Scholarship, Frida Kahlo and Latin American Art

As book dealers who specialize in art books of Latin America, we wish to reply to “Beyond Kahlo” (May 5), in which Ignacio Galbis and Bill Sheehy of Latin American Masters Gallery are quoted as saying that the art is available but the scholarship isn’t. We disagree.

There are many hundreds of scholarly books, essays, catalogues and articles on contemporary Latin American art written by experts in Latin America, Europe and the United States. The problem is that the vast majority of non-U.S. publications are not translated into English, which limits their appeal.

Important studies by scholars of Latin America have covered the various artistic movements of Surrealism, Dada, Expressionism, Muralism and so forth, yet in general remain often unknown to U.S. librarians, collectors and art dealers. Certainly there are fine U.S. scholars, even though few schools emphasize Latin American art.

We believe that the question is not so much a lack of scholarship as the availability of the materials in English. The Euro-centric educational emphasis in the fine arts in the United States includes little more than cursory survey courses in Latin American art. Consequently, there has been relatively little demand for Spanish-language materials.

As interest in Latin American art increases, we hope there will be incentives to translate, publish and acquire these valuable resources along with encouraging increased scholarship.

HOWARD KARNO

BEVERLY JOY-KARNO

Valley Center