Cuban born independent curator, critic, art historian and consultant Giulio V. Blanc (1955-1995) specialized in Cuban and Latin American art history and in his lifetime collected a wealth of material on the subject. Through his numerous exhibitions and keen articles appearing in national and international art journals, Blanc became a leading authority on Latin American art and successfully established himself as a link between Cuban and Cuban-American artists and US galleries and museums.
Giulio V. Blanc was born in Havana in 1955 to Baron Lodovico Blanc and María V. Blanc. The Blanc name hails from Italy and the title of Baron was awarded to Alberto Blanc, Lodovico Blanc's grandfather, while he was Secretary of State in 1873 under Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. As young advocates of Cuban culture, the Blanc's collected a number of paintings by Cuban artists but were forced to leave behind the works of Cuban masters such as Carlos Enríquez, Victor Manuel, René Portocarrero, Fidelio Ponce and others to facilitate an uncomplicated exodus from the country during the revolution. Lodovico and María were in their thirties and Giulio was five years old when the family settled in Miami.
Giulio Blanc completed his undergraduate education at Harvard and proceeded to Brown University and the Institute of Fine Arts in New York for graduate work (1979-1980). During his career, he served as an independent curator and consultant to The Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (Miami), The Metropolitan Museum (Miami), and The Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (New York) among others. He also lectured on Latin American art history at the Art Museum of the Americas, OAS (Organization of American States), Washington, DC, The University of Miami, and El Museo Nacional de Arte in La Paz, Bolivia. In addition, he worked as a consultant in the Latin American Paintings Department at Sotheby's auction house in New York and served on the editorial board of the magazine
The Giulio V. Blanc papers measure approximately 11 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1920 to 1995. Compiled by Blanc since the beginning of his curatorial, writing, and research career in the 1980s, the papers consist primarily of artist files on Cuban, Cuban-American, and Latin American artists (1920-1995 and undated). Also found is biographical information (1994-1995), interviews by Blanc (1984-1987, 1994) and miscellaneous letters from artists and friends (1983-1995 and undated).
The first series, Biographical Files, 1994-1995 includes information about Blanc's career. Series 2: Miscellaneous Letters, 1983-1995, undated, consists of letters from artists and friends on various topics. Series 3: Artist Files, 1920-1995, undated, represents the bulk of the collection (approximately 300 artists in all, 6 linear feet), and contain materials either collected by Blanc or received by Blanc from the artists themselves. These consist of biographical material about the artist, usually two or three paragraphs written by Blanc, scattered resumes and copies of fellowship applications. Also found are newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and letters or correspondence between Blanc and the artists. Of special interest in this series are numerous taped interviews with celebrated Cuban artists and art historians such as José Gómez Sícre, founder and first director of the Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States. Gómez-Sícre describes his early career and involvement with acquisitions for the museum's permanent collection as well as his working relationship with Alfred H. Barr, first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Gómez-Sícre's notable book,
Elena Peláez de Medero, another interviewee, discusses her sister, Cuban painter Amelia Peláez (1896-1968). Blanc interviewed Elena Peláez in Miami for his 1988 exhibition
Another prominent artist whom Blanc interviewed was Enrique Riverón (b. 1901) leader of the Cuban
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1977-1995, undated, consists primarily of material Blanc compiled for exhibitions he curated. Found here are letters from museum directors, artists and colleagues, drafts and finished essays for exhibition catalogs, and printed material such as newspaper clippings of art reviews. This series also includes files on exhibitions Blanc did not curate.
Series 5: Subject Files, 1933-1995, undated, are files relating to Cuban art, culture, and society, the Cuban revolution, book projects, Biennials in Havana and São Paulo, the 1988 controversy surrounding the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (Miami, FL) and other topics. Found are letters, drafts of writings, notes, printed material such as newspaper clippings and magazine articles, press releases, and exhibition announcements.
Particularly extensive is the documentation about the 1980s conflict at the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture. In April 1988, a fund-raising auction at the 24-year-old 'little Havana' institution resulted in heated disputes that escalated to violence. The works auctioned were by Cuban artists still living on the island. Many in Miami's Cuban community considered these artists to be supporters of the Communist regime and were outraged. One of the disputed works purchased the night of the auction, a drawing by Manuel Mendive, was taken across the street by its successful bidder and burned. In addition, the museum building was damaged by a pipe bomb shortly after the sale. In the National Public Radio news story (available in Blanc's papers on audio cassette) Helen Kohen, critic for the
The seriousness of the conflicts in the Miami museum prompted the Museum of Modern Art in New York to withdraw an offer to lend three paintings to the Cuban museum for the 1988 exhibition
To publicize the Peláez exhibition and boost attendance, the museum placed a public invitation in the Spanish section of the
The files concerning the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture contain exhibition announcements, copies of court orders, press releases and correspondence between Blanc and the Museum of Modern Art in New York regarding the museum and the Peláez exhibition. Also included are a great number of newspaper articles printed in two of Miami's major newspapers, the
Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1992, 1994 consists of two untranscribed audio cassette tapes. One is of the 1992 College Art Association's session:
The last series, Series 7: Photographs, 1981-1993, undated, includes black and whiteportraits of artists, group shots of Blanc with "Miami Generation" artists María Brito, Pablo Cano, María Martínez-Cañas, Carlos Macía, Arturo Rodríguez, and César Trasobares, and photos of other artists.
The Giulio V. Blanc papers are arranged into seven series primarily according to type of material. Within each series, materials are arranged chronologically, except for Artist Files and Subject Files which are arranged alphabetically by either name or subject.
Margherite Blanc, sister of Giulio V. Blanc, donated her brother's papers in 1998 to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. This collection, along with numerous other Latino collections, was acquired through the 1996 Latino Art Documentation Project in South Florida. Initiated to chronicle the thriving art scene so apparent in the city's galleries, museums, and private collections, the project resulted in numerous acquisitions described in the revised edition of the
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the
This collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels 5476-5487 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
A duplicate set of microfilm was donated to the CUNY Graduate Center Library, 365 5th Ave., New York, NY, at the request of Margherita Blanc.
Giulio V. Blanc papers, 1920-1995. Smithsonian Institution. Archives of American Art.
Processing of the collection was completed by Rosa M. Fernández at the Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, June 26, 1999. The finding aid was revised in October 2001 prior to EAD conversion. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Papers of Giulio V. Blanc, 1930-1982, are also located at the University of Miami Archival Collections.
Included is a page of Blanc's resume, a self-written biography, and a letter from The Graduate School and University Center (CUNY) advancing Blanc to candidacy for a doctoral degree in art history. Also found is a press release for a 1995 panel discussion and a New York University Museum Studies newsletter which mentions Blanc's exhibition,
Biographical files are on reel 5476.
Letters in Spanish and English to Blanc from artists and friends and to Blanc's parents Lodovico and Maria V. Blanc; arranged chronologically.
Miscellaneous letters are on reel 5476.
This extensive series contains artist files Giulio Blanc collected and arranged alphabetically by name of artist. The files contain scattered correspondence, newspaper clippings, original writings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and miscellaneous materials, one in born-digital form.
Several of the artist files are further broken down into areas such as Biographical Material, Letters, Writings, Notes, Printed Material, Audio material, and Photographs. Examples of Biographical material include curricula vita and resumes, fellowship applications, copies of birth certificates, written statements by artists concerning their work, and brief reference information written by Blanc about the artists and their artwork.
Letters are from art institutions, artists, curators, art historians and friends and are addressed primarily to Giulio Blanc, although a number of letters are addressed to other individuals. Found are original letters, photocopies, or facsimiles and occasionally include attachments such as exhibition announcements, newspaper clippings or photographs. Greeting cards and postcards are also found here.
Writings consists of unpublished material such as draft copies of essays and articles, papers written for courses, as well as poems, journal entries, and other original writings. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, public program brochures, invitations to exhibition openings, and published articles and newspaper clippings. These are recorded by name of item.
In addition, the artists files also house interviews conducted by Blanc and recorded on audio cassette tape. Those interviewed are artist Enrique Riverón, curator José Gomez Sícre, Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera speaking on the work of Wifredo Lam (Wifredo Lam files), Eva Frajaville on Agustin Fernández (Agustin Fernández files), and Elena Peláez de Medero discussing the work of her sister, Amelia Peláez (Amelia Peláez files).
Of special interest in this series are a number of documents in the files of artists Wifredo Lam, Amelia Peláez and Enrique Riverón. These include rare exhibition announcements and invitations, exhibition catalogs, clippings from European newspapers and various other original documents that date from the 1920s-1990s. An itemized list of these documents is found in the
Wifredo Lam: Exhibition and Auction Announcements and Invitations, 1955-1996
Wilfredo Lam: Exhibition brochures and catalogs, 1950-1993
Amelia Peláez: Exhibition Announcements, Invitations and Brochures, 1988, undated
Amelia Peláez: Exhibition Catalogs, 1930s-1980s, 1991
Enrique Riverón: Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs, 1957-1994, undated
"Files of Cuban Artists" disk to Maria Brito are on reel 5476; Lydia Cabrera to Vicente Dopico are on reel 5477; Antonia Eiriz to Lourdes Gomez-Franca are on reel 5478; José Gómez Sicre to Raquel Lázaro are on reel 5479; Lilia Lazo to Ricardo Pau-Llosa are on reel 5480; Amelia Peláez to Enrique Riverón, Newspaper Clippings are on reel 5481; Enrique Riverón, Articles by Enrique Riverón to Susan Sori are on reel 5482; Rafael Soriano to Ricardo Zulueta are on reel 5483.
Writings, essay on Capdevila Casas, no author
Exhibition announcement
The following series contains information on exhibitions Blanc curated during his career and includes press releases, draft writings of catalog essays, correspondence, printed material such as exhibition announcements and catalogs, newspaper clippings or articles, photographs, and other related material. Not all exhibitions in this series were curated by Blanc.
Exhibition files are on reel 5484.
(exhibition announcement and small catalog)
(project description, announcement for 1994 panel discussion; "The Miami Generation meets the 80s Generation" for Art Miami '94 held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, draft of opening remarks, list of participants, draft of lecture, "The Miami Generation and Latin American Art" by Blanc held at Meridian House, Washington, DC in 1984, magazine articles, and reviews of the exhibition)
(letter by Blanc to editors of the New York
(letter from Blanc to the editor of the
(exhibition guidelines, letters to Blanc from friends and colleagues about the Peláez exhibition, letters to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, letters to the Peláez sisters and Julian Peláez del Cabal and other material)
(exhibition guidelines, NEA grant application, list of participants for 1984 symposium, "Empirical Sources of Metaphor in Modern Cuban Art", held at the Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, list of eligibility requirements for Cintas Fellowship, list of past Cintas Fellowship recipients, list of artworks displayed in the exhibition, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clipping)
(newspaper clippings, list of reviews and bibliography for exhibition and exhibition catalog)
(letters from Studio Museum in Harlem outlining terms of agreement for Blanc and co-curator, Julia Herzberg, letters from Blanc to The Americas Society, Galerie Albert Loeb and others, letters to Blanc and the Studio Museum from Wifredo Lams' widow, Lou Larin-Lam, NEA planning proposal, exhibition checklist, exhibition announcements, press releases, newspaper clippings and other material)
(letters to Blanc regarding catalog essay and letters to Blanc's parents concerning their contribution to the exhibition)
(newspaper clippings and exhibition catalog)
(letters to Blanc concerning exhibition, artists' biographical material, press releases and public program announcements, newspaper clippings, color photographs of artwork from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Francisco Venegas, Miami, FL.)
Included are files collected by Blanc on various interests and current events including the controversy surrounding the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (Miami) in the late 1980s. The files are broken down into areas such as Letters, Notes, Writings, Printed Material, Photographs, and Miscellany with Printed Material including exhibition announcements and catalogs, newspaper clippings and articles, art journals, and other published material.
The files are arranged in alphabetical order by either name or subject.
The Art Museum, Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Cuban Art Exhibitions, Post 1960s are on reel 5484; Cuban Art Exhibitions Outside of Cube, Pre-1960s to Cuban Poetry are on reels 5485-5486; Cuban Revolution to
Oversized material housed in OV 14.
Sound recordings are unfilmed.
Large black and white portraits of artists René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez, and Rufino Tamayo. Black and white photographs of Blanc with Cuban artists María Brito, Carlos Macía, María Martínez Cañas, Pablo Cano, Arturo Rodríguez, and César Trasobares. Group photograph with the Scull sisters, Consuelo Castañeda, Tomás Sanchez, José Bedia, Connie Lloveras, Tomás Esson, and others.
Photographs are on reel 5487.