Alexander Spiers Witcomb (also known as Alejandro S. Witcomb in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

;

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, 1838 –

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, 1905) was a British photographer whose work is considered part of the historical heritage of Argentina,''Diccionario de historia de la fotografía'', by M.L. Sougez – Ediciones Cátedra (Madrid, 2003) – where he established the first photography studio. The Witcomb collection contains about 500,000 negatives, although people from his era stated that the General Archive of the Nation could have received about 700,000 negatives at that time to become part of the Archive collection.

Biography

Witcomb was born in Winchester, Hampshire, in 1838 and studied photography in France, then moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

where he worked as a trader for some time. In 1872, he again moved to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, where he worked in a bank and then as a photographer in the city of Mercedes. Witcomb moved again to

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, Argentina, where he worked with Christiano Junior, from whom he later acquired his studio and negatives. The partnership lasted until Witcomb travelled to Buenos Aires. Witcomb not only took pictures at his studio but in the streets, where he photographed the social life of

. Because of his influences, Witcomb made several portraits of diverse presidents of Argentina, as well as the high class of Buenos Aires in his social meetings. In 1880, Witcomb established his own studio, located on Florida street n° 364, which later became the most traditional photograph studio in Argentina. Starting as a photography studio, it then expanded its activities to an art gallery where new artists had the opportunity to show their work. Following Witcomb's death in 1905, his son took his place continued with the exhibitions and work until his dead in 1945. The company continued working, being managed by Witcomb's partners until 1970, when the material became part of the General Archive of the Nation as an evidence of the history of Argentina registered on photographs.

Witcomb Collection

The collection is made up by

photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...

s that belonged to Wicbomb gallery, but it is believed that some pictures could have been also taken by Christiano Junior when he and Witcomb were partners. Witcomb witnessed and photographed the life of Buenos Aires in many aspects: streets, notable persons, transport, celebrations, social and historic facts. The beginning of Witcomb galleries were as photographic art. In 1897, Alexander Witcomb established in Florida street n° 364 of Buenos Aires city, with the purpose of exhibiting artwork. Since the galleries started activities until their closure in 1971, about 1,900 exhibitions were made there.

Photography gallery

File:Primera foto del cabildo.jpg, The first photo of the Cabildo ever taken, c. 1842 – 1850 File:Julián Martínez (niño en pose) - Alejandro Witcomb.jpg, Child in pose File:Almuerzo airelibre Witcomb.jpg, Outdoors lunch File:Constitucion train station 1900.jpg, Constitución train station File:Juan arroyo 1870.jpg, Payador File:Expos.rural floridayparag 1875.jpg, Rural exhibition (1875) File:Teatro colon 1881.jpg, Teatro Colón File:Flia portena playing cricket.jpg, Family playing cricket File:Witcomb studio 1880.jpg, Alexander Witcomb at his studio, c. 1890s.

Notable art exhibitions

Between 1897 and 1913 Spanish curator José Artal organised modern art expositions of notable artists from his country. Artal designed brochures detailing the pieces to be exhibited, sending them to the media, art collectors and intellectuals. As during the first years of existence the gallery exhibited European art, in 1902 Martín Mahlharro opened the season with great success. Then president of Argentina Julio A. Roca acquired ''La Argentina'' and

Joaquín V. González Joaquín Víctor González (March 6, 1863 – December 21, 1923) was an Argentine educator, political scientist, writer, magistrate, and politician. Biography Early life González was born in Nonogasta, a rural community near Chilecito, ...

gave his approval to the purchase of ''En Plena Naturaleza'', both by Martín Malharro, for the National Museum of Fine Arts. In 1908 the "Nexus" Group, which include painters such as

Carlos P. Ripamonte Carlos Pablo Ripamonte (Buenos Aires, May 4, 1874 – Villa Ballester, August 14, 1968) was an Argentine painter. Early life and artistic formation Carlos Ripamonte was born in Buenos Aires to Mateo Ripamonte, an Italian immigrant, and Merce ...

, Justo Lynch,

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, Alberto Rossi, among others, exhibited 99 works of art with a huge repercussion. Painter

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also made exhibitions of his work in 1906, 1907 and 1908. In 1907 young artist Lia Gismondi was the first woman to make an individual exhibition, followed by other notable artists such as

Julia Wernicke Julia Wernicke (August 26, 1860 – October 25, 1932) was a painter and engraver from Argentina. She is known as the first animalist painter from Argentina, and was unique at the time in incorporating exotic animals into her paintings. She pa ...

, Andree Moch and French painter Leonie Matthis. One year later

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made his second individual exhibition, and then in 1911 and 1913.Martín Malharro biography
/ref> Quinquela Martín en su estudio (2)

Taking advantage of the good economic situation in

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

, Witcomb opened an exhibition room in that city, more specifically in the "Souza" room. Meanwhile, several young Argentine artists had also an opportunity to show their art at the Witcomb gallery in Buenos Aires. Some of them were Victoria Aguirre, Francisco Recondo, Ramón Silva, Fray Guillermo Butler,

Raúl Mazza Raúl Mazza (1888–1948) was an Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, h ...

, Faustino Brughetti, Eduardo Schiaffino (who would later be named as director of the National Museum of Fine Arts), amongst others. In 1918, a young painter named

Benito Quinquela Martín Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activit ...

exhibited in the gallery for the first time, being acclaimed by both, media and public. The main subject of his paintings was his neighborhood,

La Boca La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa. Geography L ...

, the ''Isla Maciel'' and workers at the docks. In Rosario, a 16-year-old painter

Antonio Berni Delesio Antonio Berni (14 May 1905 – 13 October 1981) was an Argentine figurative artist. He is associated with the movement known as ''Nuevo Realismo'' ("New Realism"), an Argentine extension of social realism. His work, including a serie ...

exhibited his work in 1921, then repeating in 1922 and 1923. Due to the good results, one year later Berni featured his artwork at Buenos Aires. During the 1920s there were notable exhibitions such as

Emilio Pettoruti Emilio Pettoruti (1892–1971) was an Argentine painter, who caused a scandal with his avant-garde cubist exhibition in 1924 in Buenos Aires. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Buenos Aires was a city full of artistic development. Pettorut ...

, Uruguayan

Pedro Figari Pedro Figari (June 29, 1861 – July 24, 1938) was a Uruguayan painter, lawyer, writer, and politician. Although he did not begin the practice until his later years, he is best known as an early modernist painter who emphasized capturing the ev ...

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, Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós, Luis Macaya, Jorge Larco, Víctor Valdivia, Alberto María Rossi, Luis Tessandori and sculptor

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. The 1930 featured the art of Atilio Malinverno, Juan Sol, Tito Gache, Adam Styka,

Florencio Molina Campos Florencio Molina Campos (birth name, Florencio de los Ángeles Molina Campos, August 21, 1891 – November 16, 1959) was an Argentine illustrator and a painter known by his typical traditional scenes of the Pampa. His work represents gauchesco ...

, Rodolfo Franco, Mario Anganuzzi, Ángel della Valle, Alfredo Lazzari. At the end of the decade (1939) the gallery moved to Florida 760. In 1947 Antonio Berni returned to the gallery after 20 years of absence. In the 1950s the gallery remained active with a considerable amount of exhibitions by recognised artists and new talents also. Some of the artists that featured their work were

Raúl Soldi Raúl Soldi (27 March 1905 – 21 April 1994) was an Argentine painter and production designer whose work treated various subjects, including landscapes, portraits, the theater and the circus, and nature. His theatrical figures are renowned for ...

, Luis Macaya, Enrique Larrañaga, Marcos Tiglio, Florencio Molina Campos, Santiago Cogorno,

Ramón Gómez Cornet Ramón Gómez Cornet (1 March 1898 - 9 April 1964) was an Argentine painter. He was one of the forerunners of the modern Argentine painting. Biography Ramón Gómez Cornet was the son of Ramon Gomez, former Minister of Interior on Hipólito Yrigo ...

, Raul Russo,

Carlos Alonso Carlos Alonso (born 4 February 1929) is an Argentine contemporary painter, draftsman and printmaker. Though he was a Social realist in his early career, he is best known as a New realist. Beef is a common element in his work. Early years Born i ...

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, Jorge Larco,

, Ginez Parra, Rómulo Macció, Leopoldo Torres Agüero, and Quinquela Martín. In 1953 the gallery held an exhibition in tribute to Figari that was widely covered by the media. When new art styles ( neo figurative, pop art,

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

) came up in the 1960s, Witcomb did not show more enthusiast about them. Nevertheless, the gallery held some exhibitions p.e. Berni's

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

s (with Juanito Laguna as his main character). Those collages were badly criticized by some critics, but on the other hand, they were well received by other audiences that approved the artist's evolution. Some of the artists exhibiting during those years were Alberto Bruzzone, Quinquela Martín, Ricardo Sánchez, Batlle Planas, Pettoruti, Luis Centurión,

, Cesáreo Quirós, Mario Mollari, César Bustillo. The new generation of artists also had a place to exhibit their art, being

Luis Felipe Noe Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

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, Juan Grela, Lino Palacio, Vito Campanella, Sakai,

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Rogelio Polesello Rogelio Polesello (26 July 1939 – 6 July 2014) was an Argentine painter, muralist and sculptor. He was best known for making Op art (or optical art) known in Latin America. He won two Konex Awards; one in 1982 and another in 2012. He was born ...

among them. In 1968 the gallery celebrated its 100th. anniversary with multiple activities. In 1970 the gallery held 88 exhibitions (duplicating 1969) but it had to close in 1971 due to the excessive increase of the rent and the refurbishment of Florida streets that became it a

pedestrian street Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

Art gallery

File:La Argentina - Martín Malharro.jpg, ''La Argentina'' (Martín Malharro) File:La_arboleda_-_Mart%C3%ADn_Malharro.jpg, ''La Arboleda'' (Malharro) File:La_hora_del_almuerzo_-_P%C3%ADo_Collivadino.jpg, ''Lunchtime'' (Pio Collivadino) File:Fader Caballos.jpg, ''Horses'' (Fernando Fader) File:Fernando Fader - Capilla de Ischilín - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Capilla de Ischillín'' (Fader) File:13 doble boda Figari.jpg, ''Double Wedding (Pedro Figari)''

References

External links

Galerías Witcomb website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witcomb, Alexander Photographers from Hampshire British emigrants to Argentina 1838 births 1905 deaths Argentine photographers