“Con La Corneta” (1957) by Roberto Pignataro
In the mid-1950s, Argentina was moving through a renewed cultural upswing, with public institutions and private initiatives expanding their support for the arts and seeking a more active place in international cultural circuits.
By 1957, this impulse had reached “LRA Radio Nacional,” a popular Argentine radio station, which was already featuring paintings by prominent local artists on the covers of its programming-guide magazine—works by Antonio Berni, Raúl Soldi, Juan del Prete, Laura Mulhall Girondo, Norah Borges, and Carlos Alonso, among others.
Seeking to extend this cultural reach and promote new talent, LRA partnered with the Argentine broadcasting authority (Dirección Nacional de Radiodifusión, or DNR) to launch a public art contest centered on the theme of music. The competition aimed to select four paintings that would be featured in future issues of the magazine.
At the time, Roberto Pignataro was in his second year of Visual Arts at Manuel Belgrano School of Fine Arts. He had not yet participated in public art events; however, upon hearing about LRA’s contest he felt the time was ripe. He submitted a cubist painting entitled, “Con la Trompeta,” a monochrome piece showcasing his early explorations with color, brushwork, and composition.
LRA received a total of 163 submissions for the contest. To evaluate the entries and select the four winners, a jury of distinguished art personalities was assembled. This panel included art critics Córdova Iturburu, Eduardo Maglione, and Manuel Mujica Láinez, as well as artists Raul Soldi and Jorge Larco.
LRA Radio Nacional’s 1957 program guide announcing contest winners
The selection process took place between November 20 and 27, 1957, at the DNR headquarters. Although the exact day of deliberation is not documented, it was during this period that the four winning works were officially announced:
“Trompeta” by Florencio Garavaglia
“Flautista” by Martha Gavensky
“Concertino” by Federico Borghini
“Con la trompeta” by Roberto Pignataro
Congratulatory letter from LRA Radio Nacional. Nov 27th, 1957
LRA promptly sent congratulatory letters to the winners, with its head of programming, Viviano Parravicini, reaffirming the station’s commitment to publishing the artwork.
Pignataro’s “Con la Trompeta” was featured in the November 1958 issue. The exact publication dates for the other three paintings have not yet been identified.
Additionally, in 1959, LRA featured the winning paintings in a touring exhibition entitled “Los Pintores Argentinos en LRA Radio Nacional.” In this show, the four pieces were presented alongside works by well-established artists whose paintings had likewise illustrated the magazine.
LRA program guide magazine featuring “Con la corneta” (cover page) and Pignataro’s bio (back). November 1958 issue
LRA’s contest marked Pignataro’s first participation in a public art event and became an early stepping stone in his career, offering him initial visibility within the local art scene.
At the time, art contests like this one were fairly common in Buenos Aires. However, soon after the publication of “Con la corneta,” Pignataro chose to move away from competitive formats altogether, shifting his career focus to solo exhibitions instead—a format he much preferred.