THE TITLE OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITION at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía—“New Realisms: 1957–1962”—is one of its several provocative maneuvers. The French movement known as Nouveau Réalisme first came to New York City—thanks in no small part to Pierre Restany’s egomaniacal, chauvinistic rhetoric and superlative networking abilities—with William Seitz’s “The Art of Assemblage” at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961 and Sidney Janis’s gallery show “The New Realists” the following year. If the former dug into history (Mallarmé, Apollinaire, Picasso) in order to legitimate the complete

“Amores difíciles” (Hard Loves), a retrospective comprising 162 images by Argentine artist Adriana Lestido, shows one possible evolution of the work of a professional photographer in these times. Lestido trained as a photojournalist, and for many years she worked for newspapers and photography departments of news agencies. Owing to the success of her first several series—e.g., “Hospital infanto juvenil” (Children’s Hospital), 1986–89, and “Madres adolescentes” (Teenage Mothers), 1989–90—she made a name for herself in the Argentine photography scene. The primary concern of those series, as well