Flamenco con aire andaluz. Buenos Aires. Circa 1960.

Vintage gelatin silver print. Measurements: 13 x 17.7 x cm / 5.11 x 6.96 in. Work in good condition, it is exhibited framed.

The popular group that made up the Roberto Ximénez and Manolo Vargas Company reached success in the United States and Mexico since the middle of the 20th century. The almost centennial Manolo Vargas (1912-2011) was considered a "shaman" of flamenco and with Roberto Ximénez (1922-2014), dancer and choreographer also Mexican, they formed successful companies with the dancers Ana Mercedes and Victoria Salcedo. The Company performed artistic sketches such as that of the "Andalusian Suite" to which this image would belong, made in our opinion, around the 1960s in Buenos Aires.

In the lower margin of the photograph, some letters of the authorship signature can be seen, written in italics. We identify the tilde of the letter "i" and as the second to last letter, the "t". Precisely, in 1958 the so-called "Luisita Photo Studio" was inaugurated in Buenos Aires, by the Colombian Luisa Escarria (1929-2019) and her sisters. Located in a small apartment on the mythical avenue Corrientes at 1300, very soon it turned to the record of the great figures of the artistic world, especially linked to the show. He did it between 1958 and 2009, he portrayed musicians, dancers, vedettes, comedians and artists in general. His first link in Buenos Aires was José Marrone, who opened the doors of Maipo to him. He signed the footage of him with the word Luisita in italics.

We must point out that this photographic specialty was extremely demanding, since promotional photos functioned as a key tool in promoting these popular figures; In its creation, lighting, striking poses, creative approaches, lost backgrounds and especially the touch-ups that embellished were combined. Coming from the Colombian city of Cali, his parents, professional photographers Luis Felipe Escarría and Eva Iglesias, were his camera teachers and from whom he learned this trade that he would later develop in Buenos Aires with great success. His work would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the research and patrimonial rescue work of the young photographer Sol Miraglia who recently highlighted this exceptional photographic archive.

We appreciate the opinions and searches of Fernando Osorio, Erika Lepe and Gustavo Prado -from Mexico- and Sol Miraglia and Francisco Medail, from Argentina.

S.O.H-XI-GBM