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| Rafael Squirru | |
|---|---|
| Name | Rafael Squirru |
| Birth date | 1925 |
| Death date | 2016 |
| Birth place | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Occupation | Art critic, curator, poet, diplomat |
| Nationality | Argentine |
Rafael Squirru was an Argentine art critic, curator, poet, and diplomat notable for his promotion of Latin American modern art and his cultural diplomacy during the 20th century. He engaged with figures across literature, visual arts, and political institutions, shaping critical discourse in Argentina and abroad while publishing poetry and essays that intersected with international artistic movements and regional identity. His career connected him with museums, universities, ministries, and cultural journals across Buenos Aires, New York, Paris, and Mexico City.
Born in Buenos Aires, he grew up amid Argentine cultural scenes linked to Buenos Aires Province, Plaza de Mayo, and the literary circles around Avenida Corrientes. He studied at institutions connected to University of Buenos Aires and attended lectures associated with scholars from Oxford University, Columbia University, and Sorbonne University, while reading critics such as Clement Greenberg, Harold Rosenberg, and poets like Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, and Octavio Paz. Early influences included exhibitions at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Argentina), galleries such as Galería Witcomb, and encounters with artists from movements like Surrealism, Constructivism, and Abstract Expressionism.
He began publishing art criticism in Argentine journals and newspapers connected to La Nación (Buenos Aires), Clarín, and cultural magazines alongside editors from Sur, Revista de Occidente, and Vuelta. Squirru curated exhibitions involving artists tied to Tucumán Arde, Arte Madí, and figures like Xul Solar, Benito Quinquela Martín, Emilio Pettoruti, Antonio Berni, Jorge de la Vega, Luis Filcer, and Rogelio Polesello. He organized shows in venues such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Palais de Chaillot, and private spaces linked to collectors like Peggy Guggenheim and Irene Sharaff. His critical essays addressed debates involving curators and critics including Harold Rosenberg, Clement Greenberg, Michael Fried, Rosalind Krauss, and directors of institutions such as Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum, and Museo Reina Sofía.
As a poet and essayist he published collections resonant with traditions of Modernismo, Symbolism, and the poetics of Surrealism, dialoguing with poets such as Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Vicente Huidobro, and Federico García Lorca. His essays engaged with theoreticians and writers like T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, W.H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, and critics across Latin America and Europe. He contributed to periodicals associated with editors like Victoria Ocampo, Octavio Paz (again), and directors of publishing houses such as Editorial Sudamericana, Fondo de Cultura Económica, and Gallimard.
He served in roles that linked Argentine cultural policy to foreign ministries and international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Organization of American States, United Nations, and bilateral cultural institutes like the Alliance Française and the British Council. In postings involving consulates and embassies he worked with ambassadors and ministers from Argentina, United States Department of State, France, Mexico, and United Kingdom to organize exhibitions and cultural programs alongside institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, and National Endowment for the Arts. His advocacy intersected with intellectuals and politicians including Juan Perón, Arturo Frondizi, Raúl Alfonsín, Jorge Rafael Videla, and cultural ministers tied to national projects.
He promoted Latin American artists and movements in dialogues with museums and curators from New York, Paris, Madrid, Mexico City, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires, contributing to exhibitions related to Bienal de São Paulo, Venice Biennale, Bienal de La Habana, and regional fairs. His networks included collectors and art historians such as Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Wilfredo Lam, Wifredo Lam (again), Tarsila do Amaral, and curators from Museo de Arte Moderno de São Paulo. He championed scholarship engaging historians like Arnold Hauser, Tzvetan Todorov, Walter Benjamin, and sociologists working on cultural policy and identity across Latin America.
His personal circle connected with writers, artists, diplomats, and academics including Jorge Luis Borges (again), Leopoldo Marechal, Silvina Ocampo, Victoria Ocampo (again), Harold Bloom, and curators at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art (New York) (again). His legacy is reflected in collections and archives held in museums such as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Argentina) (again), libraries affiliated with Universidad de Buenos Aires, and cultural centers tied to the Organization of American States (again), influencing successive generations of critics, curators, poets, and diplomats across Argentina, Mexico, Spain, France, and the United States.
Category:Argentine art critics Category:Argentine poets Category:Argentine diplomats