Gallery feature: Spartacus Movement 

​In the mid 50s, Juan Manuel Sanchez (1930), Ricardo Carpani (1930-1996) and Mario Mollari (1930-2010) felt shared feelings of detachment between themselves and Argentina’s art scene, which had become flooded by old European formulas and tropes. In 1956, the three men began exhibiting and working together, united by a common goal of liberating Argentinian arts from colonial grips. Each of the men came from working class families, which instilled them with an implacable sense of duty to transform Argentina’s artistic scene into one that reflected the realities facing the country.

Joined by Esperilio Bute (1931-2003), Carlos Sessano (1931), Juana Elena Diz (the group’s only female member), Pasucal Di Bianco (1930-1978), and Franco Venturi (the only member of the group to disappear in Argentina’s genocide of the 1970s), the group of artists labeled themselves the Spartacus Movement. Reminiscent of Mexican muralists, the Argentinian artists believed that art was a right for all – not a privilege reserved for the bourgeoisie class. Their chosen medium, similar to the Mexicans, was the mural, which served instrumentally as a public channel to broadly communicate the infidelities of the government. For the group, it was paramount to create an authentic Argentinian art movement that would transcend artistic expression, define and empower the Argentinean people, and speak to artistic circles, intellectuals, labor groups, and the public alike. The group sparked modernism in Argentina by creating a truly national style that authentically reflected the grueling struggle and exploitation of Argentina’s working class. The Spartacus Movement labeled this style the New Figuration.
 
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Juan Manuel Sanchez 
El Fin del Mito 
Oil on canvas 
​72x63in

Juana Elena Diz 
Familia 
Oil on canvas 
​39X55in

Carlos Sessano 
Espartaco 
Oil on canvas 
​66X78in

          Mario Mollari
          Mujer y Niño
          Oil on canvas 
​          39X47in