Clara Ledesma Terrazas (5 March 1924 – 25 May 1999)
[''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. ]Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
. was an artist from the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
.
Early years and education
Born in
Santiago de los Caballeros
Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, James, son of Zebedee, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the cap ...
, she attended Escuela Ercilia Pepín and in her teenage years studied art under
Yoryi Morel
Jorge Octavio Morel Tavárez (known as Yoryi Morel) was a Dominican painter, musician, and teacher born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic; he is remembered as the leading costumbrista painter in the country and one of the early pr ...
at his self-named Academia Yoryi.
Ledesma later was one of the first women to enroll in — as well as graduate from — the
National School of Fine Arts in
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
, graduating in 1948.
There, her professors included
Celeste Woss y Gil
Celeste Agustina Woss y Gil (5 May 1891 – 1985) was a Dominican Republic painter, educator, and feminist activist, remembered as one of the most influential Dominican artists from the 20th century. Born in Santo Domingo and daughter to former ...
and
George Hausdorf, while her primary mentor was painting professor
Josep Gausachs. Fellow students included
Gilberto Hernández Ortega and
Eligio Pichardo
Eligio Pichardo (1929–1984) was a painter from the Dominican Republic. He worked in Santo Domingo and New York City, producing Expressionist and Abstract Expressionist works.
Early life and education
Pichardo was born in Salcedo, Hermanas ...
. After graduating, she took a position teaching drawing at the same school.
Career, continuing education and personal life
In 1949, Ledesma had her first solo exhibition at the Ateneo of San Pedro de Macorís.
In 1951 she opened a combination studio and gallery, where she displayed her works as well as those of other artists. With the proceeds from a very successful solo exhibition in 1952, Ledesma traveled to Europe to further her education. She studied painting in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and exhibited her works in galleries in Spain. Ledesma also traveled to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to visit important museums. She was particularly influenced by the works of
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
,
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...
and
Paul Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
. During her stay in Europe, Ledesma met
Bolivian native artist
Walter Terrazas, who returned to Santo Domingo with her in 1954.
"She studied painting at prestigious academies abroad and then returned to the country where she presented works that she had conducted in Europe under the influence of Miro, Chagall and Paul Klee, among others."
In Santo Domingo, she worked closely with other important Dominican artists, including
Gilberto Hernández Ortega,
Josep Gausachs and
Jaime Colson
Jaime Antonio Gumercindo González Colson (13 January 190120 November 1975) was a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican modernism, modernist painter, writer, and playwright born in Tubagua, Puerto Plata Province, Puerto Plata in 1901. He is ...
. In 1955, she was named vice director of the National School of Fine Arts.
In 1961, Clara Ledesma and her husband moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where she opened another gallery. She lived and worked there until her death in 1999.
Exhibitions and artwork
Ledesma had numerous international solo exhibitions, including events in Madrid,
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and New York, and participated in group exhibitions in Brazil, Spain, Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, Argentina and Puerto Rico.
Ledesma's paintings ranged in style from
Expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
and
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
to
Abstraction. She is known for her use of brilliant colors, imaginative figures and the feeling of magic and mysticism created in her paintings and drawings. In 1955, journalist Horia Tanasescu described her work: "At times ironic, often playful, but taking great care in the production of her paintings, this artist introduces an enthusiasm for life to the national art scene that is in striking contrast to the solemnity of the majority of her fellow artists."
"Ledesma also touched on social realism in her work, with her most noted series underlining the racial inequities of the time.”
"She tried to represent native paintings, with concern, but away from the drama. One of her best stage was marked by the issue of blackness."
Her artwork can be found in various private collections worldwide. It can also be found in the
Metropolitan Museum of New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the List of largest art museums, largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. ...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Miami, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico, the Contemporary Art of Madrid and the Gallery of Modern Art. Ledesma's work has also been featured in the Sarduy Gallery of New York, Art Gallery Nader, Signs of New York, and the Gallery of Modern Art in Santo Domingo.
Awards and achievements
* 1948: Gran Premio de Pintura de Bellas Artes en Escultura
* 1949: Honorable mention, Exposición Femenina de Bellas Artes, Brazil.
* 1950: Third prize, painting, La V Bienal Nacional de de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo
* 1951: Representative of the Dominican Republic at the I Bienal Hispanoamerica de Arte, Madrid, Spain
* 1954: First prize, drawing, La VI Bienal Nacional de de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo for "Retrato"
* 1951: Representative of the Dominican Republic at the II Bienal Hispanoamerica de Arte, Havana, Cuba
* 1956: First prize, painting, La VII Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo
* 1958: First prize, painting, La VIII Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo, for "El Sacrificio del Chivo" ("The Sacrifice of the Goat")
* 1960: Second prize, painting, La X Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo, "Crepusculo en una Aldea" ("Twilight in a Village")
* 1960: Solo show at the Contemporaries of New York
* 1963: Second prize, painting, and first prize, drawing, La XI Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Santo Domingo
* 1964: Second prize, drawing, el Primer Concurso Anual de Arte Eduardo León Jimenes, for "Eco atávico"
* 1996: Knight of the
Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella
The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella (''Orden al Mérito de Duarte, Sánchez y Mella'') is the principal order of the Dominican Republic. It was established on 24 February 1931 as the ''Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit'' (''Orden al M ...
awarded by
Leonel Fernández Reyna, president of the Dominican Republic
* 1999: Diploma de Honor, Asociación Dominicana Críticos de Arte, ADCA/AICA (posthumous)
* 2010: National Prize for Plastic Arts (posthumous)
* La Bienal de Madrid, Premio Nicaragua y Medalla de Oro
* Selected for the collective for the Medical Association for Puerto Rico titled "Maestros del Continente" ("Teachers of the Continent")
Death
Ledesma died in
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...
, at the age of 75.
See also
*
List of Dominican painters
*
Visual art of the United States
Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial ar ...
*
Women Surrealists
Women Surrealists are women artists, photographers, filmmakers and authors connected with the Surrealism movement, which began in the early 1920s.
Painters
* Gertrude Abercrombie (1909–1977), Chicago artist inspired by the Surrealists, wh ...
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledesma, Clara
1924 births
1999 deaths
20th-century American painters
Abstract painters
American company founders
American women company founders
American Expressionist painters
American surrealist artists
American women painters
20th-century Dominican Republic painters
Dominican Republic women artists
Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States
Dominican Republic expatriates in Spain
People from Santiago de los Caballeros
Dominican Republic women painters
20th-century Dominican Republic artists
Women surrealist artists
20th-century American women