Quote:

Probably the best known image by Emilio Pettoruti.

The Thinker

.

Bailarines, 1918

As a founding member of Argentina’s Florida Group, Emilio Pettoruti challenged the norms of acceptable art during the 1920’s and prompted a dialogue based on the desire to modernize the urban image of Buenos Aires.

His work, La Canción del pueblo (1927) proves to be modern reflection of Buenos Aires society, which is represented through the artist’s reference to European Cubism along with his depiction of the distinctly nationalist subject. The subject of the painting is group of three musicians, holding instruments and performing in an outdoor setting. The figures are positioned in the center of the work and are surrounded by dark rectangular shapes and a strip of blue, suggestive of buildings and blue sky, which locates the musician geographically, placing the figures in an urban, outdoor setting. The faces of the figures are indistinguishable, as they seem to be covered by hat-like geometrical shapes. The subjects are represented in an abstracted style that reflects the artists break from the traditionally naturalistic representations of form. However, it difficult for the viewer to understand the concept of foreground, middle ground and background, as Pettoruti creates little depth with variations in his use of color.

You know me by now. I LOVE these images.

Roger