Manuel Antonio Caro Olavarría (born Manuel Antonio Caro Olavarría) (June 3, 1835 – July 14, 1903) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an painterManuel Antonio Caro
portaldearte.cl. Accessed 2012-12-22. (in Spanish) (Googl

and is classed among Chile's best-loved artists.
Relics and Selves, Birkbeck College, London, bbk.ac.uk. Accessed 2012-12-22. The son of Victorino Caro y Cárcamo and Asunción de Olavarría y Sierpe, he was named Caro Olavarría. The first Chilean student to attend the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris, Caro's body of work included portraits and scenes of everyday life, and earned him high honors and international recognition.

Life and work

Born in

Ancud Ancud () is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region. It is the second largest city of Chiloé Archipelago after Castro. The city was established in 1768 to function as ...

into a wealthy family in central coastal Chile, Caro initially wanted to become a businessman, but during a prolonged illness confining him to bed, he discovered his interest in the visual arts. In 1859 at age 23, he went to

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 ...

at his father's urging where he befriended the French painter Paul Césaire Gariot who worked in the Neoclassical style. Gariot trained him in portrait painting,Manuel Antonio Caro
''Icarito'', supplement of '' La Tercera'', icarito.cl, 2010-5-31. Accessed 2012-12-25. (in Spanish) (Googl
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This site states Caro's birthplace as Valparaíso, in contrast to other biographies. and Caro assisted him in decorating the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

.Manuel Antonio Caro
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile. Accessed 2012-12-22. (in Spanish) (Googl
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In 1865, he was the first Chilean student to attend the

in Paris. In 1866 he returned to his home country and opened a studio in the plaza near Iglesia de la Matriz, Valparaiso. Some of his contemporaries were Pascual Ortega Portales, Antonio Smith, Nicolás Guzmán, and Miguel Campos. Once home, he faced a great deal of competition from his rivals which affected recognition for his work after he died. Caro worked in an academic style in portrait painting, rather than in the more experimental styles then gaining a foothold in Europe. His subject matter often involved

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

folklife Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fr ...

, historical and 'costumbrista' subjects (subjects in costume acting out an historical event), and urban society of the 19th century. One of his famous paintings is his 1873 work ''The Zamacueca'', a colorful folk dance scene that for a time was lost during the

Pinochet regime Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

, but eventually became an icon of Chilean identity. That painting was one among several that earned him high honors at the Paris Salon of 1872Calendario Colección Philips 1980
portaldearte.cl, ''I El Despertar de la Pintura en Chile'' (Awakening of painting in Chile). Accessed 2012-12-22. (in Spanish) (Googl

and at la Exposición del Mercado Central (the Central Market Exhibition). Caro exhibited his ''La Chueca Chilena'' and ''El Velorio'' at the 1872 Santiago Exhibition; and for his work at the 1875 International Exposition in Santiago, he earned great distinction.Reszka, Pedro A.
Chile at the Pan-American Exposition: Historical Sketch on the Fine Arts of Chile and Catalogue of the Fine Arts in the Chile Building
Univ. of Chicago, 1901, pp. 6–7. Accessed 2013-1-5. Caro died in Valparaíso. British and German museums own several of his works. In 1942, the

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

held an exhibition, ''Contemporary Chilean Art'', that included Caro's work, and stated in their exhibition catalog that ''La Zamacueca'' was destroyed in a fire. However, Caro was alleged to have executed two versions of the painting, and one of those is now in the collection of the Presidency of the Republic of Chile.The Zamacueca
Google translation of the original Spanish-language page at portaldearte.cl. Accessed 2013-1-8.

Selected works

File:Zamacueca-Chile.jpg, ''The Zamacueca'', 1873
Collection: Presidency of the Republic File:Abdicación de O´higgins.jpg, ''Abdication of O´Higgins'', 1875 File:Arturo Prat por Manuel Antonio Caro.jpg, ''Frigate Captain, Arturo Prat'', n.d. File:Clara Josefina Naegelé Guetot - M. A. Caro.jpg, ''Clara Josefina Naegelé Guetot, wife of Chilean Rear-Admiral Juan Williams Rebolledo'', n.d. File:Williams2.jpg, '' Juan Williams Rebolledo'', 1871 File:Manuel Antonio Caro-Capitán Ricardo Serrano Montaner.png, ''Captain Ricardo Serrano Montaner'' (1854-1881), n.d.

References

External links

* Caro's painting:
La Abdicacion de O'Higgins
', Relics and Selves, Birkbeck College, London, bbk.ac.uk. Accessed 2012-12-22. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caro, Manuel Antonio 1835 births 1903 deaths People from Ancud Chilean male painters École des Beaux-Arts alumni 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters 20th-century Chilean male artists Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile) alumni

Life and work

Selected works

See also

References

Further reading

External links