Rhod Rothfuss |
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| Born | Carlos María Rothfuss
1920 (1920)
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| Died | December 31, 1969(1969-12-31) (aged 49)
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| Nationality | Uruguayan-Argentine |
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| Other names | Carlos María Rothfuß
Carlos María Rothfuss |
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| Occupation(s) | Painter
Sculptor |
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| Years active | 1938-1969 |
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Carlos María "Rhod" Rothfuss (1920 – December 31, 1969) was a Uruguayan-Argentine artist who specialized in painting and sculpture. He was considered a key theoretician for the development of the concrete art movement in Argentina in the 1940s[1]: 393 and was a founding member of the international Latin American abstract art movement, Grupo Madí.[2][3]
Early life and education
Rothfuss was born in Montevideo, Uruguay.[4][5]
In 1938, Rothfuss studied art at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Montevideo. He studied with the artists Guillermo Laborde and José Cúneo. In the early 1940s, he studied at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Montevideo.[4]
Career
In 1939 while at an Emilio Pettoruti art show, Rothfuss met and became friends with the artist, Carmelo Arden Quin.
In 1942, Rothfuss moved from Uruguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived until 1945.
Rothfuss soon became friends with fellow artists, Gyula Kosice, Tomás Maldonado, Carmelo Arden Quin.
In 1944, Rothfuss was part of the group of artists who created and edited the magazine called Arturo, which existed for only one issue, and included fellow artists, Carmelo Arden Quin, Edgar Bailey, Gyula Kosice, Raúl Lozza, Tomas Maldonado, and Lidy Prati.[6] Rothfuss contributed an article called: "El marco. un problema de la plástica actual (The frame: A Problem of Plastic Arts Today)," which became an important text on the theory and movement of art towards geometry.[4]: 420–421 Rothfuss was stating what was then a revolutionary idea, that he was advocation for the removal of the frame of the painting, saying that it got in the way of the art.[4]: 18
In 1945, Rothfuss participated in two seminal concrete art exhibitions called Arte Concreto-Invención in Buenos Aires.
In 1945, Rothfuss participated in Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención's first two concrete art exhibitions organized at the homes of Swiss born psychoanalyst, Enrique Pichon-Rivière, and German-Argentinian photographer, Grete Stern. Rothfuss also participated in the group's third exhibition organized in October 1946 at the Argentinian Society of Plastic Arts.[1][7][8]
During this time, to illustrate the concrete nature of his work, Rothfuss used nontraditional materials like diamonds and employed notched and irregular shapes in his artwork.[1]
From 1945 to 1950, Rothfuss created sculptures that had moving parts.[1]
In 1946, Rothfuss joined the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención, a concrete art group founded by Tomás Maldonado in 1944. Other artists in the group included Alfredo Hlito, Lidy Prati, Manuel Espinosa, Enio Iommi, Raul Lozza among others.[7][9]
In 1946, Gyula Kosice, Carmelo Arden Quin, and Rothfuss founded the Grupo Madí.[4]: 34
Wikidata () – Exhibition catalog of Cold America, Geometric Abstraction in Latin America (1934–1973), Fundación Juan March, Madrid, February 11-May 15, 2011