The People’s Song

Upon returning to Argentina from Europe, where he lived from 1924 to 1930, Pettoruti communicated and advocated modern art in the local milieu. He not only produced and exhibited modern works, but also wrote articles and gave lectures in cities and provinces around the country. His 1924 exhibition at Witcomb gallery unleashed scandal; the audience and press were split between those who embraced and those who repudiated his innovative work. "La canción del pueblo" picks up the series of images of musicians the painter had begun in 1920. Here, he depicts a trio—a guitar player, a bandoneon player, and a singer, along with their instruments and scores, in mid-performance—against a clearly urban background. The figures are rendered largely with geometric shapes and flat colors, though there are some uneven curved lines typical of synthetic cubism, which privileged the harmonious organization of forms over the fragmentation of space-time relationships. The work was reproduced in August 1927 in issue 44/45 of the avant-garde magazine "Martín Fierro".