the display “Yente – Del Prete. blissful life”, on Malbatraces a path between art and the life of Yente (Eugenia Crenovich, Buenos Aires, 1905-1990) and Juan Del Prete (Vasto, Italy, 1897-Buenos Aires, 1987), central artists of contemporary art from Argentina, who shared everyday life and artistic interests for more than fifty years.
The origins
Painter, illustrator and essayist, Yente descends from Jewish immigrants from some corner of the Russian empire. He studied Philosophy and Letters at the UBA, where in 1932 he illustrated poems in the Student Center magazine. He frequents the workshop of the Uruguayan Vicente Puig, affirms his vocation in Academy of Fine Arts Santiago de Chile and becomes familiar with post cubism. He first exhibited figurative drawings at the Friends of Art Association in 1935; year he meets Del Prete, of whom she was a disciple and with whom she married two years later. Yente did not completely abandon figuration, as can be seen in the tribute to her paternal grandfather and grandmother: “Portrait-memory number 9 (La Bobe)”, 1973. Yente was the first artist to use abstract language in the country from 1937.
self taught artist, Del Prete emigrated from Italy as a child. The family settles in Mouth, where over the years he became interested in the works of the painters of the area. In 1925 he appears at the National Hall and the following year he performs his first solo show at the Friends of Art Association; Through this institution he obtains a scholarship and travels to Paris where he knows both the works of the classics and those of the avant-garde. In 1933, he joined the group “Abstraction Creation Art non Figuratif”, together with a group of European abstract artists. That same year he returns to Buenos Aires and presents abstract paintings and collages at Amigos del Arte; he leans into figuration from time to time as seen in the loving “Portrait of Yente” (1943). He was the first to hold an abstract art exhibition in Argentina, in 1933, becoming a leading figure in 20th century art.
The sample
Gather a set of 150 pieces with the production of both from the ’30s to the ’80s, in the care of María Amalia García, Chief Curator of Malba; great idea, never exhibited together before. It is organized in two main axes. “The union in abstraction” and “Voracity”. “The transition between figuration and abstraction was a constant in the couple, encompassing different styles (among others, cubism, surrealism, abstraction, expressionism), as well as a marked material experimentation, both with the materials of art (various supports, temperas, inks, oils worked with a brush and spatula; pronounced fillings and drippings) as well as with a very wide range of elements typical of DIY and discarded materials”, points out the curator. “Although in very different ways, they were voracious appropriators of diverse styles, materials and procedures.” Both destroyed part of her first work. Del Prete due to lack of space and Yente to restart.
In the beginning they were accepted only by a small group of people. They were “alone in pairs”, as Juan Del Prete said; of exuberant character and firmness, he also maintained that “we must fight. Have to work. You have to expose.” This was recalled by Liliana Crenovich, the artist’s niece, in charge of the Yente – Del Prete Collection, at the exhibition’s inaugural conference. It is that the response to his early exhibitions unleashes some merciless criticism from critics and the public closed to any innovation. They weren’t going to give him up easily and neither was she.
Although he had 22 individual exhibitions in his lifetime, for historical reasons, Yente was slow to receive recognition. His growing appreciation has translated into the entry of magnificent tapestries into various collections such as those of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2020 and Malba in 2021, exhibited here. “Tapestry” (1958) reflects traits of pre-Hispanic cultures, as does the oil painting “Composition with curves” (1942).
The tour begins with manifest emotion transmitted through painting “Hug” (1937-1944) by Del Prete and in the saga of artist’s books “Venturous life of Onofrio Terra d’Ombra” (1952). This graphic novel narrates milestones in their lives through two alter egos: Del Prete is Onofrio, a tireless and passionate painter; Yente is Fragilina, who ironically describes herself as a “master craftswoman who embroiders by vocation”. Reflective and with a great personality, Yente persisted in her own. She placed herself in the background, took care of Del Prete’s career, accompanied him on his routine and trips, became his archivist. Unmissable encounter between the work of these daring pioneers.
Image gallery
