Cosme San Martín Lagunas (27 September 1849/1850,

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

– 1 April 1906,

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 ...

) was a Chilean painter and the first Chilean-born Director of the

Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile) Academy of Painting (), also known as the School of Fine Arts of Santiago ( ''de Santiago''), was a Chilean art school, founded on March 17, 1849 in Santiago, Chile. The school produced many works for the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, wh ...

.Biographical notes
@ Artistas Plásticos Chilenos.

Biography

His father was a musician. In 1864, he went to Santiago to study at the Academia. His teachers included the school's Director,

Alejandro Ciccarelli Alejandro Ciccarelli Manzoni, originally Alessandro Ciccarelli (25 January 1811, Naples - 5 May 1879, Santiago) was an Italian-born Chilean painter and educator. He was the first Director of the Academy of Painting in Santiago, Chile. Biography ...

and Juan Mochi, who had a great influence on his style. Four years later, no older than nineteen, San Martín was named a Professor of drawing at the Academy. His work "Jesús y María Magdalena" won a competition that enabled him to obtain a grant for study in Europe.Brief biography
@ MCN Biografías. In 1875, he went to Paris, where he studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

and worked in the studios of the Spanish painter, Juan Antonio González (1842-1914), along with his fellow Chilean,

Pedro Lira Pedro Francisco Lira Rencoret (17 May 1845, Santiago – 20 April 1912, Santiago) was a Chilean painter and art critic, who organized exhibitions that led to the establishment of the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. He is best known for h ...

. He participated in several exhibitions as well as the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

. In 1880, his painting "El reposo de la modelo" (The Model's Rest) was highly praised and was included in the Salon's promotional material. He remained in Europe for ten years. Upon his return to Chile, he was named Deputy Director of the Academy under his former teacher, Juan Mochi. Two years later, when Mochi resigned, San Martín succeeded him as Director. He was very dedicated and well-liked, and apparently continued to act in that capacity until 1900, even though Pedro Lira had technically been appointed to succeed him in 1893. Lira was replaced by the sculptor Virginio Arias. He was one of the last representatives of

Academicism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...

in his country and worked in a wide variety of genres, including portraits,

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

interior portrait The interior portrait (portrait d'intérieur) or, in German, Zimmerbild (room picture), is a pictorial genre that appeared in Europe near the end of the 17th century and enjoyed a great vogue in the second half of the 19th century. It involves a c ...

s, allegories, marine art and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

s. He was also a musician, and often played viola with the orchestra at the

Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...

, where his father had been employed.

Selected paintings

File:Cosme San Martín La lectura.jpg, The Reading File:Arturo Prat-por Cosme San Martín.JPG,

Arturo Prat Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean lawyer and navy officer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, ...

Guided by the Genius of the Fatherland File:San Martin, Cosme - Idilio. Luis XV -ost MMBAV fRF 01.jpg, Idyll from the Time
of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

File:San Martin-Brisca.jpg, Playing

Brisca Brisca is a popular Spanish card game''Brisca''
at pagat.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020. played by two teams of two with a 4 ...

References

External links

The full caricature by Rojas
@ Memoria Chilena. {{DEFAULTSORT:San Martin, Cosme 19th-century births 1906 deaths Chilean male painters Portrait painters Genre painters Artists from Valparaíso 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters Male painters 20th-century Chilean male artists Academic staff of the Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile)