Eduardo Schiaffino (1858-1935) was an Argentine painter, critic,

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

and

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. A member of a group known as the ''

Generation of '80 The Generation of '80 ( es, Generación del '80) was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors (''Liga de Gobernadores''), a ...

'', he founded the National Museum of Fine Arts in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and sparked the development of painting in his country.

Biography

Schiaffino was born in

in 1858. Trained initially by Venetian painter Giuseppe Agujari, at 18 he was among the founders of the Society for the Stimulus of Fine Arts, the initial name of the National Academy of Fine Arts. In 1884 he travelled to

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as correspondent for the

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''El Diario'', publishing various articles on artistic themes under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

''Zig Zag''. In 1891 he was one of the founders of the Buenos Aires

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

, a group dedicated to renewing

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n culture through the participation of distinguished figures like

Ruben Darío Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portuguese ...

and

Leopoldo Lugones Leopoldo Antonio Lugones Argüello (13 June 1874 – 18 February 1938) was an Argentine poet, essayist, novelist, playwright, historian, professor, translator, biographer, philologist, theologian, diplomat, politician and journalist. His poetic ...

. In 1895 he won a victory when the government agreed to create the National Museum of Fine Arts, a project for which he had long struggled. He acted as its first director until 1910, and secured Auguste Rodin's contribution of numerous sculptures for newly established parks in Buenos Aires. The trend in painting he pursued during this period was towards

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, which he had publicly and polemically criticised. He acquired a large number of works in thus genre for the Fine Arts Museum during his tenure, just the same. Schiaffino was afterwards engaged in various diplomatic undertakings in Europe, but in 1933 he returned to Buenos Aires and published his most important

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, ''Painting and Sculpture in Argentina''.

References

Biography, in Spanish, from Rudas Macho (pdf)''La Nación'': Eduardo Schiaffino, un olvidado.
Argentine art critics Argentine art historians Argentine people of Italian descent 1858 births 1935 deaths 19th-century Argentine painters 19th-century Argentine male artists Argentine male painters 20th-century Argentine painters 20th-century Argentine male artists {{art-historian-stub