The Academy of San Carlos ( es, Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. It was founded in 1781 as the School of Engraving and moved to the Academia Street location about 10 years later. It emphasized classical European training until the early 20th century, when it shifted to a more modern perspective. At this time, it also integrated with the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

, eventually becoming the Faculty of Arts and Design, which is based in Xochimilco. Currently, only graduate courses of the modern school are given in the original academy building.

History

The Academy of San Carlos was founded in 1783, being the first arts academy established in America in 1783, with European teachers, and bright students. In 1540 the building was built in order to create the first hospital for people with syphilis. Its name was "Hospital del Amor de Dios", and was closed in 1783 in order to fuse itself with the hospital of San Andrés in the old college of Jesuits on Tacuba street. , a famous engraver, established in 1778 an engraving school by the order of King Carlos VI. It was so successful that with his partner, Fernando José Mangino, decided to create a new academy that teaches painting, sculpture and architecture. Finally, in 1781 classes started on the Real Casa de Moneda thanks to the donations of rich people, churches, the Tribunal of Trade and the states of Veracruz, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Cordoba and Orizaba. The school's first director, Italian Jeronimo Antonio Gil, was appointed by Carlos III and gathered prominent artists of the day including José de Alcíbar,

Santiago Sandoval Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), 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 Regions of Chile, region, t ...

, Juan Sáenz, Manuel Tolsá and Rafael Ximeno y Planes. Tolsá and Ximeno would later stay on to become directors of the school. The new school began to promote

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

, focusing on Greek and Roman art and architecture, advocating European-style training of its artists. To this end, plaster casts of classic Greek and Roman statues were brought to Mexico from Europe for students to study. The Royal Card of establishment was issued on December 25 of 1783. It was asked by the viceroy Martín de Mayorga to the King Carlos III. They choose San Carlos as patron saint. On November 4 of 1785, courses were officially started in the Academy of the Noble Arts of San Carlos of the New Spain. In 1788, the Academy of San Fernando in Spain sent some teachers like the famous Manuel Tolsá who was in charge of architecture and sculpture. Aspirations of growing up were so big, that they even tried to afford the building that Tolsá was designing on Nilpantongo Street, but it was way too expensive and it was paid by the Royal Seminar of Mining. Without a building of their own, the Academy asked for the forsaken one of the Hospital Amor de Dios and finally in 1787 they started classes there. Since its founding, it attracted the country's best artists, and was a force behind the abandonment of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style in Mexico, which had already gone out-of-fashion in Europe. In the early 19th century, the academy was closed for a short time due to the Mexican War of Independence. When it reopened, it was renamed the National Academy of San Carlos and enjoyed the new government's preference for Neoclassicism, as it considered the Baroque reminiscent of colonialism. Despite the school's association with the independent Mexican government, Emperor Maximilian I (installed in Mexico by the French) protected the school during his reign, although foreign artists were shunned there. When Benito Juárez ousted the emperor and regained the presidency of Mexico, he was reluctant to support the school and its European influence, which he considered to be a vestige of colonialism. The academy continued to advocate classic, European-style training of its artists until 1913. In that year, a student and teacher strike advocating a more modern approach ousted director Antonio Rivas Mercado. It was also partially integrated into University of Mexico (now UNAM) at that time, although it initially kept a large degree of autonomy. In 1929, the architecture program was separated from the rest of the academy, and in 1953, this department was moved to the newly built campus of UNAM in the south of the city. The remaining programs in painting, sculpture and engraving were renamed National School of Expressive Arts Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. Later, the undergraduate fine arts programs were moved to a facility in Xochimilco, leaving only some graduate programs in the original Academy of San Carlos building.

Alumni and associated artists

Some of its most famous first teachers included

Miguel Constanzó --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disamb ...

in architecture, José Joaquín Fabregat in metal engraving, Rafael Ximeno y Planes in painting and Manuel Tolsá in sculpture. Another notable teacher here was Pelegrí Clavé, who was noted for his expertise in creating portraits of heroes and biblical figures. Catalan

Antonio Fabres Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...

was a dominant force at the Academy during the early 20th century. He would mentor later Mexican artists such as Saturnino Herrán, Roberto Montenegro, Diego Rivera and

José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...

. José María Velasco is considered the greatest artist associated with the Academy, famous for his landscapes of the Valley of Mexico and a mentor of Diego Rivera. Other artists linked to the Academy are

Manuel Rodríguez Lozano Manuel Rodríguez Lozano (December 4, 1896 – March 27, 1971) was a List of Mexican artists, Mexican painter, known for his “melancholy” depiction of Mexico rather than the more dominant political or festive one of the Mexican muralism movem ...

Alfredo Zalce Alfredo Zalce Torres (12 January 1908 – 19 January 2003) was a Mexican artist and contemporary of Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and other better-known muralists. He worked principally as a painter, sculptor, and engraver, also taught, a ...

, Andrés José López, José Chávez Morado,

Francisco Moreno Capdevila Francisco Moreno Capdevila (January 18, 1926 – May 13, 1995) was a Mexican artist of Spanish origin, best noted for his engraving and other graphic work. He came to Mexico as a political refugee after the fall of the Republicans in 1939. Un ...

, Luis Sahagún Cortés,

Gabriel Fernández Ledesma Gabriel Fernández Ledesma (May 30, 1900 – August 26, 1983) was a Mexican painter, printmaker, sculptor, graphic artist, writer and teacher. He began his career working with artist Roberto Montenegro then moved into publishing and education. ...

, Roberto de la Selva and

Jorge Figueroa Acosta Jorge Figueroa Acosta is a Mexican painter and sculptor born (April 23, 1942) in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. He studied at the National School of Plastic Arts Academy of San Carlos, regarded as the best school of arts in Mexico, of the National Aut ...

Matusha Corkidi Matusha Corkidi (1922–1987) was a Mexican sculptor of Egyptian birth. Born in Cairo, Egypt in 1922. Corkidi studied at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. She was best known for her work as a sculptor, but practiced photography and paintin ...

studied at the Academy after emigrating from Egypt. Mexican muralist

Elena Huerta Muzquiz Elena Huerta Múzquiz, also known as Elena Huerta de Arenal (born July 15, 1908 – death 1997) was a Mexican artist, she was best known for her mural work in her hometown of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Most of her art career was dedicated to tea ...

and her daughter Electa Arenal, both attended the school.

Architects

A number of important nineteenth-century architects studied at the Academy, including Juan (b. 1825) and Ramón Agea (b. 1828), who were sent to Rome by the Academy to study with Cippolla. They sent back sketches of Roman monuments that served as models for Academy students. They went on to be professors at the Academy as well as working architects in Mexico City. They completed the Monument to Cuauhtémoc on Paseo de la Reforma after the death of the engineer in charge. Another notable graduate (1863) is architect Manuel Francisco Álvarez, who was also a civil engineer. Álvarez was a city counsellor (''regidor'') of the capital, president of the Asociación de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, a founding member of the ''Asociación Francesa para el Desarrollo de la Enseñanza Técnica, Industrial y Comercial''; director of the Escuela Nacional de Artes y Oficios; and a member of the Academy of France, and author of many books on architecture.Katzman,''Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México'' p. 267

Building

The building originally was as the Amor de Dios Hospital, which had closed by the time the School of Engraving decided to move there from the mint building. Founding director Gerónimo Antonio Gil took charge of the restoration and remodeling work. Artist

Javier Cavallari Francesco Saverio Cavallari (1809 or 2 March 1810–1896), also known in Mexico as Javier Cavallari, was an architect, professor, painter and archeologist. He was active in Mexico City between 1857 and 1864. Cavallari was born in Palermo, Sic ...

created the Academy's Neoclassic facade, which is embellished with six medallions. Four of these represent the Academy's founders: Carlos III, Carlos IV, Gerónimo Antonio Gil and Fernando José Manguino, and the other two are of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

and Raphael. Cavallari also finished the patio, the conference room and the painting and sculpture galleries. The painting gallery contains portraits by Ramon Sagredo and the sculpture room contains works by José Obregón and

Manuel Ocaranza Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel Charles Fuqua Manuel Jr. (born January 4, 1944), is an American former professional baseball playe ...

. A number of plaster casts of classic statues from the San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in Spain were brought here for teaching purposes. These casts still exist and can be seen on display in the Academy's central patio. Some of these statues include casts of statues from the Medici tombs, ''Moses'' by Michelangelo, the '' Winged Victory of Samothrace'' and '' Venus de Milo''.

Gallery

The academy once had a very large collection of art in the Gallery of the San Carlos Academy, considered the first museum of art in the Americas. Its art collection began with plaster casts of original Greek, Roman and European works used as teaching aids. It also gained other European works such as engravings from the 16th to 19th centuries from Spain, France, England, Italy, Germany, and Holland. The school also collected works from students and teachers from its founding to beginning of the 20th century. However, the collection outgrew the original academy building as it received donations from private sources and purchases made by the Mexican government after independence. The collection was divided, some going to the

Museo Universitario de la Academia Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. O ...

, also in the historic center of town, some going to the National Museum of San Carlos, northeast of the historic center and the other part remaining in the original building.

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in Mexico City Contemporary art galleries in Mexico Historic center of Mexico City Buildings and structures in Mexico City Universities in Mexico City Landmarks in Mexico City National Monuments of Mexico Defunct hospitals in Mexico Mexican art Mexican culture Plaster cast collections 1781 establishments in New Spain 1780s establishments in Mexico Art museums established in 1781 18th century in Mexico 19th century in Mexico Colonial Mexico Neoclassical architecture in Mexico 1540s establishments in Mexico Hospitals established in the 16th century Hospitals disestablished in 1783