The collection contains letters from the Argentine artist Emilio Pettoruti to the art historian and critic, Julio Payró (1943-1957). One of the 52 letters is to Pettoruti, 3 letters are from Pettoruti's wife. A one page inventory lists Pettoruti's paintings exhibited at the Witcomb Gallery, Buenos Aires, 1924. Four newspaper clippings are reviews of Pettoruti's exhibition at the San Marco gallery in Rome (October 1953). The letters document Pettoruti's Buenos Aires exhibition in 1924, his European exhibitions in the 1950s, and his move to Paris. They reflect in their content the experience of a Latin American artist amidst the European modernism art movement of the time.

Emilio Pettoruti was born in La Plata, Argentina, of Italian parents. In 1913 he went to Italy, where he came in contact with the Italian avantgarde (F. T. Marinetti, and later the group around Giacomo Balla and Giorgio de Chirico). In 1921 he went to Munich and in 1923 was invited to exhibit at Der Sturm gallery in Berlin. He returned home in 1924, opening an exhibit of his work in Buenos Aires at the Witcomb gallery. Pettoruti taught at the university and served as director of the Fine Arts museum in La Plata while continuing to paint. In 1952 he returned to Europe and in 1953 he settled in Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life.

57.0 items (80 leaves)

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