Felipe Cossío del Pomar
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Felipe Cossío del Pomar (31 May 1888 – 25 June 1981) was a Peruvian painter and left-wing political activist. While in exile from Peru he founded an art school in
San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...
in Mexico in 1938. The school failed, but on his return in 1950 he founded the
Instituto Allende The Instituto Allende is a visual arts school in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The institute provides a range of courses, and offers a BA in Visual Arts and an MA in Fine arts in association with the Universidad de Guanajuato. Its courses and de ...
, a university-level arts school that was still active in 2014. The short film "Felipe Cossio del Pomar in San Miguel de Allende", by Ezequiel Morones is in Youtube.


Early years

Felipe Cossío del Pomar was born on 31 May 1888 in the Piura city, in the north of Peru. His family was connected to important figures in Peru, including Pío de Tristán, the last Viceroy and later foreign minister of the
Peru–Bolivian Confederation The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation between the states of Peru, divided into the Republic of North Peru and the Republic of South Pe ...
. He was also related to
Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
, the grandson of Flora Tristan. He studied in
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
at the Colegio de Guadalupe, graduating in 1904. He then began the study of Letters at the Universidad de San Marcos. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer. For this reason, in 1906 he sailed to Europe to study Law at the University of Leuven. However, he chose to stay in Brussels and enrolled at the Free University to study fine arts for three years. He then studied and worked as an artist in Paris until the beginning of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–18). He became part of the bohemian circle in Paris led by
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, Marc Chagall and
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...
. Cossío moved to the USA in 1917, where he was much in demand for his talent as a portrait painter in the modernist style. After his return to Peru in 1921 he transferred to the Universidad San Antonio de Abad in Cuzco. It was at this time that he became a friend of
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (February 22, 1895 – August 2, 1979) was a Peruvian politician, philosopher, and author who founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) political movement, the oldest currently existing political ...
. He obtained a degree of Doctor of Letters in 1922 with a thesis on the history of painting in Cuzco. This was the basis for his book on colonial painting in Cuzco. Haya de la Torre was deported by the Legufa regime in October 1923. In 1924, the nascent Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) was forming its first sections in Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay. Cossío had returned to the USA by 1925, where he formed an important base of support for the APRA. Cossio visited Haya de la Torre in Mexico City, and while there met the painter
Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
who introduced him to the forms and colors of traditional Aztec art. In 1927 Cossío del Pomar visited the town of
San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...
in Mexico and was enchanted by the quality of light. Cossío del Pomar returned to Europe in 1929, where he lived in Brussels, Florence and Paris. In France he worked with the surrealists André Breton and
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...
. In 1931 Cossío was back in Peru helping to organize the APRA. Cossío used his reputation to push for improvements in the teaching of art, both to modernize the teaching and to upgrade it to a graduate level where before it had simply been considered a minor trade. In the second half of 1932 Haya de la Torre was imprisoned and threatened with the death penalty. Cossío del Pomar moved to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile. In 1935 Cossío was placed on a blacklist, threatened with immediate arrest if he returned to Peru, and the sale of his books was banned.


Mexico

In 1937 Cossío del Pomar returned to Mexico. He founded the ''Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes'' (University School of Fine arts) in San Miguel de Allende in a former convent that had been used as a barracks. With the support of president Lázaro Cárdenas the government transferred the property to the school, which opened in 1938. The American artist and writer Stirling Dickinson was made director of artistic studies. The influx of students brought new prosperity to the town. Cossío del Pomar returned to Peru in 1945 when the government granted amnesty to exiles. He sold his holdings, which included a ranch as well as the school, to the Mexico City lawyer Alfredo Campanella. Cossío returned to San Miguel de Allende in 1950, discovered the earlier school had been ruined by Campanella, and founded a new school with the help of the former governor of Guanajuato Enrique Fernández Martínez, and Fernández's wife Nell Harris. Cossio and Fernández bought the ruined 18th century Renaissance palace that the Count of Canal had built during the silver boom, with its large grounds. They renovated the building, and also opened several cottages and a hotel for visitors. Stirling Dickinson became art director of the newly opened ''
Instituto Allende The Instituto Allende is a visual arts school in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The institute provides a range of courses, and offers a BA in Visual Arts and an MA in Fine arts in association with the Universidad de Guanajuato. Its courses and de ...
''.


Later years

Cossío remained in Mexico until 1954, then moved to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
. He lived there until 1959, when he moved to
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.
after the success of the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
. He disagreed with the ideological direction of the revolution, and in 1961 moved back to Spain to
Gandia Gandia ( es, Gandía) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar (or ''Costa dels Tarongers''), south of Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can acc ...
, Valencia, in the southeast. This was Cossío's most prolific period, both as an artist and an author. He returned to live in Peru in 1980, aged 92, and died the following year. Although he died in
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
, he had arranged for his remains to be buried in the city of Piura. He left the city his private art collection with the purpose of erecting the Museum of Art of that city.


Publications

Cossío del Pomar was a writer as well as a painter, and the author of a number of literary works. These include: *''Pintura colonial'' (''Colonial Painting'') 1930, which discusses painting in Cuzco and is enthusiastic about the art of the Indians and mestizos *''Arte y vida de Paul Gauguin'' (''Art and Life of Paul Gauguin''), 1929 *''El indoamericano'' (''The American Indian''), 1942, political biography of
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (February 22, 1895 – August 2, 1979) was a Peruvian politician, philosopher, and author who founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) political movement, the oldest currently existing political ...
*''Arte del Perú pre-Colombino'' (''Art of pre-Columbian Peru''), 1949 *''Cuzco Imperial'' (''Imperial Cuzco''), 1952 *''Arte del Perú Colonial'' (''Art of Colonial Peru''), 1958


References


Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cossio del Pomar, Felipe 1888 births 1981 deaths Peruvian male writers 20th-century Peruvian painters 20th-century Peruvian male artists Peruvian male painters