José María Arguedas

Baldomero Pestana is one of the pioneers of contemporary Peruvian photography. Coming from Argentina midway through the 1950’s, this Spanish artist settled in Lima, where he built up an outstanding activity as a graphic reporter. But without doubt, even more important is his work as a portraitist. Pestana left the emblematic physical descriptions of the principal artists and intellectuals of the time. In this picture, he portrays the writer José María Arguedas (1911-1969), whose bilingual work deals with the tensions and inequalities of a multicultural country like Peru. The subtle formal resources of the photographer are used as a profound introspection of the personality of the subject. Using an austere composition that emphasizes the melancholic pose of the subject, Pestana appears to understand the complex character of Arguedas, who committed suicide a few years later. (RK)