Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, is the oldest and most prestigious fine arts school in Cuba. It is also known as Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Academia San Alejandro, or San Alejandro Academy. The school is located in

Marianao Marianao is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English languag ...

, a suburb of

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, and was founded in 1818 at the ''Convent of San Alejandro''. It is located today in a monumental building built in the early 1940s.

Beginning

The school was founded with the support of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country and the General Intendant of the Treasury and was founded under the direction of the French artist Jean Baptiste Vermay (1784–1833). The school was named after Don Alejandro Ramírez, general superintendent and director of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country. It is the educational center with the largest number of years building the teaching on the lands of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, preceded only by the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

. It turned-from a number of changes that occurred in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the 19th century and not surprisingly was felt in the colonies, in the climate of the

Constitution of Cádiz The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy ( es, link=no, Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz ( es, link=no, Constitución de Cádiz) and as ''La Pepa'', was the first Constituti ...

of 1812 and

enlightened absolutism Enlightened absolutism (also called enlightened despotism) refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhance ...

. It was established by the Royal Patriotic Society and the Royal Consulate of Havana, as the Free School of Drawing and Painting. Its first director, Juan Bautista Vermay, who arrived in Cuba when the Bonaparte empire collapsed, when he was 31 years old.

Administration

The internal life at ''San Alejandro'' is governed by the Board of Directors who in turn appoints the Technical Council, who in turn run the different departments that make up the teaching faculty. The Board of Directors consists of the Director and Deputy Director and the Secretaries Speciality Teaching, Education, Health Care-Economic, Business and Education. The Technical Board, in turn, is the body responsible for representing the teaching faculty to the Board of Directors. It consists of all deans of each departments. These are the Deans of

Drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

Painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

Jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

Graphic Arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

and Theoretical-Cultural Teachings. San Alejandro has exchanges with many schools abroad, including in the UK The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School. Over the past three years, three exchanges have taken place. The exchanges consisted of the students from Wiseman travelling to Cuba in February, and the Cuban students coming to London in June.

Directors

Notable alumni

* Antonia Eiriz *

Nela Arias-Misson Nela Arias-Misson (September 8, 1915 – July 17, 2015) was a Cuban-born abstract expressionist painter and sculptor. Nela Arias-Misson was a contemporary and friend of the 20th-century painters Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert ...

Manuel Carbonell Manuel Carbonell (October 25, 1918 – November 10, 2011) was a Cuban Contemporary and Modern artist, regarded as among the greatest Cuban sculptors of his generation. He was part of the generation of Cuban artists that includes Wifredo Lam and ...

Pablo Borges Delgado Pablo Amancio Borges Delgado (born February 10, 1955) is a Cuban artist. Borges, from 1968 to 1970, studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" and studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana. In 1980 he became ...

* Agustín Fernández * Antonio Gattorno * Juan Esnard Heydrich * Alicia Leal *

Víctor Manuel Víctor Manuel San José Sánchez (born July 7, 1947) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. He has been married to the Spanish singer and actress Ana Belén since 1972. He and his wife are considered symbols of the Spanish Transition, and his songs ...

Amelia Peláez Amelia Peláez del Casal (5 January 1896 – 8 April 1968) was an important Cuban painter of the Avant-garde generation. Biography Amelia Peláez was born in 1896 in Yaguajay, in the former Cuban province of Las Villas (now Sancti Spíritus Pro ...

Roberto Juan Diago Querol Roberto Juan Diago y Querol (1920 in Havana, Cuba – February 20, 1955 in Madrid, Spain) was a Cuban artist specializing in photography, engraving, painting and drawing. He studied in the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Havana, ...

Manuel Rodulfo Tardo Manuel Rodulfo Tardo (February 18, 1913 in Pueblo Nuevo, Mantanzas Province, Cuba – December 22, 1998 in New York City) was a Cuban artist. Biography He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Havana, Cuba, toge ...

* Fernando Velázquez Vigil *

Manuel Mendive Manuel Mendive Hoyos (born 1944) is one of the leading Afro-Cuban artists to emerge from the revolutionary period, and is considered by many to be the most important Cuban artist living today. Biography Mendive was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1944 ...

Belkis Ayón Belkis Ayón (23 January 1967 – 11 September 1999) was a Cuban printmaker who specialized in the technique of collography. Ayón created large, highly-detailed allegorical collagraphs based on Abakuá, a secret, all-male Afro-Cuban society. He ...

Sandra Ramos Sandra Ramos (born Oct, 1969) is a Cuban contemporary painter, printmaker, collagist, video and installation artist who explores nationality, gender, and identity in her work. She is known for works featuring her character of the Cuban Pioneer gir ...

Tania Bruguera Tania Bruguera (born 1968 in Havana, Cuba) is an artist and activist who focuses on installation and performance art. She lives and works between New York City and Havana, and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Her work is in ...

* José Toirac * Jose Bedia *

Fayad Jamís Fayad Jamís (1930–1988) was a Cuban poet, painter, designer, journalist and translator. He was born in Zacatecas, Mexico to a Lebanese-Cuban father and a Mexican mother. Moving to Cuba at the age of six, Jamis trained at the San Alexandro Acade ...

* Osvaldo Salas"Osvaldo Salas Biography"
''The Annex Gallery''. Retrieved February 25, 2022. *

Eberto Escobedo Lazo Eberto Escobedo Lazo (29 November 1919 – 1995) was a Cuban artist known for painting and his drawings. He was born in Camagüey, Cuba. He studied at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro”, Havana, Cuba. Individual exhibitions I ...

* Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy *

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

Wifredo Lam Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla (; December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982), better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by and in conta ...

* Flora Fong *

Rita Longa Rita Longa Aróstegui (June 14, 1912, Havana, Cuba — May 29, 2000, Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban sculptor. She first studied commercial art and later briefly attended the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts but considered herself largely self-taug ...

References

External links

Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro” website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro Buildings and structures in Havana Education in Havana Culture in Havana Educational institutions established in 1818 Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro