Forner, Raquel (1902–1988)

Raquel Forner (b. 22 April 1902; d. 10 June 1988), Argentine painter. Born in Buenos Aires, Forner studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, graduating in 1923, and with Othon Friesz in Paris (1929–1930). In 1932 she helped found the first private school of fine arts in Buenos Aires. She became a member of the Royal Society of Arts (England) in 1951 and received the National Prize for painting (Buenos Aires, 1942) and the grand prize at the First American Biennial of Art (Córdoba, Argentina, 1962). Through her encounter with the surrealists in Paris, Forner discovered the cosmic character of experience and endeavored to give it structural expression. In later years her paintings focused on a science-fiction interpretation of the cosmos, as exemplified in Black Astrobeings. From the technical point of view her compositions are highly unusual in structure; color plays a secondary role, inclining toward the monochromatic. Forner's work reflects the image of the human soul amid the complexity of the world.

See alsoArgentina: The Twentieth Century; Art: The Twentieth Century; Education: Overview.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Museum of Modern Art of Latin America (1985).

Vicente Gesualdo, Aldo Biglione, and Rodolfo Santos, Diccionario de artistas plásticos en la Argentina (1988).

Additional Bibliography

Forner, Raquel, and Fermín Fèvre. Raquel Forner. Buenos Aires: Editorial El Ateneo, 2000.

Lorenzo Alcalá, May. "Raquel Forner: Del apocalipsis a la utopia." Cuadernos Hispanoamericános 629 (Nov. 2002): 103-112.

                          Amalia Cortina Aravena