Page 322 - Arte e Historia

Presentation

Manuel A. Grullón
President
Banco Popular Dominicano

History, our history as Dominicans is not always explained through art. Nonetheless, when that is the case, the
artistic expressions of our creators demonstrate who we are, showing and strengthening the Dominican identity.

Dominican art has constituted itself as witness of our customs and life perception, and in the social expression
of diverse national periods.

For this reason, in the last 50 years, our institution has invested in the preservation of an art patrimony that
belongs to all of us. He have carried out a policy to stimulate national art through the acquisition of paintings,
drawings, photographies, and sculptures of artists that have become the voice of our nation and culture.This is
the best legacy for our future generation to understand and appreciate, in perspective, the foundation of their
idiosyncrasy.

Today, it is our pleasure to give you the testament of this close relationship between artistic creation and history,
revealing the uniqueness expressed by this symbiosis when presenting our esthetic vision as a nation. «Art and history
in the Visual Art Collection of Banco Popular». by artist, historian and art critic Danilo de los Santos, is the new
book that adds to the editorial efforts of Banco Popular, in its firm determination in favor of the intellectual growth
of the nation.

De los Santos, as a Dominican art historian, with an educated and keen nose, analyses and explains the feeling
and the social expression of various stages of Dominican life; all unveiled in the visual art works that form part of the
Banco Popular collection, and that intertwined, they show a sort of peregrination through the Dominican essence
and its epochal circumstances.

This artistic and social unity, captured in an image compendium with remarkable examples of works between
1900 and 1999, will serve the reader as a testimony of faith in the Dominican identity, in the local way of thinking
and in the vocation of freedom of our people.

For our institution, the role of patrons assumed since 1964 is a mission to sponsor the tangible aspect of
art works and the intangible value that they convey about our cultural, social and financial future. Without
any doubt, This book, undoubtedly, reflects this spirit and preserves the way in which we see ourselves as
Dominicans.

Thus, we feel very satisfied with this important publication, that proves one more time our commitment with
the projection in other parts of the world, of the most authentic and relevant cultural values of the Dominican
nation.

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