Roser Bru Llop (15 February 1923 – 26 May 2021) was a Spanish-born Chilean painter and engraver associated with the neo-figurative art movement.

Biography

Roser Bru was born 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 ...

in 1923. The following year her family went into exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, France, as a result of the dictatorship of

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...

. Four years later, they returned to their hometown where Bru studied at the

Montessori School The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

and later, in 1931, at the . After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, in 1939, she moved back to France, where she embarked for Chile on the SS ''Winnipeg''. She arrived in

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 ...

on 3 September of that year. She studied painting at the School of Fine Arts of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

from 1939 to 1942, where she was a student of Pablo Burchard and . In 1947 she joined the Plastic Students Group, along with other artists such as José Balmes, Gracia Barrios, and . In 1957 she began her

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

studies at Taller 99, directed by

Nemesio Antúnez Nemesio Antúnez Zañartu (Born in Santiago, May 4, 1918 - May 19, 1993) was an influential Chilean painter and engraver who founded Workshop 99. Biography Born to Nemesio Antúnez and Luisa Zañartu, he was the eldest of three sons, all of wh ...

. Bru exhibited in several countries in Latin America, as well as in Spain, while some of her works are in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art, the , the

Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts The Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts ( es, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes or ), located in Santiago, Chile, is one of the major centers for Chilean art and for broader South American art. Established in 1880 (making it the oldest in South Am ...

, the , the National Historical Museum, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the

in Rio de Janeiro, and the

Staatliche Museen The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

in Berlin, among others. Roser Bru died in

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, whos ...

on 26 May 2021 at the age of 98.

Recognition

In 1995 Bru was decorated by King

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

when she was named Commander of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

. In 2000 she received the

Altazor Award The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...

of the National Arts in the Painting category for ''Enseñanzas de Goya''. In 2013 she won in the same category for ''Vivir en obra''. In 2004 she received a nomination in the Engraving and Drawing category for ''Un conjunto de sus 34 grabados en su cumpleaños número ochenta''. In 2005 she received another nomination in the same category for ''Obra en exposición Pablo Neruda, la infancia del poeta''. In 2005 she was granted the

Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit The Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit ( es, Orden al Mérito Artístico y Cultural Pablo Neruda) was created in 2004 by the National Council of Culture and the Arts of the government of Chile, as part of the commemoration of the 10 ...

. In 2015, the Government of Chile awarded her the National Prize for Plastic Arts.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bru, Roser 1923 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Chilean painters 20th-century engravers 21st-century engravers 21st-century Chilean painters 20th-century Chilean women artists 21st-century Chilean women artists Chilean women painters Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Naturalized citizens of Chile Painters from Barcelona Spanish emigrants to Chile Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile University of Chile alumni Women engravers