NY 1993

Common Sources of Spiritualism in the Work of Piet Mondrian

and Joaquín Torres-García

In these pages I wish to explore the similarities and differences in the work of two important
artists of the first half of this century. These comparisons were inspired by the exhibition
Circle and Square: Geometric Abstraction and Constructivism in the Americas, 1934–1950,
at the Kouros Gallery in Manhattan.
Both Torres-García and Mondrian struggled throughout their lives to achieve a vision. What
I will examine here are some of the beliefs, readings, teachers, and other artists that served
as points of support, inspiration, or reaction in their search for full realization.
Both were path openers (although due to Torres-García’s isolation in South America, the
importance of his work is only now beginning to be fully understood). What makes their
contribution to modern art so interesting is not only how they converged in many ideas, but
also how they differed in others. They met in Paris in 1929, becoming devoted and
respectful friends and admirers of each other’s work. Even when Torres-García left Paris in
1932, he and Mondrian stayed in touch through correspondence until 1938, when Mondrian
left Paris for London. From Montevideo, Torres-García dedicated his book Estructura
(1935) to Mondrian and published many articles about him.

Symbolism and Theosophy in Mondrian
When Mondrian finished his studies in 1899, he experienced a religious crisis. He even
considered becoming a priest before fully dedicating himself to art. He attended many
theosophical lectures. Through Theosophy, Mondrian could abandon the strict Lutheran
principles of his upbringing.
In the summer of 1908, Mondrian met Jan Toorop in Domburg. Toorop was one of the most
important Dutch Symbolists, influenced by the English Pre-Raphaelites, as well as the arts
of Egypt, Assyria, Japan, and Indonesia. He later converted to Catholicism. His work drew
on fantastic symbolic imagery, inspired by contemporary Symbolist writers. He was also
very interested in the poetry of the American Walt Whitman, as Torres-García would be
later.
In Domburg, Mondrian painted the triptych Evolution, a perfect example of Toorop’s
influence. In this work we see Mondrian’s new interest in spirituality and mysticism, which
led him toward Theosophy. On May 25, 1909, Mondrian became a member of the Dutch
Theosophical Society. That same year he wrote to Israel Querido (critic and writer): “It
seems to me that clarity of thought should be accompanied by clarity of technique.” This
reveals how important Theosophy was in shaping the artistic form he would later develop.
By 1911, Mondrian met the painter and critic Conrad Kickert, who brought the first Cubist
works by Braque and Picasso to Holland. That same year they collaborated in organizing an

exhibition of Cubism in Amsterdam. Cubism deeply influenced Mondrian, helping him
advance his search for the geometric essence of Nature, while still maintaining his
theosophical concepts of art and life.
In a dialogue with Theo van Doesburg in 1917, Mondrian said: “I got everything from the
Secret Doctrine (Blavatsky).” and “When I look through the canvas; when I pass through a
wall, what will I then still see on that canvas or on that wall?” Was he implying that he was
seeing matter or the structure of the atom? More likely, Mondrian was alluding to the
theosophical concept of involution, during which billions of units of spiritual consciousness,
called “monads,” emerge from the ONE undifferentiated Source, becoming more and more
involved in matter—through the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms.
What comes through in these ideas is the desire to integrate the structure of art with the
structure of the universe, to achieve the same unity found in Nature: “Seeing the sea, sky,
and stars, I represented this through a multiplicity of crosses. I was impressed by the
greatness of nature and tried to express expansion, rest, unity.”
These canvases of 1914 marked a crucial stage in Mondrian’s evolution—from the painterly
Cubist compositions of 1912 to the pure constructions of color and line of 1919.

Puvis de Chavannes and Neo-Classicism in Torres-García
Torres-García arrived in Barcelona in 1891, at a time when Modernism was fashionable in
Europe. Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec, Munch’s Expressionism, Romanticism, and Art
Nouveau’s decorative style all had great influence. For a time, drawing in the style of
Toulouse-Lautrec offered Torres-García a liberating experience from the academic methods
taught at the Academy.
Reading Greek philosophy and studying the work of Puvis de Chavannes were crucial in
helping Torres-García escape the dominant decorative and academic trends in Barcelona at
the turn of the century.
In 1904, Torres-García wrote an essay titled Angusta et Augusta, praising the Mediterranean
roots that Catalans shared with classical Greece. Neoclassicism for Torres-García played a
similar role to Symbolism for Mondrian: both offered a return to order and strong roots.
Mondrian sought in Theosophy what Torres-García sought in Plato—balanced and timeless
foundations from which to elaborate their visions.
By 1911–12, both had their first encounters with Cubism: Torres-García at the Galeries
Dalmau in Barcelona and Mondrian in Amsterdam. In 1913 Torres-García published Notes
sobre Art (Notes on Art). In a chapter titled Structure, he wrote:
“For the artist, before form and color there is the organization of things, its structure.
Because color and shape are for him the manifestations of an idea. The idea is rather the
justification of that color and that form. In this way you can look at the appearance of things
as the Impressionists do, or go to the essence, so that works will come forth from
understanding and not from the sensory impression of things.”

Structure
For Mondrian and the Neo-Plasticists, structure was a process distilled in various stages of
reduction—from a faithful representation of reality to an elemental, pure structure of
horizontal and vertical lines. The theoretical foundation was the philosophy of M.H.J.
Schoenmaekers, the Dutch thinker who sought a mathematical and geometric basis behind
appearances.
Torres-García, although working from a different perspective, also arrived at the idea of
structure as essential. His paintings are “constructive,” in what he later called Universal
Constructivism. Even when his work contained recognizable images (a mason’s tools, the
sea, a tree), he reduced them to essential forms, always within a structural framework.
Beginning in 1916, Torres-García used a system of color planes dividing the canvas into flat
compartments, more like a graphic drawing than a shaded or volumetric representation. This
structure unified diverse elements into a single order.
What took Torres-García longer to resolve was the inclusion of symbols within this
structure—taking a step further from Neo-Plasticism. For him, the absolute purity achieved
by Mondrian led to a dead end: “Man’s soul has to be included in art, not excluded.”
As Clement Greenberg once wrote: “Mondrian committed the unforgivable error of
asserting that one mode of art, that of pure abstract relations, would be absolutely superior
to all others in the future.” Here is where Torres-García diverged. He was committed to a
balance between intellect and emotion. He wanted to include the whole of nature, as the
image and representation of creation and the microcosm of universal order. Geometric
abstraction alone was not enough to express his worldview. His Universal Constructivism
encompassed rational structure, emotion, intuition, and symbolic references to the natural
world.

Analysis of Two Works from the 1940s

Piet Mondrian – Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow (1937–42)

Oil on canvas, 23 3⁄4 × 21 7⁄8 in.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
This composition suggests a cityscape, divided by a low horizon. The placement of the
second horizontal line gives the impression of a high, bright sky, expressed by the red and
the blue. The yellow evokes Dutch canals.
Imagining a landscape in such an abstract work is not far-fetched. In his dialogue Natural
Reality and Abstract Reality (1919), Mondrian imagines a conversation between an amateur
painter (Y), a figurative painter (X), and an abstract painter (Z, himself). Speaking about
landscape, Z says: “The feeling of rest becomes plastically apparent by the harmony of the
relations and that is the reason to accentuate the expression of relations. We express
ourselves plastically by opposing colors and line, and this opposition creates a harmonious
relation: proportion and balance.”
The painting conveys a vertical rhythm through the repetition of four close vertical lines
crossing the canvas from top to bottom, forming sixteen different rectangles. The absence
of symmetry introduces a subtle vibration, a total experience of air and movement that
surprises the viewer. Our tendency is to expect equal spaces, symmetrical repetitious,
Mondrian tricks us with things we will never expect.

The black bars, varied in thickness, create a transparent grid that gives an extraordinary
sense of space and light, suggesting infinity—the eternal. Here we see Mondrian’s
Theosophical ideas.
He never uses diagonal lines, except in works where the framework itself is set diagonally,
such as Painting I (1926), from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Nevertheless, a sense of diagonal movement can still be perceived through the intersections
of the black bars and the relationships between colors. For example, in this work, the red in
the upper left corner connects through the yellow to the blue in the lower right corner, just as
the top blue relates to the red on the right. These interactions create a rotational effect within
the structure, suggesting to the viewer the movement of the earth.
Also, Mondrian moves us upward into the high Dutch sky through progressive steps toward
the red on the right, then turning diagonally through the crossing points toward the blue.
This relationship between metaphysics and mathematics is what sustains Mondrian on the
verge of a humanistic feeling. I feel that he will lose this balance in his later paintings, such
as Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942–43), from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
It is too uniform, becoming almost a computerized image, where spaces are repeated. Here
he failed, becoming cold and almost frivolous. Yet, from the artist’s perspective, he

succeeded in his purpose during his final years: to break with nature. As he said to Torres-
García, “I am not interested in the least in nature.”

Clement Greenberg, writing in 1943 right after the purchase of Broadway Boogie Woogie by
MoMA, observed: “The picture has a floating, wavering, somehow awkward quality; the
color wanders off in directions that I am sure belie the artist’s intent. It is a remarkable
accomplishment, a failure worthy only of a great artist.”

Joaquín Torres-García – Constructivist Composition (1943)

Oil on canvas, 26 × 30 in.
OAS AMA, Art Museum of the Americas Collection gift of Nelson Rockefeller, estate of
Torres-García
The overall impression of this work is suggestive of a harbor cityscape, Montevideo. In the
bottom left corner, the earth-red plane could be interpreted as a path or pier leading to the
blue waters of the sea or a river, which takes us through symbols related to fishermen and
sailors. The ship has many meanings; for me, it could represent the interchange with the Old
World. Through the ladder, we ascend to an urban scene: the city in autumn, where the
Universal Man belongs. Seeing all these symbols together, Torres-García takes us from the
common elements of human consciousness, opposed to the everyday aspects of human life.
The Universal Man and the boat, the scales, and the train; the ruler, and a machine.
In this composition, the colors are basically the same palette as Mondrian’s—yellow, red,
blue, black, and white—but in Torres-García’s painting they are earth colors, toned with
white and black. The planes of color follow an independent structure from the predominant
grid, as if the two were juxtaposed. The surface of the work is divided into compartments
measured by the Golden Mean. In this particular work the grid is asymmetrical, but in many
earlier works by Torres-García the structure is symmetrical.
The point of departure that determines the center from which the grid evolves is the crossing
point between the horizontal and vertical of the orthogonal plan. In this picture, it is the first
step of the ladder on the right-hand side. From this center, the lines of the grid evolve, never
crossing each other. In both Mondrian’s and Torres-García’s painting, the basic abstract

elements—line, dimension, and color plane—are used as intrinsic values independent of any
representation.
Now, Torres-García’s symbols inside each compartment are not representations but ideas. A
symbol is form and idea in one; therefore, the elements do not belong to the real but to an
aesthetic order. “The image or symbol inserted in a given compartment of the grid was
dictated by the size and shape of the compartment, and not by an attempt to establish
relationships between the symbols in the conventional sense. The objective was to express a
total world view.”
In this painting, Torres-García used two kinds of symbols: the universal and timeless—such
as the man (the Individual, the abstract man who is also the cosmos, the model or center of
creation), the heart (feeling), the triangle (intelligence, harmony, proportion, trinity), the star
(light, unity), the ladder (progress toward wisdom), the ruler (golden mean section), the bell
(sound), the hammer (work), and the scale (justice, equilibrium). And the more
contemporary symbols, such as the train, the piston machine, the bottle, the horse, the clock
(time), the ship (the encounter with the New World), and the anchor (salvation, hope).
The dimension of each symbol or object is not related to reality because, for Torres-García,
this was not important. The man and the bottle are equal in size, since everything in reality is
relative. His only goal here is harmonic relations. Each compartment is shaded with an
illusion of depth “to intensify the object’s evocative presence”—like a pre-Columbian wall, as in the Cosmic Monument of 1938 in Montevideo, made in granite.

Joaquín Torres García ha sido una gran influencia para tres generaciones de artistas
latinoamericanos, tanto por sus conceptos artísticos como por los ideológicos.
Su interés en encontrar una tradición artística en las culturas prehispánicas sudamericanas, no solo
cambió su obra como también el curso del arte sudamericano, creando una nueva conciencia de
identidad artístico-cultural.

Torres encontró un paralelo entre las culturas precolombinas y la antigua civilización
mediterránea por lo profundo de su metafísica y su concepto universal, pero también por su plan

geométrico, recordándonos la frase de Naum Gabo “. . . la idea Constructiva del arte es tan joven como
nuestro siglo y tan antigua como la voluntad humana de crear.” 1
Joaquín Torres García:

Se separa de su tendencia constructivista europea, cuando en los años 20’s incorpora a su obra el
simbolismo medieval y la magia de la numerología. En 1928, visitó en Paris una exposición de arte
precolombino “Les Arts Anciciens de L’Amérique”, organizada por Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Palais de
Loubre y desde ese momento incorporó nuevos símbolos a su obra y no cesó de investigar este tema
como también el arte “primitivo”, y el arte de las culturas arcaicas, en Museo del Trocadero2.

“Paró un día y piensa : a lo abstracto , debe corresponder la idea de una cosa, algo también
abstracto . Que puede ser esto?
Tendrá que ser para ser figurado gráficamente, o bien el nombre escrito de la cosa, o la imagen
esquemática lo menos aparentemente real posible: tal como un signo. Y hace eso. Pone, en la

1Naum Gabo, Circle international Servi of international Art(London :Faber & Faber, 1937
2En 1928 se inauguro la exposición de Arte precolombino “Les Arts anciens de L’Amérique” en Paris
organizada por Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Palais de Louvre a la cual Torres García asistió con su hijo
Augusto quien mas tarde trabajó en el Museo del Trocadero actualmente el Museo del Hombre.

construcción a cuarteles a modo de pared de piedras y en cada compartimiento, el diseño de una
cosa. ¡Y ya está! debe ser eso”.3

“Torres García primero construye una estructura lineal que no era rigurosa ni sistemática, esta
estructura o configuración geométrica de este periodo parece ser intuitiva y expresiva, evocando por
momentos las paredes incaicas del Perú precolombino.
Las construcciones incas fueron construidas bajo leyes astrológicas y numerológicas, como también
bajo la necesidad de soportar los movimientos provocados por temblores de tierra. Así logran reflejar un
orden simbólico gracias a una preocupación practica. En cierto sentido esta geometría era una geometría
natural, y esto atrajo al maestro Torres García a su investigación”4

Torres por su divergencia con el Neoplastisismo de Mondrian, en 1929 se compromete en lograr
un balance entre el intelecto y la emoción. El quería incluir en su obra la naturaleza como la imagen y
representación de toda la creación y del orden universal del microcosmo. “que se halla en el en el orden
geométrico, yendo de las formas puras a las formas de vida; y entonces, simbólicamente, en esquema
geométrico, volvemos a encontrar el Mundo y el Hombre.”5 De esta manera el artista llega a la creación
del UNIVERSALISMO CONSTRUCTIVO, “que es el concepto que engloba la estructura racional, la
emoción o intuición y las referencias simbólicas de la Naturaleza”6

3J.Torres García, Historia de mi vida (Escrito en tercera persona), Asociación de Arte Constructivo,
Montevideo, 1939
4Margit Rowell, Grid Pattern Sign Paris-Montevideo, 1985, Arts Council of Great Britain, p 15.
5J.Torres García, Metafísica de la Prehistoria Indoamericana, Publicaciones de la Asociación de Arte
Constructivo, Montevideo 1939.
6Margit Rowell, Grid Pattern Sign Paris-Montevideo, 1985, Arts Council of Great Britain, p 17.

“Desde 1930, Torres García integró imágenes del arte precolombino y del arte de las culturas
indígenas norteamericanas.7 y en 1931 en Madrid en incluye a sus estructuras neoplásicas formas
geométricas que se funden a la manera de cerámicas Nazca de Perú. Su espacio pictórico se divide mas
rigurosamente, y su andamiaje ortogonal incluye imágenes esquemáticas, símbolos y pictogramas para
crear una visión plana de lo UNIVERSAL.

En 1934 Torres García se traslada a Montevideo , Uruguay. Su llegada a América del
Sur, aumentó su interés en el arte precolombino , estudiando los aspectos geográficos, humanos y
religiosos de las antiguas culturas Americanas8.

Torres García Inmediatamente se relaciona al medio artístico. En agosto del mismo año, abre su
taller, donde reúne artistas nacionales , bajo su concepto “Lo que he llamado Arte constructivo es una
ciencia universal”, de esta manera todos los artistas geométricos se agruparon alrededor de Torres
García. En su taller organizó varias exposiciones reuniendo artistas internacionales( Germán Cueto, Jean
Helion, Theo Van Doesburg) y nacionales.

En febrero de 1935 publica los documentos inaugurales de la Escuela del Sur donde incluye su
famosa frase “nuestro Norte es el Sur” olvidándonos de Europa 9. Torres García mas tarde en el libro
Metafísica de la prehistoria indoamericana explica este concepto:”Al haber hallado nuestro norte en la

7En 1928 se inauguro la exposición de Arte precolombino “Les Arts anciens de L’Amérique” en Paris a la
cual Torres García asistió con su hijo Augusto quien mas tarde trabajó en el Museo del Trocadero
actualmente el Museo del Hombre.
8Cecilia Buzio de Torres, La Escuela del Sur-El Taller Torres García y su Legado, Museo Nacional Reina
Sofía, Madrid, 1991. p.22
9J.Torres García, Estructura, p.113. Donde ilustraba este concepto con un mapa invertido de América del
Sur.

cultura preincaica, queríamos solidarizarnos hasta el punto de identificarnos con ella… ya en la cultura
Inca…en su unidad …puede utilizarse como modelo mas conseguido . Debido a esto , podría
proporcionar , no solo una base de nuestra unificación sudamericana, sino también la posibilidad , al fin ,
de poseer una autentica cultura integral y además autóctona”.10
Es la primera toma de conciencia con respecto al problema actual de la identidad cultural
latinoamericana, donde se fusionan la cultura precolombina, la africana y la europea como fuerza
dominante. En el mismo libro también nos aclara que su objetivo no era imitar o parafrasear al arte
precolombino sino identificarse con el espíritu de los creadores del gran estilo y de la cultura del
continente american.

“Picasso entre otros artistas del sigo XX encontraron al arte precolombino demasiado
monumental, hierático y extremadamente repetitivo. La inventiva y la variedad del ate tribal fue mas
influyente en el ate de los modernistas'”11

En contraposición, el concepto de Torres García se oponía al modernismo que se apropiaba de
los componentes formales del arte Africano, como elementos innovadores para revitalizar una agotada
tradición artística europea12.

El principio de La escuela del sur se basó en el contrario del modernismo del Siglo 20. Torres
García al aconsejar los estudios de las culturas azteca, maya y principalmente la Inca y la preincaica y

10J.Torres García, Metafísica de la Prehistoria Indoamericana, Asociación de Arte Constructivo,
Montevideo, 1939. p.3.
11William Rubin, “Primitivism” in 20 Century Art, MoMa, NewYork, 1984. p.3 (Introduction)
12Mari Carmen Ramírez, La Escuela del Sur-El Taller Torres García y su Legado, Museo Nacional Reina
Sofía, Madrid, 1991. p.119

alentaba a sus discípulos a “. . . volverse primitivos y trabajar en lo elemental. Y aquí primitivo no significa
prehistórico, sino alguien que esta al comienzo de un ciclo de arte”13.

La Escuela del Sur

En mayo de 1935 Torres García formó la Asociación de Arte Constructivo , con un grupo de 32
artistas. Este grupo trabajaba y exponía en conjunto, bajo el lema constructivo de la misma manera que
el grupo Cercle et Carre en Paris al que Torres García formo parte junto con Marcel Suphor, Mondrian y
otros. La AAC se desintegra en1939, sus integrantes eran artistas profesionales y se les hizo
imposible mantenerlos ideales de la Asociación . En 1943 Torres García forma el Taller Torres García
con un grupo jóvenes con una conciencia mas abierta a nuevas ideas que profundizará la tradición
geométrica del continente en diferentes expresiones artísticas; pintura, escultura, cerámica, tapicería y
arquitectura.

En este taller Torres enseñó el dibujo y la pintura, pero independiente a los métodos de
enseñanza de las academias europeas con un enfoque modernista, creando métodos diferentes de
enseñanza. Esta interacción dinámica con sus alumnos, hacia que la obra se enriqueciera como también
su ideología. Al mismo tiempo continua impartiendo conferencias y escribiendo libros y artículos.

En 1942 un grupo de artistas del taller viajó a Perú y Bolivia para investigar la cultura andina
precolombina. Algunos miembros del Taller como Francisco Matto coleccionaba arte precolombino y
Augusto Torres desde París había empezado su colección de arte Africano y de los indios americanos.
Estas obras eran estudiadas por los miembros del taller. También se organizo una muestra en el Taller

13J.Torres García, El Nuevo Arte de las Américas, UC, Lección 148

Torres García de “Arte de las Civilizaciones Antiguas y de los pueblos primitivos14” que contaba con
mas de 300 obras incluyendo , vasos griegos, mascaras africanas, tejidos peruanos, y objetos de
Oceanía.

La obra de la escuela del Sur es filosófica como artística. La AAC publicó una revista trimestral
llamada Círculo y Cuadrado (con artículos en francés e ingles), que continuaba a la desaparecida revista
francesa Cercle et Carre, publicada en Paris en l930.

Esta revista era la voz de esta nueva escuela tanto en el Uruguay como en Europa. El numero 7
fue dedicado a la “Tradición constructiva de América donde se establece el parentesco entre el Arte
constructivo y el Arte Precolombino. Y también publicó un articulo escrito por el Prof Luis E. Valcarcel
llamado “Apuntes para una filosofía de la cultura Incaica” que usaré para presentar las obras de los
artistas de la Escuela en las diferentes orientaciones artísticas.

“La línea recta predomina en las formas incaicas . . . Esta supremacía determina el aspecto
anguloso, especialmente tectónico de las obras artísticas de Tawantisuyu . . . Cuando la
naturaleza del objeto no lo permite, su ornamentación multiplica las combinaciones rectilíneas,
incluyendo la estilización de las figuras zoomorfas o antropomorfas”.

Torres García y su escuela usaban estas figures en su lenguaje de símbolos , universales como
el hombre,(el individuo, el hombre abstracto) el corazón (los sentimientos), el triangulo (proporción,

14 El concepto “primitivo” que se uso en esta muestra difiere del concepto de la exposición que realizó el
MoMa en 1984 llamada “Primitivism” in 20th. Century Art. Donde William Rubin considera arte primitivo al
Arte tribal excluyendo al arte precolombino e incluyéndolo entre el arte arcaico or court art, and should be
grouped with the Ejyptian, Javanese, Persian, este ultimo punto lo comparte con Torres García, ya que
Torres encuentra un paralelo entre el arte precolombino y the arte Ejyptian Art.

armonía), el sol (luz, unidad). I los mas contemporáneos como el tren, la botella, el reloj (tiempo) el barco
(el encuentro con el Nuevo mundo).

Sobre la arquitectura nos dice: “…se resuelve en pura geometrización. Ella desnuda al edificio y
permite que la piedra luzca y que las aristas corten el espacio como tejidos de luz o sombra” . .
.Como en la arquitectura helénica, en la de los incas se muestra toda la honradez y lealtad del
constructor. De ahí su fuerza eterna.

Torres García hizo el Monumento Cósmico, 1938 en Montevideo, esta obra es de gran
importancia porque incluye el ideal constructivo como el universal. Es un muro de granito rosa
enmarcado por un friso en relieve y en la parte superior descansan las tres formas geométricas
elementales, la esfera, el cubo y el triangulo. El nombre cósmico indica un origen común a los
monumentos de Tiahuanaco, (estaciones de observación del año solar y se los consideraba el centro del

cosmos). Cada compartimiento comparte la ilusión de profundidad y en el incluyó un símbolo. El sol es el
símbolo central de la composición, junto al Monumento hay una estela de granito que lleva una
inscripción saludando al padre Inti, (El Sol). En los cimientos de la estela se enterró un texto sobre las
ideas de la AAC.
15

“Pero la curva tiene un sentido de excepción que simboliza algo particular; posiblemente el culto
élico, la imagen del Sol que consistía en un disco o una elipse de oro.”

Rosa Acle una de los integrantes de la AAC en su obra “Composición norte”, 1938 podemos ver
una representación de formas arquitectónicas, muros o templos coronados por el sol naciente. Dentro de
esta estructura incluye símbolo de inspiración nazca, ideogramas (norte-Sur recordándonos que nuestro
norte es el sur) y el símbolo del elemento contemporáneo, el barco que representaría la conquista.
También nos recuerda la cerámica andina con sus colores tierras que nos remontan al pasado del

continente. Rosa Acle, Composición Norte

15Cecilia Buzio e Torres, La Escuela del Sur-El Taller Torres García y su Legado, Museo Nacional Reina
Sofía, Madrid, 1991. p.24

“La línea recta ornamenta el tejido siguiendo la naturaleza de la urdimbre, maestra de la
estilización, puesto que cuanto acoge tiene que adoptar a la forma que le es esencial”

Gran parte de la obra del la AAC y del Taller Torres García hace referencia continua a los
símbolos, que son un lenguaje de comunicación, con lo divino con el hombre.

Francisco Matto, Tótems
Francisco Matto discípulo del Taller Torres García, en su obra libera al símbolo, lo independiza del
contexto y lo hace vivir por su propia magia. Sus esculturas planas extraídas del plano pictórico, de la
vasija, de los tejidos o del muro, se transforman en monumentales tótems en el borde de la pintura y de
la escultura. En la obra “Construcción”, 1948 hecha en madera, se inspira directamente en el símbolo de
la llama del arte incaico, que vemos en los tejidos andinos. En esta obra usa un recurso escultórico
característico de Torres García y que también vemos en la obra de Loise Navelson que es la
bidimensionalidad de la escultura. De la obra de Matto emana una magia, la misma que la sentimos
enfrente de un tótem, ya ésta no se puede separar del símbolo o de la máxima abstracción de las formas
orgánicas.

Luego de la Muerte de Torres García el taller se mantiene investigando el arte precolombino.
Interesados en incursionar en la cerámica arcaica Collel y Fonseca en 1950 llegaron reproducir la técnica
de la cerámica precolombina y griega, realizada en arcilla roja, con colores de engobe y superficies
bruñidas. 16 Collel abrió un taller de enseñanza de ésta técnica donde estudió Lidia Buzio que
consideramos de la segunda generación del Taller Torres García, quien luego de estudiar con alumnos
de Torres logra en su cerámica la conjunción entre la pintura, el símbolo y el objeto.

Lidya Buzio, Vasos
La Escuela del Sur es la obra maestra de Joaquín Torres García ya que se continúa hasta
nuestros días. Dejando un legado que se va reflejando en la juventud artística del continente.

The Latin America Education is always based in the European tradition, forgetting
the roots of our culture. The uruguayan artist Torres García and my mentor was the
encouraged his students to find an artistic tradition in South American cultures. This
investigation created a new consciousness of artistic-cultural identity, becameing a source
of a new symbolism with will enrich the Art world.
When I arrived to teach Fine Arts at Altos de Chavón School of Design in the
Dominican Republic, I I had the opportunity to teach Fine Arts in the Dominican Republic,
at Altos de Chavón School of Design, were I found a culture full of colorful traditions. In
order to explore these traditions, my students and I started projects related to myth,
legends.
My objetive was to make the students awere of their richness of their own traditions, to
respect and incorporate them to own art work.
In the class of Three Dimensional Design we did different projects. using as
motivations Art history, Present Concerns and the Dominican Traditions.
For example, in the project ” Pop Up Books” the instructional objective was the
translation from two dimensional to three dimensional image departing from a
conventional two dimensional image, each group had a different period to chose from; the
Rennaissence or Modern Painting. The student’s aim was to recreate the space.in a
logical sequence with the original work, while in the process interpreting art History Like
in one project they had to interpret the painting by Velazquez, “Las Meninas” into a stage
pop up piece.
To relate the student with present concerns, we touched upon the problem of the
environment, the point of departure was a word related to Nature. From there, they
developed their own concept creating a maquete, for a Museum Installation.

The performance was the last phase of our tree dimensional studies. In this project
we incorporated the tradition of the GAGA.was a complete three dimensional experience
where the students were an active part of their own piece.
The Gaga is a religious celebration from the Dominican Republic representing the
syncretism of African and European.cultures This popular celebration takes place every
Saturday of February in the “Bateyes”[1] . Drums, “fotutos”[2] and singing. are heard But
the peack of these celebrations start on the Thursday night of the Holy Week, a very
colorful dance starts until Eastern Sunday, working and dancing from bateye to bateye.
The origin of this celebration could be in the cost of Guinea or in the Congo, and can be
related to fertility, their ancestors or the African god Din.
In the “Gaga Geometric” we penetrated the space. acting as living sculptures interacting
in our own created space. and also expanding the space and thus linking ourselves with
the audience, while provoking their participation. This project combined fluency of ideas
and use of materials that the students had already experienced in past projects.
The transgression of the ritual, magic and religion to the modern art format, gave us
new formal art components like rhythm, space, and colors. The traditional Japanese
Theater was the first to incorporate its rituals to the visual arts. But also Modernism
appropriated itself of the formal components of African Art as innovative elements for the
revitalization of a waning European artistic tradition, in the case of the Cubism and
Surrealism.
In our geometric interpretation of the GaGa, we fused elements from the African
tradition together with the European modernist art tradition. We were inspired by different
movements and artists of Modern Art, such as Cubism ( Picasso and Braque), Surrealism
(Max Ernst), Bauhaus (Schlemmer, with the costumes for the “Triadic Ballet”).and by the
artist Wifredo Lam, who went much further, using his syntax to visualize his interpretation
of the Cuban religion call “Santería”, a blend of Catholic liturgy with African Religions. The
art history is an esencial tool to help the student to see the artist relation with culture and
time and how they interpreted their world.

The Transgression of the tradition Into Fine Arts

The motivation. First we introduced the GAGA with a lecture by the Sociologist Dagoberto
Tejeda. This activity was organized together with the Museum of Archeology and
Anthropology of Altos de Chavón.
Dr Tejeda’s presentation opened a new world to the students and to the general
audiences. He presented the Gaga as a representation of a social political and artistic
event, well known by Dominicans but denied by the establishment. He introduced to us to
a fantastic world, of symbols represented by colors, attributes (colored scarfs, flags and of
course a lot of rum drinking to stimulate the participants) and a very sensual dance of
African rhythm. All these elements made this point of departure very appropriate for our
project. Also we lern that a Gaga start in an altar, wich is a small room with a lot of
colorfuul elements
Colors have their own symbolism in this popular religion, each one representing
spirits (“luases”) and saints. Red represents Petró ( a spirit), who is Saint Cristobal; blue

is Ogún Balenyó who is Saint Santiago, and yellow is Anaisa or Saint Ana. This African
symbolism, “popular codification”, according to the sociologist Dr. Dagoberto Tejeda, is
coded into different aspects of culture as we see it represented in different symbolic
forms This symbolic references are related to the world of nature, and will be a greate
asset for our project.
The Gaga has also bad connotations, for part of the Dominican society. It can be
regarded as a “primitive”(in the negative sense) expression, to sensual, a symbol of
scandal.. That way we have to clarify our parameters. We take this cultural expression as
a tradition that links us with our roots. We don’t have to look at African art, like the
modernists did, we have that treasure in us, and should express it in the content of the
aesthetics.in contemporary art.
The Gaga is the result of “promisees”.they did to the “luase”, the participants are
divided in ranks . The head of the gaga is called “the owner” or the Horse” because he
received the spirit. The queen and The Mayors and the musicians, each character has an
special costume, Generally the “Owner” is dressed in the color of the luass, and the
“queens” use the same color dress with and a veil,they put a lot of makeup, The “Mayors”
wear capes with mirrors and color ribbons and in the waist as big skirts made with colored
scarfs. The musicians play a very contagious rhythm with trumpets and the fotutos with
very sensual lyrics, appropriate for the dance
The Owner or the first “Mayor” uses the whip and the whistle to separate the crowd and to
create a magical moment. The mayores also use a cane to dance in the ceremony
Also as part of the motivation the studens researched about performances in the
School Library. We discassed the works of Shlemmer in the Bauhaus, and the works of
the conseptual artists: Ana Mendieta, Marta Menujin, Ralf Ortiz
Description of the project: The Geometric Gaga.was a group project were the three
classes of “Three Dimenssional disign partisipated. Each class with aproximatly 20
students.was divided in groups of 5 students The project took us 4 weeks
As the title of the project anunce we translate the “Luases” of the gaga to the
primary geometric shapes an forms, Circle, Squere, Triangle-Cube, Esfera and Piramid

adding the organic form, to breaque the geomery tention. And we had to use the colors of
the traditional gaga One of the classes made the altars, selecting elements from the
Popular altar and adapting them to the geometric forms that each represent., we had four
altars. one for each geometric form. The gaga Groups 2 of each form but only one of the
organic form. They have to create their own costums and coreografy departing from the
traditional “luas” arriving to their geometric form. Also each group have to inpruve the
numbers of participants, they asked to the class dooing altars and the students from
secon Sophmore to join then. So this project by my sorprise became a school project.
Investigacion de Campo
The following step after hearing Dr Tejeda’s lecture was to actually attend a
Gaga.performance. we were fortunate because the school is located right in the middle of
a sugar cane plantations where these perfomances take place.
We divided in grups, one group of 15 students atended the Gaga ceremonies in the
diwn of Good Friday at “Palo Blanco” bateye. This group came back to the dorms very
exited, I can forget their expression, and their exitment, they were cover with mad, was
raining for same time and the bateyes are litle villas in the midle of the sugar cane
fills They started explaning to me all at the same time about, the colors, the music, the
mistery and all in detail about the altar, the costums. Tejeda’s son and they met one
of the queens and she explein all about her “Promess” and that her dress was broth from
New York special for the ceremony . The students were prepard to look, to do a dip
deconstruction of the ritual.
Ideas started poping up for their project, until they realised that, they want to shere
them with their group only. From then on they were redy to start their own Geometric
Gaga-Altar. Departing from their betey they walk an dance until Sunday visiting all the
bateyes and towns of the area, you can actualy see them on the roud from the bus, that
was my first encaunter with a Gaga Group an year ago, with make me look for more and
later creat this project.

Other groups visited the beteyes of La Ceja, Higueral, Guaymate (Where I was luky
to see three diferent gagas), and San Pedro de Macoris until Sunday when the celebration
ended.
For the students and myself the experience was unique. The incredible hability of
doing costumes.and music instruments whith very pour materials
geve us ideasto used there sources as inspiration for our own compositions.