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Cándido López (29 August 1840 – 31 December 1902) was an Argentine soldier and painter who worked in the
Naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...
style. He is best known for his historical scenes from the
Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...
in which he fought.


Biography


Early life

He began his career as a
daguerreotypist Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre ...
in 1858, having studied with Carlos Descalzi (1813–1879), a local portrait painter and photographer. This early process required precise planning for the
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
of the image, so he began making sketches as an aid. Soon, this led him to take up painting as well. Between 1859 and 1863, he often toured the small cities and villages of
Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
and the south of
Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...
, taking a large number of photographs. From 1860, he maintained a permanent studio in the suburb of Mercedes. Two years later, he would be commissioned to do a portrait of newly elected President
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile s ...
. Later, he moved further into the country, to
San Nicolás de los Arroyos San Nicolás de los Arroyos (usually shortened to ''San Nicolás'') is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, from Rosario. It has about 133,000 inhabitants (). It is the administrative seat ...
.Brief biography
@ Centro Cultural Recoleta.
In 1863, he became friends with the Italian muralist Ignacio Manzoni, who advised him to work on his use of color and perspective and introduced him to
Baldassare Verazzi Baldassare Verazzi (6 January 1819 – 18 January 1886) was an Italian painter. Life Verazzi was born in Caprezzo, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont. He studied at the Academy of Brera at Milan from 1833 to 1842, then under the Venetian Roma ...
, another Italian painter living in Argentina, with whom he took lessons. He was planning to continue his studies in Europe when the Paraguayan War began, so he enlisted and was given the rank of Second Lieutenant because he could read and write. He was assigned to the battalion of the San Nicolás Infantry, in the Division of General Wenceslao Paunero.


The Paraguayan War

During his free time between battles, he painted landscapes and pictures of the military camps, which he sent to Buenos Aires. They proved to be very popular, as people were interested in everything related to the front. Later, he participated in the battles of Estero Bellaco and Boquerón. At the
Battle of Curupayty The Battle of Curupayty was a key battle in the Paraguayan War. On the morning on 22 September 1866, the joint force of Brazilian, Argentine, and Uruguayan armies attacked Paraguayan fortified trenches on Curupayty. The Paraguayans were led by ge ...
, his right wrist was shattered by a grenade explosion and his arm had to amputated above the elbow to prevent the spread of
gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the gan ...
.''Cándido López: el manco de Curupaytí''
("manco" means one-armed) by Robert Buchi @ Al Margen.
He was retired as an invalid and, after a convalescence in
Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...
, he returned to San Nicolás. Once there, he began to practice painting with his left hand, but it was not until 1869 that he considered himself adept enough to continue his career. At that point, he devoted himself entirely to painting scenes of battles and military encampments. Later, at various times, he lived in
San Antonio de Areco San Antonio de Areco is a city in northern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and administrative seat of the partido of San Antonio de Areco. It is located on the Areco River away from Buenos Aires city, the country's capital. San Antonio de A ...
and Merlo. He later married and lived in a house in
Carmen de Areco Carmen de Areco is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative centre for Carmen de Areco Partido. History In 1779, Viceroy Vértiz ordered Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bergezé de Ducás to reinforce the line of defence ...
, owned by his wife's family. From 1888 to 1902, López was busily involved in creating works based on sketches he had made during his tour of duty. His final years were spent at a farm he was renting in Baradero. He was given a military burial with honors in
La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...
.


Works

It seems to have been López's principal intention as an artist to document war scenes, but only certain “epic” moments, yet without including any eloquence and
chauvinism Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...
. He also tried to remain “neutral” from the Triple Alliance's (Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay) perspective and seems to have made a sincere effort. Curiously, his war paintings do not communicate a war emotion, or even suffering; more they appear to be a series of valuable “post cards”. Cándido López appeared to try to avoid the suffering painted in the curious scenes where sometimes the eye searches for rest in the natural landscape, serene and neutral where the tragedy occurs. In the same way, the soldiers from both sides appeared more than anything like tiny shadows that move with solemn and variegated colors. The painting of this war is nightmarish, as he painted the movements of variegated masses under serene landscapes and in certain cases of a dream. For example, in Empedrado (Corrientes) Empedrado, between beautiful palm trees of Yatay (
Battle of Yatay In the Paraguayan War, the Battle of Yatay was fought on August 17, 1865, between the troops of the Triple Alliance (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay) and the soldiers of Paraguay near Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Argentina. The Battle of Ya ...
), or under a glowing sky – which occurs in the painting called “Invernada del ejército oriental”. He calls attention to the unusual format of its landscape which is very horizontal, in a proportion of one to three (for example 40 x 120 cm o 48.5 x 152 cm). The specific proportion has permitted it to stand out with great detail with multiple and simultaneous actions. Despite the dimensions of the works, he describes the natural scenarios of the episodes, while making all the images with the bare minimum material. Although López initially utilized a triangular perspective close to the ground and the scene, later he changed to another perspective. The perspective would become a striking feature for him: two points of view that are very elevated, dispel even more the depth of the perspectives, carrying the gaze towards distant horizons where the war is blurred and appears to be stunned...For example, the soft sunset colors are used is an attempt to distance himself from the drama. His pictorial structures are firm and simple between the plane of the earth and of the heavens.


Selected paintings

File:Mitre por Candido Lopez.jpg, Portrait of president Bartolomé Mitre File:Ataque de la escuadra Brasileña a las baterias de Curupaytí, el 22 de Septiembre de 1866.jpg, Attack of the Brazilian ships on Curupayty (detail) File:Cándido Lopez - Vista interior de Curuzú mirado de aguas arriba - detalle 01.JPG, Interior view of Curuzú (detail) File:Tuyuti2.jpg, Battle of Tuyutí (detail)


References


Further reading

* Fermín Fèvre, ''Cándido López'' (series: "Tesoros de la pintura argentina"), El Ateneo, 2000 * Marcelo Pacheco, (with an introduction by
Augusto Roa Bastos Augusto Roa Bastos (13 June 1917 – 26 April 2005) was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. ...
), ''Cándido López'', Proyecto Cultural Artistas del Mercosur, Ediciones Banco Velox, 1998


External links


"Cándido López (pintor de la guerra del paraguay) un genio"
by "Fuente" @ Taringa!
''Cándido López - Los campos de batalla''
Documentary film (2005), listing at
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Artistas: Cándido López
@ Arte Mercosur {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Candido 1840 births 1902 deaths People from Buenos Aires Argentine military personnel of the Paraguayan War Argentine war artists Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Argentine portrait painters 19th-century war artists 19th-century Argentine painters 19th-century Argentine male artists Argentine male painters