Camilo Mori Serrano (September 24, 1896 – December 7, 1973) was a Chilean painter and a founder of the '' Grupo Montparnasse''. The son of an Italian immigrant, Camilo Mori entered the "Escuela de Bellas Artes" (School of Fine Arts) at 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.

in 1914 and studied under masters Juan Francisco González, Richón Brunet and Alberto Valenzuela Llanos. In 1920, he was sent by the Chilean government to further his studies in Europe] Over the next three years, Mori spent time in Rome and Paris. He joined the gathering of artists in the Montparnasse, Montparnasse Quarter in Paris. There, his encounter with

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 ...

and

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...

greatly influenced his ideas of painting. However it was the influence of the works of

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

that challenged Mori to move away from the

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

that marked his earlier work. He started experimenting with a variety of styles which later formed the basis of modern art. He exhibited in the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

of 1920 in Paris, where his "Circo de la Feria" received an honorable mention. He returned to Chile and became one of the founding members of the Grupo Montparnasse, a key influence in the diffusion of the new European painting trends in Chile. In 1928 Camilo Mori was named director of the National Museum of Fine Arts (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes or MNBA). During his tenure in this post, he was responsible for many initiatives aimed at promoting art in Chile. In 1928, as an initiative to mitigate the closure of the School of Fine Arts, Mori was once again sent by the Chilean government to Europe, this time to direct the studies of a group of young painters known as the "

Generation of 1928 The Generation of 1928 (Spanish: ''Generación del 28'') was a group of Venezuelan students who led protests in Caracas in 1928 against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. Members and exile Many politicians prominent in Venezuela's transi ...

" (Spanish: Generacion del 28), which culminated in 26 of the most outstanding young Chilean artists being sent to study in Paris for five years. Mori returned to Chile in 1933, where he accepted a position as professor of drawing and color at the

Universidad de 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.

, a post he retained for over 30 years. In 1937 he moved to the United States where he spent two years exploring some of the newest artistic trends of the time. He was placed in charge of supervising the decoration of, and created a mural for, the pavilion of Chile at the 1939 New York World's Fair. For his contribution to Chilean art, in 1950 he received the National Prize of Art. His work was complex and multifaceted and moved through

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

, Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism, with the common trend among them being a prominent treatment of color.

External links

"Portal de Arte Chile (Spanish)''Biography of Camilo Mori National Museum of Fine Arts (Spanish)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Camilo 1896 births 1973 deaths Modern painters Mori,Camilo People from Valparaíso 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters Chilean male painters Male painters 20th-century Chilean male artists