Joaquin Torres-Garcia

This is a richly illustrated and informative survey of the work of the most influential Latin American artists of the early 20th century. A charismatic figure of the international art scene, Joaquin Torres-Garcia (1874-1949) is revered today as one of the most influential artists of the early twentieth-century to have emerged from Latin America. Though Torres-Garcia was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he spent most of his life in Spain, Italy, France, and the USA before returning to his native Uruguay in 1934. There he founded the 'Taller Torres-Garcia' - the most significant art educational community of its time (1944-1962) - in the tradition of the Bauhaus and the De Stijl, which promoted avant-garde experimentation and sought to blur the hierarchical distinction between arts and crafts. Celebrated for his work as a modernist painter, teacher, and theoretician, Garcia is also known for breaking new ground in the realm of wooden constructions.