Joaquín Torres-García

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: Episode on Joaquín Torres-García

Hosted by Holly Frey and Tracy V. Wilson | Released on December 16, 2024

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Introduction

In this episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class, Hosts Holly Frey and Tracy V. Wilson delve into the life and legacy of Joaquín Torres-García, a pivotal yet often underappreciated figure in Latin American modern art. They explore his journey from humble beginnings in Uruguay to becoming a proponent of Constructivism in Latin America, highlighting his artistic innovations and enduring influence.

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Early Life and Education (02:28 – 05:50)

Joaquín Torres-García was born on July 28, 1874, in Montevideo, Uruguay, to a Catalan father, Joaquín Torres Fredera, and a Uruguayan mother, Maria Garcia Perez. Growing up in a family where practical vocations like merchandising and carpentry were the norm, Torres-García stood out with his early and profound passion for art. Despite limited formal education, his artistic inclination was evident from a young age.

At 17, the family relocated to the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain, primarily due to financial hardships following the bankruptcy of their bank. Settling in Mataro, the family moved into Torres-García's grandfather's house, providing a supportive environment for the young artist.

Torres-García pursued formal art education at the School of Arts and Trades, excelling in drawing and winning first-place prizes for figure and landscape drawing. At 20, he began studying painting at the San Jordi Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona, taking night classes while also attending the Academia Baizas during the day. However, he found the traditional and conservative approaches of these institutions restrictive, as his personal ideology favored creating new worlds through art rather than replicating reality.

“He believed that art should create new worlds,” Holly Frey notes ([04:40]).

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Artistic Development and Early Career (05:50 – 10:43)

During his formative years in Barcelona, Torres-García immersed himself in the vibrant art scene, joining the Cercle Artistique de Saint Luc—a group known for its pro-Catholic and anti-Modernist stance. Despite the group's conservative leanings, Torres-García's commitment to Modernism began to take shape.

Influenced by Impressionism and artists like Henri Toulouse Lautrec, his first solo exhibition in 1897 at La Vanguardia Espanola showcased his work Garden of the Gallery of Fine Arts, reflecting the Impressionist style. His engagement with the artist community deepened through visits to the iconic El Catra Gat café, a hub for luminaries like Antoni Gaudí and Pablo Picasso.

By the early 20th century, Torres-García's style evolved into modern classicism, culminating in his second solo exhibition in 1900, which received positive acclaim ([09:14]). Concurrently, he began teaching drawing, building his reputation and securing commissions, including illustrations for notable Catalan publications.

“Studying the work of artists like Henri Toulouse Lautrec was very influential,” Holly explains ([07:35]).

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Marriage, Mural Commissions, and Personal Growth (10:43 – 17:58)

In 1909, Torres-García married Marlita Pina, after an eight-year courtship, and soon after, he was commissioned to create agricultural landscapes for the Uruguay Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle et International de Bruxelles. This period marked his foray into large-scale mural work, partnering with renowned architect Antoni Gaudí on stained glass windows for La Sagrada Familia from 1903 to 1907.

His work extended to religious and public buildings, including murals for the Church of San Agostino and the Iglesia della Divina Pastora, although these pieces were later lost during the Spanish Civil War. By 1911, Torres-García had established his own home in Vilasar Damar near Mataro, where he continued to produce art and expand his family, welcoming their daughter Olympia.

“His unique lens reflected the life in Barcelona during tumultuous times,” Hoda Kotb summarizes ([22:36]).

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Embracing Constructivism and International Influence (17:58 – 26:38)

The early 1920s were transformative for Torres-García. His unsuccessful stint in New York exposed him to avant-garde movements and connections with artists like Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, reigniting his passion for modernism. Although his time in New York was financially challenging, it was instrumental in refining his artistic direction.

Returning to Europe in 1922, Torres-García founded the Aladdin Toy Company in Italy, merging his artistic skills with business acumen. His wooden toys, characterized by cubist abstraction, found commercial success, illustrating his ability to blend art with practical applications.

In 1926, encouraged by fellow artists like Charles Legaza, Torres-García moved to Paris, where he co-founded Cirque le Carré ("Circle and Square") with four other artists after being denied entry to the Paris Salon. This group promoted Constructivism, integrating geometric shapes and industrial materials to reflect the modern world.

“Constructivism made use of geometric shapes and materials often used in literal building,” Hoda explains ([30:35]).

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Return to Uruguay and Legacy Building (26:38 – 35:13)

The Great Depression's impact in Europe led Torres-García to relocate to Madrid and eventually return to his homeland in 1934. In Uruguay, he was determined to infuse Latin American art with Constructivist principles, advocating for a universalist approach that respected local traditions and Pre-Columbian influences.

He founded the Uruguay Society of Arts and the School of the South, promoting art that drew inspiration from indigenous cultures while embracing modernist techniques. His seminal work, Monumento Cosmico (1938), exemplified his fusion of geometric abstraction with mystical symbolism and is now housed in the Uruguay National Museum of Visual Arts.

Torres-García also engaged with the Theosophy Society, integrating its philosophical ideals into his art, advocating for a universal brotherhood through his lectures and publications. His efforts were pivotal in shaping the trajectory of Latin American modern art, despite facing resistance from traditionalist factions that favored European-centric art paradigms.

“He was a paradox... the only one who seriously proposed to forget about Europe,” cites Alvaro Medina, an art historian referenced in the episode ([39:21]).

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Final Years and Posthumous Recognition (35:13 – End)

In 1943, Torres-García established the Tes Garcia workshop, focusing on teaching Constructivism and publishing his influential book, Universalismo Constructivo, which encapsulated his lectures and artistic philosophy. His iconic ink sketch, America Invertida (1943), symbolized his vision of repositioning Latin America's cultural identity within the global art scene.

Despite his passing on August 8, 1949, Torres-García's legacy endured through his workshop and the continued influence of his students. Unfortunately, a devastating fire in 1978 at the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art destroyed 90% of its collection, including many of Torres-García's works alongside masterpieces by artists like Salvador Dali and Juan Miró.

Conclusion

Joaquín Torres-García remains a towering figure in the annals of modern art, bridging European avant-garde movements with Latin American cultural identities. His commitment to Constructivism and universalism fostered a unique artistic language that continues to inspire and resonate within the global art community.

“Torres-García is a paradox... he was the champion of universalism and relentlessly criticized nativism,” Hoda concludes, encapsulating the complex legacy of an artist who sought to unify diverse artistic traditions into a cohesive and forward-looking vision ([39:21]).

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Notable Quotes

• “He believed that art should create new worlds.” — Hoda Kotb ([04:40])
• “Studying the work of artists like Henri Toulouse Lautrec was very influential.” — Holly Frey ([07:35])
• “Constructivism made use of geometric shapes and materials often used in literal building.” — Hoda Kotb ([30:35])
• “He was a paradox... the only one who seriously proposed to forget about Europe.” — Alvaro Medina ([39:21])

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of Joaquín Torres-García's life, highlighting his artistic innovations, educational endeavors, and the lasting impact he had on Latin American modern art. For listeners seeking a deeper understanding of influential but lesser-known historical figures, this episode provides both rich detail and engaging storytelling.

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Note: The episode also includes heartfelt listener interactions and acknowledges the loss of many of Torres-García's works to archival disasters, underscoring the fragility and enduring importance of preserving cultural heritage.

Transcript

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[Hoda Kotb]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast.

[Holly Frey]

I'm Holly Frey and I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Hoda Kotb]

I started this episode planning to talk about a different artist before I realized I was bottoming out on sources that I could read.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, sure.

[Hoda Kotb]

Which happens. So I knew that I wanted to do a Latin American artist, and if not my original choice than somebody else. And then I remembered this dude who we actually brushed up against his work in Barcelona, even though he is not originally from Barcelona and he is a super influential figure, even if he isn't really super well known in North America outside of art circles. His story is also kind of interesting because there's a fun and unexpected toy foray in it. And as I was researching this artist, Joaquin Torres Garcia, connections to other episodes that we've done just started popping up all over the place, including one person who just seems to jump scare in all kinds of places that I don't expect it.

[Holly Frey]

I like your description of this as a jump scare.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's just like. And by the way, here she is again. Yep.

[Holly Frey]

So Joaquin Torres Garcia was born July 28, 1874, in Montevideo, Uruguay, which you can pronounce at least five different ways according to Miriam Webster's Dictionary. His father, Joaquin Torres Fredera, was Catalan, and his mother, Maria Garcia Perez, was Uruguayan. The family which included the younger Joaquin's brother Gaspar and his sister Inez, they lived outside the city center. His father was a merchant there with a store in the Plaza de la Carretas, and Joaquin spent a lot of time there at the store. In terms of formal education, it seems like there was little to none. But from a very early age, young Joaquin was really drawn to art. This made him an outlier in the family, where everyone else seemed like they had much more practical vocations, like running shops or working as carpenters.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, his mother's side of the family in particular had a lot of carpenters in it. When Joaquin was 17, the family made a big move from Uruguay to just north of Barcelona, Spain. And then this may have been the result, at least in part, of Joaquin begging his father to do so. But in addition to the teenager's desires, the family had a very real need to make a new start. The bank that Joaquin Torres Fra did business with declared bankruptcy and left the family business with nothing. So they boarded a steamer called chitta Dapoli on June 8 and headed to Mataro, which is a little more than 30 kilometers northeast of Barcelona along the Spanish coastline. The family moved into an area of town where his father's family had lived for generations. And they actually moved into Torres Garcia's.

[Holly Frey]

Grandfather'S House Joaquin started courses at the School of Arts and Trades, which he attended for a year. He did very well in his drawing courses in particular, and won a first place prize for figure and landscape drawing. The family moved to Barcelona not long after he finished his first year there.

[Hoda Kotb]

At the age of 20, Torres Garcia started formally studying painting at the San Jordi Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona. His classes were mostly at night, so he also enrolled at the Academia Baizas, which was another private art school, and he took classes there during the day. This is a little confusing to me, because when I looked up Academia Baizas, it's often described as being like a preparatory school for people to get into the Fine Arts School of Barcelona. But also some people note that it has a. A more impressive reputation than a fine art school. So I'm not sure what the scoop is there, just so you know. But here's the thing. The fine arts schools of the city actually became a place of strife for Torres Garcia. Artistically, he really did not care for the traditional and conservative style that the Academy in particular focused on. He found it just restrictive and frustrating. He was not interested at all in art that sought to replicate the real world. His personal ideology was that art should create new worlds. This is something that will carry through his entire life. He also joined the art society known as the Cercle Artistique de Saint Luc, which had been founded in the city in 1893. And this group, which was known for a very pro Catholic and anti Modernism stance, seems like a pretty odd place for Torres Garcia because he would eventually go all in on Modernism simultaneously to make money for himself. After finishing art school, he also worked in an area that seems counter to where he would end up. He worked as an illustrator for a while, working at Barcelona Comica and La Seta, which was a magazine about the theater scene of the city.

[Holly Frey]

Torres Garcia became really enamored with Impressionism during this stage of his life, and studying the work of artists like Henri Toulouse Lautrec was very influential. In 1897, he had his first solo exhibition showing in the exhibition space of one of the city's newspapers, La Vanguardia Espanola. That year, he painted a work titled Garden of the Gallery of Fine Arts. And his rendition of wealthy patrons milling about the space reflected the influence that Impressionism had on him during this time.

[Hoda Kotb]

In June 1897, a cafe called El Catra Gat the Four Cats, opened in Barcelona, run by entrepreneur, entrepreneur Per Romeo, who had previously worked at La Chat Noir in Paris and wanted to develop a space like it in Barcelona, and this cafe became a haven for the artists of the city, and a number of now famous figures of the art world gathered there, including Antoni Gaudi, Pablo Picasso, and Joaquin Torres Garcia. El Catra Ghat had its own magazine and the artists of the day contributed to it. Through this gathering place, Torres Garcia would become connected to many artists, some of whom would become future collaborators. Also, incidentally, that cafe is still open and you can still visit it, so if you want to get some art history in while you're visiting Spain, go for it. Torres Garcia was also in the circle of artists who would routinely meet at the studio of sculptor and painter Julio Gonzalez, who became known for his unique modernist metalwork.

[Holly Frey]

The early 20th century was a time of significant growth and change, both good and bad, for the artist. By the time he was in his mid-20s, Joaquin was dabbling in modern classicism, which dominated the work that Torres Garcia painted up until his 40s. He had his second solo exhibit in the same gallery space as his first in 1900, where this influence was really starting to show. That exhibit was very well reviewed and it's considered his first significant success as an artist. In 1901, he started giving drawing lessons, capitalizing on the reputation that he was building in the city. Among his clients was a pair of sisters, Carolina and Marlita Pina. Joaquin and Marolita fell in love, but as that relationship was just beginning, Joaquin's father died and he was grieving.

[Hoda Kotb]

But his success continued. One of his landscapes, a painting called Fountain of Youth, was featured on the COVID of the magazine Pel en Ploma, a journal dedicated to arts and literature in Catalan culture. The Balearic poet Juan Alcoveri Manspons also asked Torres Garcia to illustrate the book of poems that he published that year that was titled Meteoros. Catalan author Narcisse Olle also had Joaquin illustrate his book La Bofetada that same year. So he was getting all of these commissions while simultaneously preparing another solo exhibition.

[Holly Frey]

In just a moment, we'll get to a project that Torres Garcia undertook with a name that'll be familiar to longtime podcast listeners. First, though, we will pause for a sponsor break.

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[Hoda Kotb]

1903, Torres Garcia worked with another podcast subject who we mentioned briefly earlier, and that is Antony Gaudi. Gaudi had been working as chief architect on La sagrada familia since 1883, and at the beginning of the 20th century, he and Torres Garcia collaborated on stained glass windows for the structure that project. The collaboration between the two of them, not Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction, although in the final stretch to completion. But the project with the two men lasted for four years, from 1903 to 1907, and during that same time, Torres Garcia was also working on stained glass window design for another church, the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca.

[Holly Frey]

It was also in 1903 that Joaquin started to put his ideas about art out into the world through writing his first article titled Augusta e Augusta was a treatise on his belief that true art should not copy reality. This was the first of many, many essays, books and articles that he would produce on art theory in his life, which is why he's often labeled as a theorist in addition to an artist.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, just hundreds of things that he published. Torres Garcia also found work as a muralist, and he was commissioned to create mural paintings for public and private spaces, from homes to churches and also secular public buildings. His work on fresco murals was something that really appealed to him because of its connection with Old world art. In 1904, he was commissioned to create six large murals for the Church of San Agostino and several for the Iglesia della Divina Pastora. He completed the work in 1908, but those works are all unfortunately lost today. The Church of San Agustino burned in 1936 and the works in the Divinia Pastora were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. But in his time, Torres Garcia was kept really busy with these and many other mural commissions. In addition to the religious commissions, he was asked to decorate the office of the Barcelona City Council Finance Officer as well as other private homes throughout the city.

[Holly Frey]

In 1909, Joaquin and Menolita were married after an eight year courtship. Not long after the marriage, he was called to Brussels for a commission and he lived there for almost half a year. This commission was for the Exposition Universelle et International de Bruxelles, and Torres Garcia created agricultural landscapes for the Uruguay Pavilion.

[Hoda Kotb]

While he was in Brussels, he started to work on a book project that was simply titled Bruxelles 1910. It featured watercolor and ink pieces that captured the scenes of Paris and Brussels as he had seen them. That's because after finishing up his work in Brussels, he had gone to Paris before he returned home. And the style of art in this book was also the basis for his next exhibition, which was mounted in Barcelona.

[Holly Frey]

When he returned home, Joaquin and Merolita set up a home in Vilasar Damar, which is near Mataro, where his father's family was from. On April 3, 1911, the couple welcomed a daughter near named Olympia.

[Hoda Kotb]

Torres Garcia had grown notable enough that he soon had another lucrative government contract. The Palau de la Generalitat, a gorgeous palace dating back to the 1400s, needed some renovation and restoration for its new use as the seat of the Provincial Council of Barcelona. And Joaquin was selected to work on the project by creating several murals. This was an important collaborative project, and to prepare for the murals that he was to paint, Torres Garcia traveled to Italy to study fresco work there, sketching ideas as he made his journey. There were plans for six frescoes in total, although only four ended up being painted.

[Holly Frey]

As 1913 progressed, he became fascinated with Mediterranean art and the idea that traditional arts and crafts should be recognized and incorporated into modern contexts. With that in mind, he founded the Saria School of Decoration and started teaching both theory and hands on art. During this time he was continuing to work on his fresco for the Council building. Joaquin and Menolita also had their second child in 1913. Their son Augusto was born on June 19th. As Torres Garcia was working on his mural plans and welcoming a new child, he was also preparing and publishing his first book of notes on art. This marked a moment where he was diverging from the artistic ideologies of some of his friends and supporters as the concepts that he talked about. Creating a new identity for Catalan art by using imagery from the past was not really well received by everyone, no.

[Hoda Kotb]

And that played through in the reveal of his murals, because in September, Torres Garcia's murals for the Palau de la Generalitat were finally unveiled and the response to them was very, very mixed. Those four murals are titled Catalunya Eternal, the Golden Age, the Muses and the Temporal is nothing but a symbol. The room that houses these murals, incidentally is now named after the artist. But these murals use imagery and symbology from classic Greek art as stand ins for Catalonian peoples and concepts to create a new unique Catalonian classicism. And arguments about the value of this new style that Torres Garcia had developed or its perceived lack of value played out in the press for weeks. But two years later, a stained glass window that he designed for the building was also installed. So even if not everyone liked his work, they kept hiring him.

[Holly Frey]

Torres Garcia had decided that he also wanted to paint some large scale murals for himself, himself. And once the Palau project was wrapped up, he started several at Mon Repose, which was a farmhouse that had been home to an art school called Monor that Joaquin had led after it was founded by his friend Juan Palau Vera. The school had originally been in Saria, but Torres Garcia had moved it to Terraza, just north of Barcelona. When the school closed due to bankruptcy, he decided to stay on the property and make it his home. When the interior decor work had been completed, he moved in with his family and had a large housewarming to show off the home and the work. At the end of 1915, he and his wife welcomed their third child and second daughter, Iphigenia. That was on December 10th. Throughout the nineteen teens, Torres Garcia continued to publish books and articles about art.

[Hoda Kotb]

In 1917, Spain went through a great deal of upheaval. During World War I. The country had remained neutral, but it had its own problems. There were a variety of economic issues happening at once, and workers movements, encouraged by the uprising happening in Russia, felt a sense of empowerment and strikes were looming. Meanwhile, there was also political tension, as factions wanted a variety of different things, including autonomy for Catalonia and reformation, or even an end to the monarchy. There was also a growing gap between the rich and poor. So on a social level, there was a lot of disparity, and the military was in a state of upheaval at its highest levels. This period is very complex. It's come up on the show before, and we could probably do an entire series on it. But for the purposes of today's topic, the important takeaway is that this was a time of uncertainty and there was an atmosphere in the air of danger.

[Holly Frey]

As the Spanish crisis of 1917 was playing out. It naturally impacted and influenced Torres Garcia. His paintings offer reflections of what life was like in Barcelona at the time. Through his unique lens, his work Barcelona street scene, painted in 1917, shows the world of the busy city in a cubism influenced, flattened manner, giving viewers a sense of disconnectedness and a city that seems simultaneously busy, but also not quite alive. After the Catalonian president, Enrique Prat de la Riba, died In August of 1917, Torres Garcia canceled all of his existing government contracts without those lucrative contracts, he.

[Hoda Kotb]

Found himself with both time on his hands and also a need for money. So he started branching out into different fields. One of the areas he started to explore was making wooden toys, and these were initially to be used as teaching tools. He used them to show students how simple pieces and shapes could be combined to create more complex works. Although his toy making would eventually become a business on his own. Also to start making money, he once again started giving private art lessons.

[Holly Frey]

In 1920, Torres Garcia decided to travel to the United States. After a brief trip with the family to to Paris, he spent the next two years in New York and made connections with a lot of prominent artists of the time, including Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. But while he was very much in the art scene, he wasn't able to generate any actual income, and that was obviously not a tenable situation. So he left New York for Europe once again. Although he hadn't made any money, he was more interested in modernism than ever, and it became the prevalent influence on his work from that point on.

[Hoda Kotb]

In 1922, when he returned to Europe, he didn't go back to Barcelona, and he never did. He went instead to Italy, and there he founded the Aladdin Toy Company. He actually started to do a decent bit of business in the toy space, and he was taking orders from big department stores, many of them in other countries in some cases. And his toys are interesting because they look a lot like his other art. The forms they represent are slightly abstracted and even cubist. For example, wooden figures made to look sort of like men feature very squared faces, and their arms are not separated from their body. They're cut as one continuous piece of wood, and they're only delineated, for example, by a small stripe of paint that hints at a cuff sitting above the hand. So he was finding some business success with this toy work. On the family front, he and Manolito welcomed their fourth child, Horatio, while they were living in Italy in 1924. But he wasn't painting. And it wasn't until US artist Charles Legaza, who was in Europe and planning a group exhibition in Paris, encouraged him to pick up his brush again that Torres Garcia once again started painting.

[Holly Frey]

That exhibition went very well, and the positive reception led to a move to Paris in 1926. Like many artists we have talked about on the show in the past, Torres Garcia applied to be included in the Paris Salon, but he was denied entry. So in 1928, he and four other artists mounted their own show titled Five Artists Refused by the Jury. Of the Autumn Salon. This was a movement in Paris where a lot of artists came out in solidarity, and as a consequence, Joaquin found himself with a fresh circle of friends. Together, he and several others formed a group known as Cirque le Carre or Circle and Square. Cercle Ecare had its own magazine, and as an organization it promoted constructivism as an art movement.

[Hoda Kotb]

And coming up, we will talk more about constructivism and how Torres Garcia implemented it in his work. But first we will hear from the sponsors that keep the show going.

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[Unknown Speaker]

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[Hoda Kotb]

Became very important to Torres Garcia in the 1920s. So the movement of constructivism in art makes use of geometric shapes and materials, often used in literal building, construction or other industrial pursuits, to create the finished work. And this movement began in Russia in 1917, and it embraced this spare, abstract aesthetic that's intended to mirror the modern world. This interest on Torres Garcia's part makes sense because it ties together the work that he was doing with toys into the more abstract work of art. Many of Torres Garcia's most famous paintings of his constructivist period feature what is essentially a loose grid structure, with each section of that grid filled in with different images, almost like a modernist painting of a shadow box or a curio cabinet.

[Holly Frey]

Just as it seemed as though Torres Garcia had really hit a stride and found a supportive and invigorating group of colleagues, Paris hit an economic wall in 1932, of course, along with a lot of the rest of the world, because the Great Depression had finally made its way to Europe, and in France's capital, that meant unemployment soared, tourism really evaporated, and factories shut down. As the financial collapse played out, Torres Garcia took his family to Madrid. He and several of the artists from his group show in Paris got another group together called Grupo Constructivo, and even published several guides on art But Madrid really didn't keep Joaquin's attention. He started to think about South America. In 1934, he left Europe behind for good, bringing Madolita and the children to his home country of Uruguay.

[Hoda Kotb]

After living in Europe for more than 40 years, Joaquin Torres Garcia returned to Montevideo. And this time he had a very specific goal. He wanted to bring Constructivism and Modernism to Latin America. He believed and taught that modern art, and specifically the Constructivist universalist movement, offered the world a chance to see things that were not bound by the rules of classic aestheticism. And so those pieces of art would enable them to access a deeper understanding of the world and life as they sought to understand the art. This was a case where he really walked the walk in terms of wanting to promote his ideas. He went on radio shows to talk about them, and he wrote articles about them, and he gave lectures and he edited art journals, and he basically did everything he could to promote modernism.

[Holly Frey]

He continued to make new avenues to share his ideas about art. As part of his vision for bringing all of the arts together and bridging communication between the art world and the public, he formed the Uruguay Society of Arts. He started organizing group exhibits that showcased a wide range of Uruguayan artists and also included foreign visitors to the country. From time to time, he also started showing his work alongside that of his son Augusto. All of the Torres Garcia children were artistic, and three of them went on to be artists in their own right. He became an honorary member of the faculty at the Montevideo School of Architecture in 1934. He also formed a workshop called School of the south, which encouraged artists to focus on their local inspirations instead of aspiring to anything going on in Europe.

[Hoda Kotb]

As part of his effort to teach his art theory, he founded the association of constructivist art in 1935. Pre Columbian art had started to really influence Torres Garcia's work in the 1930s, and it informed the way that he viewed modernism. He used the association of Constructivist Art to share information and ideas about the future of art and how modernism should be part of Latin American art, and that Latin America, with all of its history, should have a voice and its own influence on the modernist movement.

[Holly Frey]

This mode of thinking was not well received by everyone, though. A lot of the art scene in Uruguay was still very devoted to the idea that the European art establishment was superior to all the others, and all this rhetoric about shaking everything up seemed extremist. Torres Garcia soon came to be viewed as a firebrand of the art world. He formed a Latin American version of Circle and Square, with the motto of the group and its publication being total intransigence against naturalism.

[Hoda Kotb]

In 1938, he created a work of sculpture called Monumento Cosmico. It's a very famous work of art, and it's a fascinating sculpture because it looks very, very much like a giant version of one of his paintings. The grid is in play. This work is essentially a giant slab of pink granite. It's 300 by 560 by 45 centimeters or 118 by 220 by 18 inches. And it features the uneven grid pattern that he used in many of his paintings, particularly when he was in Paris. And there's a symbol or image occupying each space. This well known work is part of the collection of the Uruguay National Museum of Visual Arts, and it remains on display in the garden there. And some of these symbols are somewhat mystical in nature, and that ties to a person who seems to pop up on the show even in places we do not expect, and that is Madame Blavatsky. I just feel like she's everywhere. Torres Garcia had joined the Theosophy Society in the early 1930s, and he was drawn to its mystic visuals and the idea of a universal brotherhood that the ideology of Theosophy preached. And that falls very much in line with his efforts to unify the art world in various ways. So it's not entirely surprising that he would align with it. Torres Garcia even gave a lecture at the Theosophy Society discussing geometry and proportion. But that is but one of roughly 600 lectures that he gave after moving back to Uruguay. So it's unclear if he was super active in the organization, or it was just one of the many influences that he incorporated into his work.

[Holly Frey]

In 1943, he opened a workshop called Tes Garcia, which focused on teaching constructivism in its curriculum. Shortly after founding this group, he published a book titled Universalismo Constructivo, which included a lot of his lectures and was intended to show the way art and culture could be united. The book also featured more than 250 drawings by the author.

[Hoda Kotb]

Also, in 1943, he created one of his most famous works. That's an ink sketch titled America Invertida, and it is, as that title hints, a crude map of South America rendered upside down. A large S sits at the top of the piece, replacing the idea of north as the most important direction. And this too, falls very much in line with his School of the south ideology, of which he wrote, quote, I have called this the school of the south, because in reality, our north is the South. There must not be north for us, except in opposition to our south. Therefore, we now turn the map upside down, and then we have a true idea of our position and not as the rest of the world wishes. The point of America from now on forever insistently points to the south, our North.

[Holly Frey]

In 1948, Torres Garcia had a new home built at 5612 Karamuru street in Montevideo. He and the family moved into the home in 1949, but Joaquin did not get to enjoy it for long. He died on August. August 8th of 1949.

[Hoda Kotb]

After his death, his workshop school continued for more than a decade, run by his students and supporters, and magazines continued to be published by the organization. And it was incredibly influential in the world of Latin American modern art before it shuttered in the 1960s.

[Holly Frey]

In a tragic turn of events, many of Torres Garcia's works were destroyed in a fire. In 1978, a comprehensive retrospective exhibit had been mounted at the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art, and The museum lost 90% of its total collection in the blaze. In addition to the work of Torres Garcia, there were pieces by Paul Klee, Rene Magritte, Juan Miro, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali were also lost.

[Hoda Kotb]

Joaquin Torres Garcia can be difficult to succinctly summarize because he had so many ideas that had at their center this sort of push and pull of old and new concepts that might seem at odds, but which he sought to unify. And I found the best articulation of this quality in my research in the writing of Alvaro Medina, who wrote about him for Art Nexus writing quote, Joaquin Torres Garcia is a paradox. He is one of the Latin American painters who spent the most time in Europe and the only one who seriously proposed to forget about Europe. But he was never a partisan of nationalist art and never practiced such art. Unlike the Mexican muralists, who in a sense were his contemporaries. The Uruguayan painter was the champion of universalism and relentlessly criticized nativism. He criticized it and at the same time theorized and practiced in his own manner and imposed among his disciples in his own studio and art based on the geometric principles of architecture, sculpture, painting, ceramics, goldwork, and the textiles of the aboriginal peoples of America. That is Joaquin Torres Garcia, who I wish. Oh, how I wish we had more of his work that we could still look at. Yeah, but because that fire happened before, a lot of things were captured digitally. Some things we only have descriptions of and we will not see them if we didn't live at a time when they were visible, which is a pity. I have more orange tabby email.

[Holly Frey]

Yay.

[Hoda Kotb]

This is from our listener, Rosemary, and it's titled My Stoic Orange Tabby. Rosemary writes, hi Holly and Tracy. I love the podcast and have been listening to it for many years. History was always one of my favorite subjects in school, so I'm happy to be continuously expanding my knowledge. The podcast has even taught me things about my hometown of Los Angeles that I never knew about. In one of your episodes, I heard the call to find an intelligent orange tabby. Well, I present to you Rusty, my female orange, Tuxy. She was my first cat. We adopted her when she was six from a nearby shelter. It took her three years to trust us, but after that she was the sweetest girl. She knew when to cuddle if we were sick. She was always very calm and she would say bless you if you sneeze. She had her silly moments, but I think most cats do. She lived to the age of 21 and I still miss her every day. Thank you for all the knowledge. Okay, Rusty is so cute. I am loving all of the smart orange cat email, by the way. Keep it coming. It delights me. As I've said, I'm kind of in a orange cats on my wish list for the future phase, so I don't care if I get a Ding dong or a smart one though. I just want kitties. She's so cute though. And she has those big what's called the classic tabby swirls. You know how the the striping like the multiple stripes is called like a modern tabby and the big swirly swirlies that almost look like targets is actually what's called a classic tabby. And she is very cute and I'm so glad that she gave you so many years of delight and love and comfort and bless use. If you would like to share your cats with us or anything else that's on your mind, you can do so at history podcast at iHeartRadio. You can also subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows.

[Holly Frey]

Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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[Hoda Kotb]

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