groups. Modern Argentine culture has been influenced largely by the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Pl ...
* Infamous Decade *
Latin American art Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions. The art has roots in the many different Indigenous peoples of the Americas, i ...
* Pop Art *
Social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
* Lino Enea Spilimbergo * Rafael Squirru


References


External links


Paintings at Ten Dreams Galleries

Antonio Berni on e-flux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berni, Antonio 1905 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Argentine painters 20th-century Argentine male artists Argentine male painters Argentine muralists Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine portrait painters Artists from Rosario, Santa Fe Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery People from Rosario, Santa Fe