Academy of San Carlos

Last updated
Academy of San Carlos
SanCarlosAcademyDF.JPG
Academy of San Carlos on Academia Street
Parent institution Faculty of Arts and Design (UNAM)
Founder(s) Charles III of Spain
Established 1781
Focus Arts (graduate courses, mainly classical European traditional arts)
Formerly calledAcademy of the Three Noble Arts of San Carlos: architecture, painting and sculpture of New Spain
Location,
Coordinates 19°25′59″N99°07′44″W / 19.433086°N 99.128844°W / 19.433086; -99.128844
Website https://academiasancarlos.unam.mx

The Academy of San Carlos (Spanish : Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as the School of Engraving and moved to the Academia Street location about 10 years later. It emphasized the European classical tradition in training until the early 20th century, when it shifted to a more modern perspective.

Contents

The Academy of San Carlos was integrated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, eventually becoming the Faculty of Arts and Design, which is based in Xochimilco. Currently, only graduate courses of the modern school are given in the original academy building. [1] [2]

History

Rafael Ximeno y Planes, portrait of Jeronimo Antonio Gil, director of the academy Rafael Ximeno y Planes - Portrait of Geronimo Antonio Gil - Google Art Project.jpg
Rafael Ximeno y Planes, portrait of Jerónimo Antonio Gil, director of the academy
Old photo of the dean's office Antiguadireccionacademiasancarlos.jpg
Old 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.

Jose Maria Velasco Gomez Self-portrait (1894). Velasco dominated 19th c Mexican landscape painting Jose Maria Velasco.jpg
José María Velasco Gómez Self-portrait (1894). Velasco dominated 19th c Mexican landscape painting
The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral by Manuel Tolsa Catedral Metropolitana de la Asuncion de Maria.JPG
The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral by Manuel Tolsá

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 Academy of San carlos 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. When it reopened, 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. Despite the school's association with the independent Mexican government, Emperor Maximilian I installed in Mexico by the French, protected the school during his reign, although foreign artists were shunned there. When Benito Juárez ousted the emperor and regained the presidency of Mexico, he was reluctant to support the school and its European influence, which he considered to be a vestige of colonialism. [2]

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. It was also partially integrated into University of Mexico (now UNAM) at that time, although 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]

Alumni and associated artists

Breakwater in the port of Barcelona circa 1905 by Antonio Fabres (Barcelona) Escullera del port de Barcelona - Antoni Fabres - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.jpg
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]

Catalan Antonio Fabres was a dominant force at the Academy of San Carlos during the early 20th century. He mentored Mexican artists such as Saturnino Herrán, Roberto Montenegro, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco. [2]

José María Velasco is considered the greatest artist associated with the academy, famous for his landscapes of the Valley of Mexico and a mentor of Diego Rivera. Other artists linked to the academy are Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, Alfredo Zalce, Andrés José López, José Chávez Morado, Francisco Moreno Capdevila, Luis Sahagún Cortés, Gabriel Fernández Ledesma, Roberto de la Selva and Jorge Figueroa Acosta. [2] Matusha Corkidi studied at the academy. [4]

Mexican muralists Elena Huerta Muzquiz and Electa Arenal both attended the Academy of San Carlos. [5] [6] [7]

Architects

Upper floor of the building UpperfloorSanCarlosDF.JPG
Upper floor of the building

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. [8] 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. [9]

Building

Vicente Guerrero circa 1865, a full-length, posthumous portrait by Ramon Sagredo Vicente Guerrero by Ramon Sagredo.jpg
Vicente Guerrero circa 1865, a full-length, posthumous portrait by Ramón Sagredo
Hall with the plaster casts pending exercises of the UNAM's Faculty of Arts and Design alumni on 12 September 2012 Academia Sn Carlos.JPG
Hall with the plaster casts pending exercises of the UNAM's Faculty of Arts and Design alumni on 12 September 2012

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 facade, 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]

A number of plaster casts of classic statues from the San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in Spain were brought here for teaching purposes. These casts still exist and can be seen on display in the academy's central patio. Some of these statues include casts of statues from the Medici tombs, Moses by Michelangelo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo . [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. [10] 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. [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Autonomous University of Mexico</span> Public research university in Mexico

The National Autonomous University of Mexico is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 research institutes, 26 museums, and 18 historic sites.

Rafael Ximeno y Planes was a Spanish painter and draughtsman born in Valencia and deceased in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Nishizawa</span> Mexican artist (1918–2014)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Tolsá</span> Spanish architect and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City

Manuel Vicente Tolsá Sarrión was a prolific Neoclassical architect and sculptor in Spain and Mexico. He served as the first director of the Academy of San Carlos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo Nacional de Arte</span> Art museum in Mexico City, Mexico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain</span> Equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain in Mexico City, Mexico

The equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain is a bronze sculpture cast by Manuel Tolsá built between 1796 and 1803 in Mexico City, Mexico in honour of King Charles IV of Spain, then the last ruler of the New Spain. This statue has been displayed in different points of the city and is considered one of the finest achievements of Mr. Tolsá. It now resides in Plaza Manuel Tolsá.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School of Architecture, UNAM</span> Architecture school at UNAM

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Felguérez</span> Mexican artist (1928–2020)

Manuel Felguérez Barra was a Mexican abstract artist, part of the Generación de la Ruptura that broke with the muralist movement of Diego Rivera and others in the mid 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Chávez Morado</span> Mexican artist

José Chávez Morado was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Although Chávez Morado took classes in California and Mexico, he is considered to be mostly self-taught. He experimented with various materials, and was an early user of Italian mosaic in monumental works. His major works include murals at the Ciudad Universitaria, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes and Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City as well as frescos at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, which took twelve years to paint. From the 1940s on, he also worked as a cultural promoter, establishing a number of cultural institutions especially in his home state of Guanajuato including the Museo de Arte Olga Costa - José Chávez Morado, named after himself and his wife, artist Olga Costa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilberto Aceves Navarro</span> Mexican painter, sculptor, and professor (1931–2019)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican art</span>

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).

Gustavo Arias Murueta was a Mexican painter, sculptor and poet, a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana best known for his work in drawing, graphic arts and oil painting. He originally studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México where he met artists such as Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. In the 1950s, he began to produce artworks, with his first exhibition in 1961. From then until his death he had a career as an artist with individual and collective exhibitions in both Mexico and abroad. While his work had been heavily influenced by Orozco, he was considered part of the Generación de la Ruptura movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilean art</span>

Chilean art refers to all kinds of visual art developed in Chile, or by Chileans, from the arrival of the Spanish conquerors to the modern day. It also includes the native pre-Columbian pictorial expression on modern Chilean territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erasto Cortés Juárez</span> Mexican artist (1900–1972)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palacio de Minería</span> Palace in Mexico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José M. Bayro Corrochano</span>

José M. Bayro Corrochano is a plastic artist Bolivian and nationalised Mexican that produces oil paintings, sculptures and engraving. It is known by his monumental works La pareja del Trompo and El Hombre Azul

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sculpture in Mexico</span>

Sculpture is one of the oldest arts in Mexico. In Prehispanic Mexico, it is present in pyramids, sanctuaries, esplanades and communal objects; examples of this are the Olmec, Mayan, Teotihuacan, Tarascan, Mixtec and Aztec sculptures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Selma</span>

Fernando Selma was a Spanish engraver and illustrator.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Academia de San Carlos" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Galindo, Carmen; Magdelena Galindo (2002). Mexico City Historic Center. Ediciones Nueva Guia. pp. 70–72. ISBN   9685437297.
  3. 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. ISBN   9786070210990.
  4. Jules Heller; Nancy G. Heller (19 December 2013). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN   9781135638825.
  5. Francisco Tobías (May 20, 2013). "Elena Huerta". Saltillo: Zocalo. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  6. Guillermina U. Guadarrama Peña. "Pese a todo Elena Huerta fue muralista Crónicas". Crónicas. UNAM. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  7. Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (2013). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN   9781135638894.
  8. Israel Katzman, Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México. tomo 1. Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones arquitectónicas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 1973, p.266.
  9. Katzman,Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México p. 267
  10. 1 2 "Nacional Museum of San Carlos". Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  11. "Academia San Carlos, Mexico City". Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-30.

19°25′59.11″N99°7′43.84″W / 19.4330861°N 99.1288444°W / 19.4330861; -99.1288444