The Academy of San Carlos (Spanish: Academia de San Carlos), formerly also known as the National School of Fine Arts (Spanish: Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes), is an art academy in Mexico City that historically played an important role in the development of Mexican art and architecture. Founded in 1781 as the School of Engraving, it was the first major art school and the first art museum in the Americas.
The school was moved to the Academia Street location about 10 years after its founding and is located at 22 Academia Street, just northeast of the Zócalo of Mexico City. It emphasized the European classical tradition in training until the early 20th century, when it shifted to a more modern perspective.
Rafael Ximeno y Planes, portrait of Jerónimo Antonio Gil, director of the academyOld photo of the dean's office
The Academy of San Carlos was founded in 1783, being the first arts academy established in America in 1783, with European teachers, and bright students. In 1540 the building was built in order to create the first hospital for people with syphilis. Its name was "Hospital del Amor de Dios", and was closed in 1783 in order to fuse itself with the hospital of San Andrés in the old college of Jesuits on Tacuba street.[3]
Jerónimo Antonio Gil, a famous engraver, established in 1778 an engraving school by the order of the Spanish King. Gil and his partner Fernando José Mangino decided to create a new academy to teach painting, sculpture and architecture. Finally, in 1781 classes started on the Real Casa de Moneda thanks to the donations of rich people, churches, the Tribunal of Trade and the states of Veracruz, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Córdoba Veracruz, and Orizaba.
Jeronimo Antonio Gil was appointed the school's first director by Charles III of Spain and gathered prominent artists of the day including José de Alcíbar, Santiago Sandoval, Juan Sáenz, Manuel Tolsá, and Rafael Ximeno y Planes. Tolsá and Ximeno would later stay on to become directors of the school. The new school began to promote Neoclassicism, focusing on Greek and Roman art and architecture, advocating European-style training of its artists.[1] To this end, plaster casts of classic Greek and Roman statues were brought to Mexico from Europe for students to study.[2]
The Royal Card of establishment was issued on December 25 of 1783. It was asked by the viceroy Martín de Mayorga to the King Carlos III. They choose San Carlos as patron saint.
On November 4 of 1785, courses were officially started in the Academy of the Noble Arts of San Carlos of the New Spain. In 1788, the Academy of San Fernando in Spain sent some teachers like the famous Manuel Tolsá who was in charge of architecture and sculpture.
Aspirations of growing were massive. So the institution tried to finance a building that Tolsá was designing on Nilpantongo Street, but it was way too expensive and it was paid by the Royal Seminar of Mining. Without a building of their own, the academy asked for the forsaken one of the Hospital Amor de Dios and finally in 1787 they started classes there.
Since its founding, it attracted the country's best artists, and was a force behind the abandonment of the Baroque style in Mexico, which had already gone out-of-fashion in Europe.[1]
In the early 19th century, the academy was closed for a short time due to the Mexican War of Independence as well as losing funding from the Spanish royal house. When it fully reopened in the 1820s, it was renamed the National Academy of San Carlos and enjoyed the new government's preference for Neoclassicism, as it considered the Baroque reminiscent of colonialism.
In 1844, the national lottery was put under the Academy's administration so that a third of the collected funds could go to the purchase of the building that the Academy rented, as well as its renovation.[4] This lasted until 1861, when Benito Juárez removed the lottery and the Academy suffered from a lack of funds.[4]
During the Second Mexican Empire, the school was known as the Imperial Academy of San Carlos and it received financial support from Emperor Maximilian I, who was a patron of the arts.[4] After the restoration of the republic, Benito Juárez passed a public education law that turned the Academy into the National School of Fine Arts under the Secretarait of Justice and Public Instruction.[4]
The school became part of the National University of Mexico in May 1910 and regained the name Academy of Fine Arts in 1913.[4] A glass and iron dome was added to the building's courtyard in order to create an art gallery protected from the weather. The dome parts were manufactured in France by Lapeyrere based on the design of director Antonio Rivas Mercado, and then shipped to Mexico to be assembled .[4]
The academy continued to advocate classic, European-style training of its artists until 1913. In that year, a student and teacher strike advocating a more modern approach ousted director Antonio Rivas Mercado. Following its integratation into the National University of Mexico (now UNAM), it initially kept a large degree of autonomy. In 1929, the architecture program was separated from the rest of the academy,[1] and in 1953, this department was moved to the newly built campus of UNAM in the south of the city. The remaining programs in painting, sculpture and engraving were renamed National School of Expressive Arts Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. Later, the undergraduate fine arts programs were moved to a facility in Xochimilco, leaving only some graduate programs in the original Academy of San Carlos building.[2]
In 2011, the glass and iron dome of the courtyard underwent restoration work in order to address issues such as corrosion of the beams.[4]
Alumni and associated artists
Breakwater in the port of Barcelona circa 1905 by Antonio Fabrés
Some of its most famous first teachers included Miguel Constanzó in architecture, José Joaquín Fabregat in metal engraving, Rafael Ximeno y Planes in painting and Manuel Tolsá in sculpture. Another notable teacher here was Pelegrí Clavé, who was noted for his expertise in creating portraits of heroes and biblical figures.[2]
A number of important nineteenth-century architects studied at the academy, including Juan (b. 1825) and Ramón Agea (b. 1828), who were sent to Rome by the academy to study with Cippolla. They sent back sketches of Roman monuments that served as models for Academy students. They went on to be professors at the academy as well as working architects in Mexico City. They completed the Monument to Cuauhtémoc on Paseo de la Reforma after the death of the engineer in charge.[9] Another notable graduate (1863) is architect Manuel Francisco Álvarez, who was also a civil engineer. Álvarez was a city counsellor (regidor) of the capital, president of the Asociación de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, a founding member of the Asociación Francesa para el Desarrollo de la Enseñanza Técnica, Industrial y Comercial; director of the Escuela Nacional de Artes y Oficios; and a member of the Academy of France, and author of many books on architecture.[10]
Building
Beaux-Arts detail in the Neoclassical façade
The building originally was as the Amor de Dios Hospital, which had closed by the time the School of Engraving decided to move there from the mint building. Founding director Gerónimo Antonio Gil took charge of the restoration and remodeling work. Artist Javier Cavallari created the academy's Neoclassic façade, which is embellished with six medallions. Four of these represent the academy's founders: Carlos III, Carlos IV, Gerónimo Antonio Gil and Fernando José Manguino, and the other two are of Michelangelo and Raphael. Cavallari also finished the patio, the conference room and the painting and sculpture galleries. The painting gallery contains portraits by Ramon Sagredo and the sculpture room contains works by José Obregón and Manuel Ocaranza.[2]
The academy once had a very large collection of art in the Gallery of the San Carlos Academy, considered the first museum of art in the Americas.[11] Its art collection began with plaster casts of original Greek, Roman and European works used as teaching aids. It also gained other European works such as engravings from the 16th to 19th centuries from Spain, France, England, Italy, Germany, and Holland. The school also collected works from students and teachers from its founding to beginning of the 20th century. However, the collection outgrew the original academy building as it received donations from private sources and purchases made by the Mexican government after independence. The collection was divided, some going to the Museo Universitario de la Academia, also in the historic center of town, some going to the National Museum of San Carlos, northeast of the historic center and the other part remaining in the original building.[11][12]
Works gallery
José María Velasco GómezSelf-portrait (1894). Velasco dominated 19th c Mexican landscape painting
The Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization founded on July 3, 1946, in Mexico City to promote the dissemination, research, preservation, development, and defense of the cinematographic arts and sciences. Currently, the president of the AMACC is producer Mónica Lozano Serrano.
Rafael Ximeno y Planes (1759/1760–1825) was a Spanish painter and draughtsman.
Luis Nishizawa Flores was a Mexican artist known for his landscape work and murals, which often show Japanese and Mexican influence. He began formal training as an artist in 1942 at the height of the Mexican muralism movement but studied other painting styles as well as Japanese art.
The Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) is the Mexican national art museum, located in the historical center of Mexico City. The museum is housed in a neoclassical building at No. 8 Tacuba, Col. Centro, Mexico City. It includes a large collection representing the history of Mexican art from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid 20th century. It is recognizable by Manuel Tolsá's large equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain, who was the monarch just before Mexico gained its independence. It was originally in the Zocalo but it was moved to several locations, not out of deference to the king but rather to conserve a piece of art, according to the plaque at the base. It arrived at its present location in 1979.
Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, is the oldest and most prestigious fine arts school in Cuba. It is also known as Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Academia San Alejandro, or San Alejandro Academy. The school is located in Marianao, a suburb of Havana, and was founded in 1818 at the Convent of San Alejandro.
The School of Architecture at UNAM is one of the leading schools of architecture and design in Mexico. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate studies in architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism and industrial design.
Pedro Patiño Ixtolinque was a Mexican sculptor of mixed-race. He served as the director of the Academy of San Carlos from 1826 to 1834. Patiño Ixtolinque is known for creating the altar and altarpiece for the tabernacle at the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, as well as various other works for cathedrals in Mexico.
Carlos Alvarado Lang was a Mexican printmaker and professor. He taught metal engraving and later served as the program director at Academy of San Carlos, from 1929 to 1949.
Luis Ortiz Monasterio was a Mexican sculptor noted for his monumental works such as the Monumento a la Madre and the Nezahualcoyotl Fountain in Chapultepec Park. His work was recognized in 1967 with the Premio Nacional de Artes and was a founding member of the Academia de Artes.
Gilberto Aceves Navarro was a Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. There have been more than two hundred individual exhibits of his work, with his murals found in Mexico, Japan and the United States. He received numerous awards for his work including grants as a Creador Artístico of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes and Bellas Artes Medal from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.
The National Superior Autonomous School of Fine Arts is a fine arts school in Lima, Peru. It is located in Barrios Altos, a suburb of Lima District. It was founded in 1918, by President José Pardo y Barreda and Peruvian painter Daniel Hernández, who was its first director. It is located in a monumental building built in the early 1940s.
Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after Mexican War of Independence, the development Mexican national identity through art in the nineteenth century, and the florescence of modern Mexican art after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
Pablo Kubli is a Mexican sculptor specializing in metals, a member of Mexico’s Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He initially trained in law and public administration in college, completing bachelor’s and master’s in visual arts later in life. He has one doctorate from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain. He's been exhibiting individually since 1991, with most of his works consisting of steel plates and other pieces assembled with nuts and bolts with both organic and geometric forms.
Deyanira África González Melo is a Mexican sculptor who generally works in ceramics, depicting elements of the human form, especially the torso, generally with mutilations and other disturbing elements to dispute the otherwise traditional and sensual depictions of the human body. She has exhibited her work since studying at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (ENAP) in Mexico as well as in Europe and the Caribbean. Her work has received recognition in Mexico and abroad, and is a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Erasto Cortés Juárez was a Mexican artist and a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Francisco Moreno Capdevila was a Mexican artist of Spanish origin, best noted for his engraving and other graphic work. He came to Mexico as a political refugee after the fall of the Republicans in 1939. Unlike other Spanish artists of his generation, he was young when he arrived and did not begin studying or working in art until he was in Mexico. His work generally had cultural and political themes, but also included a portable mural about the fall of Tenochtitlan. This work was at the Museo de la Ciudad de México for thirty years, but today it is at the law school of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His work was recognized by membership in various honor societies, including the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana and the Academia de Artes.
The Palace of Mining, also Palace of Mines, is a building in Mexico City, Mexico, considered to be a fine example of Neoclassical architecture in the Americas. It was designed and built between 1797 and 1813 by Valencian Spanish sculptor and architect Manuel Tolsá. It was built to house the Royal School of Mines and Mining of the Royal Court at the request of its director, Fausto Elhuyar, a scientifically-trained mineralogist.
Fernando Selma was a Spanish engraver and illustrator.
Academy of Painting, also known as the School of Fine Arts of Santiago, was a Chilean art school, founded on March 17, 1849 in Santiago, Chile. Initially located in a building of the University of San Felipe, now the site of the Municipal Theater of Santiago, it underwent relocation in 1891 and adopted the name Escuela de Bellas Artes. In 1910, the institution merged with the Museo de Bellas Artes, effectively discontinuing its operations as a separate entity. In 1932, it merged with and is now known as the Department of Visual Arts within the Arts Faculty, University of Chile.
Jerónimo Antonio Gil was a Spanish engraver in the Academic style. He served as administrator of the Mexican Mint and was the founder of the Academia de San Carlos where he specialized in engraving medals and coins.
↑ Covarrubias, Solís; José, Manuel (2009) Galerías de la Antigua Academia de San Carlos: pasado y presente. Memoria de restauración 2000-2007. Ciudad de México: UNAM. Dirección General del Patrimonio Universitario, Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. ISBN9786070210990.
↑ Jules Heller; Nancy G. Heller (19 December 2013). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN9781135638825.
↑ Francisco Tobías (May 20, 2013). "Elena Huerta". Saltillo: Zocalo. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
↑ Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (2013). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN9781135638894.
↑ Israel Katzman, Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México. tomo 1. Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones arquitectónicas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 1973, p.266.
↑ Katzman,Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México p. 267
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
