Rhod Rothfuss and the Marco Recortado. A Synthesis of Cultural Traditions in the Río de la Plata Region

MARÍA AMALIA GARCÍA

New Material Histories of Concrete Art Argentina and Brazil

The Getty Research

Año: 2019;

The marco recortado was undeniably important to the development of constructive art in the region; but just as we do not know much about the earliest pieces, neither do we have a deep understanding of its creator, the Uruguayan artist Rhod Rothfuss, a figure with an extremely elusive trajectory. In contrast with other artists in the group, such as Gyula Kosice, Carmelo Arden Quin, or Tomás Maldonado, who have received individual exhibitions and books dedicated to their work, Rothfuss is a mystery, a ghostly presence passing through the history of Río de la Plata inventionism. We know little about his life and production: few works have been attributed to him; we have some reliable data and many uncorroborated stories. As well as offering new information about Rothfuss, this article argues that the conceptualization and realization of the marco recortado involves a diverse interplay of traditions: not only the genealogy of European abstraction, but a synthesis of certain currents of modern painting in the Río de la Plata region, as well as material and formal insinuations from Montevideo carnival paraphernalia.