The work “Manifestacón” by Antonio Berni.Fernando Bruno (MALBA)
The signs were visible: a man’s raised fist in the center of the painting and a woman’s clenched hand in the lower left corner of the painting. The interpretations of experts who have studied the painting Manifestation by Antonio Berni have so far pointed out that the first fist symbolizes the strength of the working mass that the Argentine artist painted, while the second part of “strange little compositional problems” is the work. However, a series of analyzes raised the possibility that these closed hands are actually there to hold a large white sign that the creator painted and ultimately hidden under more layers of paint.
The painting, a key work of political and social art in Argentina, has always been analyzed with a historical approach. It was created after Berni’s return from Paris and is one of his emblematic paintings of New Realism. In the foreground you can see the tortured faces of workers demonstrating en masse. Studies such as those now carried out by experts from the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (Malba) and the University of San Martín had not been applied to this work. The analyzes culminated in 2022 and in August Malba launched an online multimedia project, Manifestation in Focus, to disseminate the results obtained after analyzing the material aspects of the work using different techniques.
Notes from researchers on a print of “Manifestación.” Fernando Bruno (MALBA)
For example, the specialists wanted to know which pigments and binders Berni used. It was always assumed that the artist emulsified his pigments with eggs, but analysis suggested that he may have done so with animal glue. They also wondered what his working methodology was, and discovered that in the case of Manifestation, Berni first painted a white base, then drew directly onto the canvas with charcoal, and finally began adding layers of color. They found no sketch of the work, but were able to identify some of the few changes the artist made during execution.
“We thought we had seen all the changes that were coming until this big discovery appeared,” Valeria Intrieri, responsible for managing the Malba collections, tells EL PAÍS. The banner, he says, was a “surprise” that came about thanks to an X-ray. “He presented it as a very large poster that runs through a large portion of the work. There were some hints,” Intrieri says, referring to the fists of these two characters, whose hands are closed without holding anything in the final work. “When we look at it now, it was clear that there had to be something there,” he emphasizes. “What we couldn’t find was an inscription,” he says.
Detail of the work of Antonio Berni.Fernando Bruno (MALBA)
Hypothesis about a slogan
Malba investigators still wonder whether there was a message on the banner. Although current technology does not show that there was one, it does not rule out that in the future the equipment will allow us to see details that are not visible now. The work, in its final version, has a single legible slogan demanding “bread and work” and two blurred banners in the background of the work. After the 1929 crisis, unemployment and mobilizations were widespread worldwide.
The art historian Roberto Amigo, one of the greatest experts on Berni’s work, does not believe that there is any text by the artist on the poster proposed in the original composition. However, he hypothesizes about what the slogan could have said. “One possibility is that the banner represents an opposition to the Eucharistic Congress, which is at the center of the discussion at this moment,” indicates the researcher. But Amigo prefers to believe that the message could be related to the post-war hunger marches.
Two researchers analyze “Manifestation” by Antonio Berni.Fernando Bruno (MALBA)
“The clues give us very general messages, such as the demand for work and bread or the call for a general strike,” explains the historian, ruling out other options. “I don’t think it was a flag with direct reference to the Argentine Communist Party, because at that time the party itself was self-critical of its failure to conquer the proletariat,” says Amigo. He then continues: “We cannot see that he was pointing to a class alliance in the fight against fascism because that was not the party’s position in 1934.”
The historian points out that Berni’s decision to remove the sign was “very early.” With the banner, he says, “the compositional reading would have been different.” “The banner would have destroyed the perspective of the work, alleviated the helplessness of these faces and determined a reading,” he explains. Friend believes that Berni deleted it “because any message placed there was extremely temporary”: “Not knowing what message or slogan the banner might carry is the reason the painting has its impact at different times. “