First Group Show and Journey to France, 1961–1962
In chapter 2, Frank considers the group's first show, its critical reception, and the artists’ journey to France shortly after the show closed. He compares Nueva Figuración with European engaged styles of figural painting, such as Un art autre, which influenced the group, at first, to name itself “Otra Figuración.” Discussing the political and sociocultural context of Nueva Figuración, Frank closely examines Ernesto Deira's artistic response to anti-Semitism and the trial of Nazi fugitive Adolph Eichmann and goes on to consider Rómulo Macció's response to the State of Siege in his painting Cárcel = Hombre (Prison = Man). He then compares the politically engaged New Figurationists with other contemporaneous Argentine artists, such as Emilio Renart and Ruben Santantonín, whose works make little reference to contemporary life and with Antonio Berni, whose social references are more explicit than those of Nueva Figuración. The chapter closes on discussion of how the group's trip to Paris pushed their styles toward greater expressive freedom.