José Venturelli’s Revolutionary Art: Murals and Prints in Chile, China, East Germany, and Cuba, 1938–1964

Politically-committed Chilean artist José Venturelli Eade (1924–1988) developed his transpacific artistic practice between Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. This dissertation follows his largely unknown trajectory during his years as a communist militant artist, from 1938 to 1964. It focuses on the prints and murals he created, exhibited, and reproduced in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, East Germany, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Soviet Union, and Cuba. It argues that by 1964 Venturelli was a global modern artist working outside the market- dominated artistic centers of Western Europe and the United Sates. Instead, he operated within pro-communist and socialist international networks and his artistic and political activities contributed to the insertion of Latin America in the early shaping of the political project later known as the Third World. From an early age in Chile, he was part of the Latin American anti- fascist and communist intelligentsia, becoming acclaimed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s closest visual artist collaborator and befriending Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. After traveling aboard and establishing his identity as a Latin American muralist aligned with modern Mexican muralism, Venturelli traveled to Europe, where he joined the World Peace Council (WPC) in East Berlin in 1951. Shortly, thereafter, he moved to Beijing as a Permanent Guest and WPC Latin American Delegate. Venturelli’s art was transformed by his contact with Chinese artistic traditions, and he became the main cultural liaison between the PRC and Latin America. He continued to strengthen these South-South connections—including cross-promoting Chinese and Latin American art transnationally —when he relocated to Havana in the early 1960s. Here, he collaborated with Cuba’s new revolutionary government and received large-scale mural commissions that extolled the Sierra Maestra guerrilla leaders and Latin American Revolutions, promoted the International Solidarity movement, and emphasized socialist and ecological concerns. Highlighting the impact of the Sino-Soviet Split in Latin America, especially in the arts, Venturelli was expelled from the Chilean Communist Party in 1964 and was forced to depart Cuba due to his strong connection with the PRC, driving him to find other means to continue his artistic and political interventions internationally. Title Page Committee Page Abstract Table of Contents Preface 1.0 Introduction 1.1 A Globetrotting Revolutionary Artist 1.2 Venturelli’s Political and Artistic Education 1.3 Modern Art Outside and Against Capitalism 1.4 Global Routes for Revolutionary Art 1.5 State of the Field 1.6 Overview of Dissertation 2.0 Chapter One: América, I Do Not Invoke Your Name in Vain: Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, 1938–1950 2.1 Brief Overview of Chile in the 1940s 2.2 Venturelli’s First Artistic Activities 2.3 Early Travels in Chile 2.4 First Mural Experiences: Siqueiros in Chile and the Alianza Headquarters Mural 2.5 Venturelli’s First Published Illustrations 2.6 First International Experience and Exhibitions in Brazil, 1944–46 2.7 28 de enero Illustrations in El Siglo, 1946 2.8 Venturelli and Neruda’s Book 28 de enero 2.9 Alturas de Macchu Picchu, 1948 2.10 Political Crisis: The Persecution of Neruda and the Outlawing of the Communist 2.11 The Clandestine Chilean Edition of Canto General 2.12 Canto General and the Mexican Muralists 2.13 Venturelli in Mexico, and América no invoco tu nombre en vano in Santiago, 1950 2.14 Conclusion 3.0 Chapter 2: A Global Peace Fighter: Paris, East Berlin, and Beijing, 1951-1958 3.1 Origins of the World Peace Council (WPC) in Europe 3.2 The Peace Movement in Latin America in 1949 3.3 1951 in Europe: The 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin, the World Peace Council in Vienna, Italy, and the Paris Antibiennial 3.4 First Trip to China: Prints in the Mass Media, 1952 3.5 Peace Flags Mural in Beijing, 1952 3.6 Beijing’s 1952 Peace Conference of the Asia-Pacific Region Conference and the Latin American Delegations 3.7 Chinese Artists Depict the International Peace Movement 3.8 Venturelli Between China and Latin America, 1953–1955 4.0 Chapter Three: Revolution, Solidarity, and Split: Havana and Beijing, 1959–1964 4.1 Reports from Cuba and Latin America 4.2 Connecting Revolutionary Cuba with the PRC: Exhibitions of Cuban Prints and Photographs in Beijing 4.3 Return to Latin America and Mural in Tomé Industrial Textile School 4.4 Muralism in Cuba from the 1930s to the Early 1960s 4.5 The mural Camilo Cienfuegos 4.6 Camilo Cienfuegos in Beijing 4.7 Exhibiting Camilo Cienfuegos in Beijing 4.8 Solidaridad at the Hotel Habana Libre 4.9 The End of Venturelli’s Career as a Communist Artist 5.0 Conclusion Appendix List of Figures Bibliography