Saturday 25.5.2024
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Born in Buenos Aires in 1890, Luis Perlotti was more than a sculptor. He could be considered, in light of his work, as a visual chronicler of American identity. From a young age, Perlotti began in the particularities of wood carving, but his interest took him to the Academy of Fine Arts, where together with Pío Collivadino and Carlos Ripamonti, he laid the foundations for what would later become his admired technical prowess.
Courtesy Perlotti Museum
However, it was the influence of Correa Morales that marked his definitive path in the field of sculpture. Perlotti traveled throughout the country to search for data and inspiration that he then passed on to his productions. He delved into pre-Columbian forms and such connection with ancestral roots was a common thread in his career.
Courtesy Perlotti Museum
His work, which covered a wide range of subjects, from the pre-Columbian world to Argentine patriotic figures, was embodied in bronze, marble, ceramics and wood. A good part of it is kept in the Luis Perlotti Sculpture Museum, located in his former house-workshop in the Caballito neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires.
Courtesy Perlotti Museum
But beyond his artistic achievements, Perlotti was part of the Buenos Aires cultural scene of his time. Martín Sassone, in an article published in El Ojo del Arte, remembers that he was a member of the ‘peña’ of the famous Buenos Aires café Tortoni. Among his friends were Benito Quinquela Martín and Juan de Dios Filiberto, whom he sculpted. “He also met the writer Alfonsina Storni, whose mythical sculpture is located in front of the sea, on La Perla beach in Mar del Plata,” says Sassone.
Treasury Palace
His interest in Native American traditions and history led him to be recognized as the “Sculptor of America.” Through his travels across the continent, Perlotti investigated the essence of native cultures, therefore, he integrated technical mastery of sculpture and ability as a visual narrator. He also poured this talent into his monuments, which he made in different parts of the country, summoned for various reasons.
Quinquela Martín Museum
With Quinquela, in Santa Fe
In the early 1930s, when he was 41 years old, the sculptor Luis Perlotti made a visit to Santa Fe for the inauguration of the VIII Annual Art Salon. On the occasion, he participated in various social activities, but the most striking thing is that his arrival coincided with that of another of the great artistic creators of his time: the “painter of La Boca”, Benito Quinquela Martín. Together, on July 8, they traveled to Entre Ríos to greet a mutual friend: the governor of that province, Herminio Quirós.
Santa Fe Archive / Castañeda Digital Newspaper Archive
In the edition of the Santa Fe newspaper of July 11, 1931, a review of one of the events in which both leaders participated is preserved. It was a “symposium” improvised by Dr. Rodolfo A. Borzone, “restless spirit and enthusiastic animator of artistic activities.” According to the aforementioned media, it was in honor of Quinquela Martín and Perlotti, “illustrious guests of Santa Fe who have already conquered the heart of the city.”
The Order Archive / Castañeda Digital Newspaper Archive
During the meeting, the owner of the house gave Quinquela “a spatula that belonged to the Inca Atahualpa and Perlotti, a block of granite from the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, which the recipient will use to sculpt for the fiftieth time the bust of Sarmiento”, indicates the newspaper. “Design,” he continues, “enthusiastically welcomed by several former students of the Sarmiento school who started a subscription right there to acquire it and inaugurate it in front of the school, in a small square that will be managed by the Municipality to build it in front of said school, on December 9. July of next year.”
Courtesy Perlotti Museum
Another reference is the one included in El Orden, on Sunday, July 12, 1931. “The sculptor Perlotti, whose name is spread throughout the country, has spent a few days in Santa Fe. As a memory of his visit and the friendship established with us during it, he has left us this photograph, with a dedication that flatters us. He says like this: ‘To the newspaper El Orden, champion of culture in northern Argentina.’”
Perlotti died in 1969 in a car accident in Uruguay, but his vast production can be admired in museums and public spaces.
