Beginning of the painting
The first notable Puerto Rican painter was José Campeche y Jordán (1751-1809). Born and died in San Juan, this rococo painter used a palette inspired by the landscapes of his native island. His father, a freed slave, restored religious statues. Following his father, José Campeche learned artistic technique in the studio of Luis Paret y Alcazár, a Spanish court painter of the late Baroque.
Campeche distinguished himself in religious painting. However, he became known for his portraits of prominent members of high society, who greatly appreciated his talent. Even if, let's face it, his models lacked a little flexibility, he remained a recognized rococo painter, hence the number of schools and streets that bear his name.Art and history
Despite the important events that marked the 19th century, such as the Grito de Larès, the revolution for independence in 1868, the abolition of slavery in 1873 or the autonomy granted by Spain in 1897, history painting is almost absent from Puerto Rican culture. Rare exceptions deserve to be mentioned.
The Barcelona artist Manuel Cuyas Agullo, active in Puerto Rico in the second half of the 19th century, painted The Landing of the Americans in Ponce, July 27, 1898
.For his part, Manuel E. Jordan (1853-1919) painted Escena de la Guerra Hispanoamericana (1898). However, the naval battle scene seems to be a pretext for indulging in landscape painting. This genre, along with still lifes and portraits, was popular at the time, perhaps because of the beauty of the islands. Manuel Jordan also painted the charm of the villages and the coast, as can be seen in his oil paintings on wood preserved in the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico or in Desde la Muralla, which can be seen at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
. Painter and musician, he is the most brilliant disciple of Francisco Oller. The only Latin American painter to have made a significant contribution to the emergence of impressionism, Oller (1833-1917) made him aware of the play of light and the colors of the tropics. In the small group of painters who succeeded Campeche, Ramón Atiles y Pérez practiced by copying his works. Acclaimed as a miniaturist, he became known for his portraits of intense realism.Modernism
A wave of artists stays in Europe. At a very young age, the painter José R. Oliver, born in Arecibo in 1901, left his native island for Spain with his family. In Barcelona, he studied chemistry and plastic arts. At the age of 35, he returned to Puerto Rico, where he opened an art studio with Oscar Colon Delgado. He dedicated himself to painting until 1955, when he was appointed director of the San Juan School of Art. He held this position until 1975. Oliver produced numerous frescoes. He painted both historical scenes and landscapes in a geometric style that is reminiscent of cubism. The subjects are fragmented, reorganized by superimposed planes arranged in a dramatic manner. His graphic style is a subtle game of balance. Oliver notably exhibited at the Museo de Arte e Historia de Arecibo in 2015 and became part of the permanent collection of the Museo de Arte de Ponce. This museum, opened in 1965, gathers nearly five thousand works, paintings, sculptures, photographs among others. It is one of the most interesting collections of contemporary art in the Caribbean.
Vanguard
Feminist artist, Zilia Sánchez is ahead of her time. Born in 1926 in Havana (Cuba), Zilia chose to move to Puerto Rico in the 1970s. Upon her arrival, she created murals for homes and public buildings in the capital. She insists on her homosexuality which, for her, defines her work. The titles of her exhibitions are evocative: in 2000 Heroic/Erotic was held at the Museo de las Américas in San José, Heróicas Eróticas en Nueva York
(2014)... In her youth, Sánchez lived in New York. There she rubbed shoulders with minimalists Donald Judd, Frank Stella and Carl Andre. During this period, she began to create works in relief, abstract forms that emerge from a canvas. She soon added the touch of sensuality that makes her so recognizable. Her work was acclaimed at the Venice Biennale in 2017.The world of Villamil
Rafael Villamil (born in 1934) grew up in Santurce. As a self-taught artist, he practiced drawing and painting. He settled as an architect in Philadelphia in 1963. However, he has a complex relationship with the American continent. His models are Mexican realist painters such as Siqueiros and Orozco; he also admires the introspective Magritte and Chirico. This quality can be felt in his works, which combine painting, collage, and colored pencils. The traveling exhibition "Paradise has no memory" in 2019 featured his large-format works, explosions of color riddled with enigmatic details.
Arnaldo Roche Rabell
One of the major representatives of neo-expressionism, Roche Dabell is a child of San Juan. His technique is based on a superimposition of layers of bright colors, covered with black and then scraped with a spatula. The textured images are revealed in this way to dramatic effect. If politics and national identity are among his favorite themes, the very act of painting is essential to him. Born in 1956, he studied architecture in Puerto Rico and then joined the Art Institute of Chicago. From then on, he devoted himself exclusively to painting until illness took him away in 2018.
His works are part of the most prestigious collections in the world such as the Miami Museum of Art, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC) in San Juan, and the Met in New York.Street-art
Street art is celebrated during the Santurce Es Ley festival in San Juan. In this once neglected neighborhood, huge frescoes attest to a breathtaking mastery. Let's stay here and walk around Santurce, which is coming back to life thanks to urban art. On a long wall at the corner of Calle Cerra and Calle Aurora, Christopher Columbus lands on an ocean of corpses. It is one of the first public artworks with a political message. Since its realization by the collective El Basta in 2014, the stances have multiplied. To be discovered along Cerra... and just about everywhere!
