America My Brother, My Blood (America, Mi Hermano, Mi Sangre) A Latin American Song of Suffering and Resistance

Guayasamín is one of the last crusaders of imaginismo . He is a creator of humanity in its broadest sense, of the living and historical imagination. His universe is sustaining although it threatens us like a cosmic disaster. Think before approaching his painting because it will not be easy to withdraw.--Pablo Neruda To paint is to pray. To paint is to scream.--Oswaldo Guayasamín In this breathtakingly beautiful book, excerpts from Pablo Neruda's Canto General are illustrated by Oswaldo Guayasamín's powerful work, bringing to life the battles, defeats, victories, and heroes of Latin America's history of resistance. After their paths first crossed in Mexico, the Chilean poet and indigenous Ecuadoran painter developed a lifelong friendship based on mutual admiration, profound affection, and political solidarity. With Spanish and English text throughout, this book by two of Latin America's most beloved artists is a captivating, reasonably priced book for the holidays. Pablo Neruda is one of Latin America's best-loved poets, his most famous work being Canto General . Born in Chile, and widely respected for his outspoken political views, he died days after the coup against the popularly elected Allende government in September 1973. Oswaldo Guayasamín is generally considered Diego Rivera's successor as Latin America's most prominent painter. Deemed an expressionist, with evident indigenous roots, the humanist spirit of Guayasamín ́s work reflects the pain and misery endured by much of humanity during the last century, but at the same time conveys a sense of human dignity and great tenderness. He died in 1999.