Antonio Herrera Toro (16 January 1857 – 26 June 1914) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n painter, art critic and professor.

Biography

He was born in

Valencia, Carabobo Valencia () is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela. The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. It is also the largest city in the Valencia-Maracay ...

, and began his artistic studies in 1869 under the tutelage of

Martín Tovar y Tovar Martín Tovar y Tovar (10 February 1827 – 17 December 1902) was a Venezuelan painter, best known for his portraits and historical scenes. Biography Tovar was born and died in Caracas. His father, Antonio María Tovar (1791–1860), was a fo ...

. Five years later, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Caracas, where he studied with and Miguel Navarro Cañizares.Brief biography
@ MCN Biografías. In 1875, he received a government scholarship that allowed him to study in Paris and Rome. He returned in 1881, with sketches of the

Assumption of the Virgin The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

, commissioned by José Antonio Ponte (1832–1883), the Archbishop of Caracas, that he used for murals at

Caracas Cathedral The Caracas Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Anne is the seat of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan archdiocese of Caracas, located on the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela. Its chapel of the Holy Trinity is the burial site of the ...

, painted with the assistance of Cristóbal Rojas. In 1883, he portrayed the final moments of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

, to commemorate the centennial of Bolívar's birth. The following year, he travelled to Peru on behalf of Tovar, making sketches at the sites of the battles of Junín and

Ayacucho Ayacucho (, , derived from the words ''aya'' ("death" or "soul") and ''k'uchu'' ("corner") in honour of the battle of Ayacucho), founded in 1540 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga and known simply as Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga) until 1825, i ...

for paintings that Tovar had been commissioned to create for the

Palacio Federal Legislativo The Palacio Federal Legislativo ( English: Federal Legislative Palace), also known as the Capitolio, is a historic building in Caracas, Venezuela which houses the National Assembly. Located southwest of the Plaza Bolívar, it was built between 1 ...

. As it turned out, Herrera had to complete the ''Battle of Ayacucho'' after Tovar's death. He later took up journalistic pursuits in addition to painting, signing his writings with the pseudonym "Santoro". He was a major contributor to the cultural affairs biweekly, ' (The Illustrated Cripple, named by one of its founders, who had a bad leg), and a co-founder of ''El Granuja'' (The Rogue). In 1892, he was appointed Director of the government "Office of Buildings and Ornamentation" (Edificios y Ornato de Poblaciones). Later in 1908, he became Director of the Art Academy, following the death of Emilio Jacinto Mauri. Early the following year, he was faced with a strike by a large group of students who were demanding changes in the curriculum. Two years later, together with Pedro Arismendi Brito (1832–1914), a former general and respected man of letters, he drafted regulations for the "Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes", which included music and acting as well as painting and sculpture. He also tendered his resignation, which was not accepted, so, despite being the target of student protests, he retained the position until his death in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

Selected paintings

File:Antonio Herrea Toro 1895 000.jpg, ''Self-portrait'' (1895) File:Antonio Herrera Toro 2012 001.jpg, '' Ricaurte in San Mateo'' File:Antonio Herrera Toro 004.JPG, ''Patio Interior'' File:Visita del obispo al estudio 1902 000.JPG, ''The Bishop
Visits his Studio'' File:Eduardo Blanco - Antonio Herrera Toro.jpg, ''Portrait of
Eduardo Blanco''

Antonio

External links

Biography
@ Wikihistoria del Arte Venezolano. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera Toro, Antonio 1857 births 1914 deaths People from Valencia, Venezuela History painters Venezuelan portrait painters 19th-century Venezuelan painters 19th-century male artists 20th-century Venezuelan painters 20th-century Venezuelan male artists Venezuelan male painters

Biography

Selected paintings

Antonio

Further reading

External links