Catálogo de la exposición - Fundación César Manrique

help organise a showing at the “Casa de la Parra” in Santiago de Compostela in 1996.
Before undertaking this retrospective exhibition, I wanted to fill in some of the gaps in my
understanding of Washington Barcala’s personality, visiting his places and talking to his
people; and the more information I collected, the more independent he appeared. This
solitude and isolation, in turn, affected my own observations, themselves independent, while
my opinions, although drawn from facts, are wholly subjective and personal. In art, the range
of possible interpretations and approaches is infinite, not only for the creator but for
anyone pleasuring in the work itself. It is, then, from a subjective vision and understanding
that I proceed to review the work of this artist in an exhibition that I have attempted to
make as comprehensive as possible, one that would show where Barcala came from, where
he was headed, what he brought and what he borrowed, what he was obsessed by and what
he could do without.
The Trip
“Travelling is an innate desire; anyone who has never felt it at least once is not entirely
human” (Octavio Paz).
Washington Barcala came to Spain for the first time in 1950 when, with his father’s support,
he was finally able to fulfil a lifelong dream and travel to Europe. By then 30 years old, he
spent 18 months on the old continent, absorbing all he could of the artistic activity he
encountered, travelling to different cities, visiting museums and exhibitions. The impact of
that trip must have been enormous since, after his return to Uruguay, he was unable to
resume painting until 1958. Before his journey, Barcala’s training had been traditionally
academic. With the exception of a brief meeting with Joaquín Torres García, he owed his
instruction to a school teacher who taught him how to paint by copying post cards, to
Uruguayan painter Zoma Baitler (1908-1994), whom he followed in his outings to the
country to watch how he painted and to his years at the Circle of Fine Arts of Montevideo.
During that time and until he travelled to Europe, he painted works primarily for exhibition
in the Salones Nacionales or National Art Salons. He won a number of prizes with paintings
in which the prevailing influence was impressionistic, characterised by mild colours,
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