The press and the papeleritos in the murals painted by Osvaldo Barra in the Government Palace of Aguascalientes: a response to the criticism of El Sol del Centro

Abstract

In one of the segments of the mural La Feria de San Marcos in the Government Palace of Aguascalientes, made in 1962 and 1963, the Chilean artist Osvaldo Barra captured a detail that offers a double reading: while in the Casino huge amounts of gold coins are gambled, a piece of metal is offered as alms to a woman with a baby tucked in her shawl and two starving children, one of them with a copy of the newspaper El Sol del Centro, raised their arms asking charity; they represent one of the dozens of newsboys of Aguascalientes, known at the time as “papeleritos”. At first glance, it is a reproach for the minimal support that was des- tined to charity despite the huge profits that left the game. But also, is a veiled criticism of the artist to the local newspaper of the Cadena García Valseca, who used to sellers as a weapon in his journalistic war, both Aguascalientes and its dozens of newspapers in the country. Besides the pictorial detail, it relates to other embodied in the mural Aguascalientes en la Historia, is a response to the newspaper company, who insisted on a campaign to discredit the work of Chilean artist, in particular, and the government of Luis Ortega Douglas, sponsor of the mural, in general, who faced strong criticism for its six-year period from 1956 to 1962.