Latin American Painters in the Spotlight at Rago Arts in Lambertville

Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville will present “Presencia de lo Humano,” an exhibition and auction featuring works from the personal collection of celebrated art critic, dealer and collector Clara Diament Sujo, beginning April 28. An auction of the work takes place on Saturday, May 5.

The session features 30 works representing Sujo’s dynamic sensibility as a collector, according to Rago, with works spanning decades and artistic movements of the 20th century. Caribbean and Latin American artists showcased include Luis Martínez Pedro, Alirio Rodriguez, Antonio Seguí, Luis Fernando Benedit and Manuel Espinoza.

Sujo is best known for her ground-breaking shows of Latin American artists at Estudio Actual in Caracas, Venezuela, from 1968 onward, and at CDS, the gallery she founded in New York City in 1981, which introduced essential Latin American masters to North American audiences.

A dynamic art collector, critic and a museum curator, Sujo acquired many examples of major works by modern masters from South America, North America and Europe. A principal category of her collection is that of the human form in motion – often in distress – aligning with New Figuration, or “Neo Humanism.” A second auction in the fall will explore Sujo’s interest in Informalism, along with Lyrical and Geometric Abstraction.

The catalog for Rago’s May 5 auction will be available online starting April 16.