George Warrek, Utuado, Puerto Rico, 1950. Oil on canvas, 22" x 18", unframed. Areas of loss, damage and scuffing. See photos for condition.

Warrek was a notable and controversial Gardner, Massachusetts born professor at the University of Puerto Rico. He and his wife Nancy and two young children moved to the island during the Depression, where he soon ran into hot water over his outspoken politics. An anonymous source within his department alleged that Warrek and several of his friends and colleagues at the university, known derisively as “the Communist Gang”, had been receiving gold from Moscow in exchange for disseminating propaganda. An investigation was formed, finding no credence to the allegations, but it did lead to a revision of UPR policy that severely limited academic freedom by essentially mandating that professors not speak about politics. This aniti-academic freedom, “better dead than red” sentiment reflected the mood on the mainland, as the Hayes Commission was furiously attempting to root out what they perceived as anti-American sentiments from academia at the time. Little is known of Warrek’s painting; we have been unable to locate any extant examples besides this one. In 1962, the Museum of the University of Puerto Rico held a retrospective show of Warrek’s sculptures. There was another retrospective of his work at the Museo de Bellas Artes, San Juan, in January 1975.