The Pan‑American Union and the São Paulo Biennial (1955‑67)
Geopolitical Arrangements in Defence of Modern Art
Abstract
The representations of the Pan-American Union in seven editions of the São Paulo Biennial (1955 to 1967) emphasise its geopolitical bias and the plots that governed the choices of artists and works. The initiative was coordinated by José Goméz Sicre, a Cuban living in the United States who was head of the Visual Arts Section of the Pan American Union, linked to the Organisation of American States (OAS), from 1948 to 1976. During the height of his tenure, in the Cold War years (1950/60), Sicre organised ten annual exhibitions of Latin American art (solo and group) at the Pan American Union's headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as promoting the touring of some of these exhibitions throughout the region. At the same time, taking his own ideal of modern Latin American art as a reference, he took the initial steps towards setting up the current Art Museum of the Americas (formerly the Museum of Modern Art of Latin America), incorporating works by the artists he protected. This essay highlights some of the awards won by the artists supported by Sicre and reflect on the impact of their work on the Brazilian and international art scene of the period, to reveal geopolitical plots in defence of modern art.
Presentato: 19 Novembre 2024 | Accettato: 09 Gennaio 2025 | Pubblicato 24 Luglio 2025 | Lingua: en
Keywords José Goméz Sicre • The São Paulo Biennial • Pan-American Union • America • Francisco Matarazzo
Copyright © 2025 Maria de Fátima Morethy Couto. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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