The Casa del Arte
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...
(more commonly known simply as the Casa del Arte, "House of Art" or Pinacoteco, "Art Gallery") is a
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an
art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
on the campus of the
University of Concepción, in
Concepción. It is situated on the corner of Chacabuco and Larenas,
facing the
Plaza Perú. The gallery attracts approximately 75,000 visitors a year and houses the country's largest collection of paintings outside the capital city of
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, and the most complete collection of Chilean art with some 1,800 works.
One of its main features is the mural ''
Presencia de América Latina'' (1964) by the Mexican artist
Jorge González Camarena
Jorge González Camarena (24 March 1908 – 24 May 1980) was a Mexican painter, muralist and sculptor. He is best known for his mural work, as part of the Mexican muralism movement, although his work is distinct from the main names associat ...
, which is in the entrance hall.
History
The need for an art collection was recognized from the foundation of the university in 1919, in large part as an educational benefit to the students. In 1929, the then rector,
Enrique Molina Garmendia
Enrique Molina Garmendia (August 4, 1871, La Serena, Chile - March 8, 1964, Concepción, Chile) was a Chilean educator and philosopher who promoted and aided in the development of the decentralization of education in Chile.Universidad de Conce ...
, proposed building a gallery, and in the 1950s
Tole Peralta, a professor of art, lent impetus to the project. In January 1958, during the rectorship of
David Stitchkin Branover, the university acquired an important collection of more than 500 Chilean paintings from the philanthropist
Julio Vásquez Cortés.
Construction of the building began in 1963, now with the additional objective of exhibiting the art to the whole community. The architects were
Osvaldo Cáceres and
Alejandro Rodríguez, and the building was originally intended to house the administrative offices of the university extension and the Department of Plastic Arts, as well as the art gallery. The site was an open space which had once contained the original university dental school, partly destroyed by the
1960 Valdivia earthquake
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami ( es, link=no, Terremoto de Valdivia) or the Great Chilean earthquake (''Gran terremoto de Chile'') on 22 May 1960 was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Various studies have placed it at 9.4– ...
.
[
]
González Camarena worked on the mural from November 1964 to April 1965, and the building opened to the public in 1967. Since then the collection has grown considerably. Important gifts were received in 1984 from the family of Jorge Délano Frederick
Jorge Délano Frederick (December 4, 1895 - July 9, 1980) was a Chilean cartoonist, screenwriter, film director, and actor. He was a caricaturist for ''La Nación'', and he won the María Moors Cabot International Journalism Prize in 1952 and the ...
, a Chilean graphic artist and in 1994 from the Sociedad de Oleoducto Trasandino, a Chilean-Argentine conglomerate that celebrated its 75th anniversary with a donation of engravings by Oswaldo Guayasamín
Oswaldo Guayasamín (July 6, 1919 – March 10, 1999) was an Ecuadorian painter and sculptor of Kichwa and Mestizo heritage.
Biography
Early life
Guayasamín was born in Quito, Ecuador, to a native father and a Mestiza mother, both of Kichwa de ...
. Also, Lorena Villablanca donated many of her own works, and in 1999 engravings by Santos Chavez, with themes relating to the indigenous experience, were donated.
The Casa de Arte has also hosted a variety of events, including the first South American Workshop on Marine Biodiversity for the Census of Marine Life in 2002, the 13th International Conference of the Bryozoology Association in 2004 and exhibits and presentations by José Balmes
José Balmes Parramón (20 January 1927 – 28 August 2016) was a Spanish-born painter based in Chile. He received Chile's National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1999.
Biography
José Balmes was born in 1927 in the town of Montesquiu in Catalonia, ...
, Valentina Cruz, and Nicanor Parra, the last attracting 20,000 people.
Architecture and fittings
The building is hexagonal in shape, with primary facades facing both the square and the remainder of the university, together with an entrance atrium from which a large window reveals the interior hall.
The architecture is a mix of styles, Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
in the front section and neoclassical at the rear, the result of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. A skylight facing the campus illuminates the exhibition hall, while the main section of the building faces the Plaza Perú. One of the first trees planted in the university, a redwood
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...
, grows beside the museum. It has two floors; the upstairs spaces are wood-panelled.
Collection
The art displays contain the largest collection of Chilean artists during the period from 19th to the 20th centuries. The collections include foreign artists.
The Casa del Arte has the most complete collection of Chilean paintings, composed of works from different eras, from the colonial period to the most representative artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The permanent exhibition on the upper floor includes works of Pedro Luna, Jorge Délano, Thomas Somerscales
Thomas Jacques Somerscales (born in Sculcoates, Yorkshire on 29 October 1842; died in Sculcoates, Yorkshire on 27 June 1927) was an English teacher, sailor, and landscape and marine painter. He is also considered a Chilean painter as he began his ...
, Onofre Jarpa, Raymond Monvoisin, Celia Castro
Celia Castro (1860, Valparaíso - 19 June 1930, Valparaíso) was a Chilean visual artist. Her style is generally associated with Realism.
Biography
Castro's artistic career was inspired from a meeting with the painter Manuel Antonio Caro who, ...
, and Agustín Abarca
Agustín Abarca (27 December 1882, Talca – 28 May 1953, Santiago) was a Chilean painter. He was a member of the Generación del 13.
Abarca went to the ''Liceo de Hombres'' and the ''Instituto Comercial'' in Talca before being introduced to pa ...
. There are two paintings by Gil de Castro, a nude by Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma
Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma ( Valparaiso, 8 February 1856 – Villejuif, France, 27 October 1909), was one of Chile's best-known painters and one of the four artists known as the Great Chilean Masters.
Biography
He showed a talent and in ...
, a landscape by Antonio Smith, and another landscape by Alberto Valenzuela Llanos
Alberto Valenzuela Llanos (San Fernando, Chile, August 29, 1869 – Santiago, Chile, July 23, 1925), was one of Chile's greatest painters and one of the four Great Chilean Masters, along with Pedro Lira, Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma and Juan Fr ...
.
The art museum maintains important work of Chilean art groups such as Generación del 13
Generación del 13 (Generación del Trece; The 13 Generation) was Chile's first painter collective. Its name derives from the year 1913, after a joint exhibition was held at the ''Salon'' of the Chilean newspaper ''El Mercurio'' in the preceding ...
and the Grupo Montparnasse. The gallery also houses temporary exhibitions on the ground floor.
The exhibit space consists of six main galleries, whose contents are either fixed or changing depending on their significance and the manner in which they were acquired. One of these is the atrium in which the mural is located. On the ground floor, the ''Sala Tole Peralta'', named for the founder and first director of the Casa del Arte, assembles works of major Chilean painters in chronological order. The rectangular shape of the gallery enables the visitor to easily observe the evolution of Chilean art over time. This gallery is also equipped with tables and groups of antique chairs and has low artificial light so that visitors can rest there.
The ''Sala Generación del Trece'', also on the ground floor, contains a permanent exhibit of paintings from that artistic movement, including the well known ''Pintor bohemio'' by Ezequiel Plaza and ''Velorio de un Angelito'' by Arturo Gordon. This gallery is the largest after the main hall.
On the upper floor, the ''Sala de los grandes maestros'' (gallery of great masters) is dedicated to masters of Chilean painting, including Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma's ''La ninfa de las cerezas'', one of the most praised works of Chilean art. This gallery is polygonal in shape and formal in character; outside it, González Camarena's mural can be seen from a higher vantage point.
The ''Sala Marta Colvin'', on the ground floor, is named for the Chilean sculptor and houses temporary exhibitions by artists invited by the Casa del Arte or the university. This space was also designed to be adaptable to varying kinds of performance, and is used, for example, for readings, discussions and poetry recitals.
On the basement level, reached by a corridor lined with windows, is the ''Sala CAP'', named for the Compañía Siderúrgica Huachipato, which contributed to its remodeling. This is used for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
in any medium, including audiovisual art. The majority of these works are contemplative in nature, and the room's simple colors and architectural irregularity allow it to be totally modified to suit the needs of a particular show. This room also has no exterior light sources, inviting the visitor to meditate on the art. Audiovisual commentary is sometimes provided.
In addition, the ''Sala Universitaria'', a basement space in the Plaza de Armas in the centre of Concepción, houses primarily works by regional artists. Since 2008, the University Extension has used it for an exhibit on the history of Chilean painting targeted particularly at children and teenagers.
The ''Presencia de América Latina'' mural was recognized by the Government of Chile as a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
under Decree Number 147 of April 30, 2009. Also in recognition of its heritage and cultural value to the conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
of Greater Concepción and Bío Bío Region, it was one of the cultural artifacts recognized with a plaque in 2009 in celebration of the Bicentennial of Chile
The Bicentennial of Chile ( es, Bicentenario de Chile) took place on September 18, 2010.
The celebration commemorates the beginning of the Independence process in Chile, with the first Government Junta of Chile on September 18, 1810, and Chile' ...
in 2010.
References
External links
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Art museums and galleries in Chile
University museums in Chile
University of Concepción
Art museums established in 1967
Museums in Biobío Region
Modernist architecture in Chile