Cosme San Martín Lagunas (27 September 1849/1850,

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

– 1 April 1906,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

) was a Chilean painter and the first Chilean-born Director of the Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile).Biographical notes
@ Artistas Plásticos Chilenos.

Biography

His father was a musician. In 1864, he went to Santiago to study at the Academia. His teachers included the school's Director, Alejandro Ciccarelli and Juan Mochi, who had a great influence on his style. Four years later, no older than nineteen, San Martín was named a Professor of drawing at the Academy. His work "Jesús y María Magdalena" won a competition that enabled him to obtain a grant for study in Europe.Brief biography
@ MCN Biografías. In 1875, he went to Paris, where he studied at the

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

and worked in the studios of the Spanish painter, Juan Antonio González (1842-1914), along with his fellow Chilean, Pedro Lira. He participated in several exhibitions as well as the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

. In 1880, his painting "El reposo de la modelo" (The Model's Rest) was highly praised and was included in the Salon's promotional material. He remained in Europe for ten years. Upon his return to Chile, he was named Deputy Director of the Academy under his former teacher, Juan Mochi. Two years later, when Mochi resigned, San Martín succeeded him as Director. He was very dedicated and well-liked, and apparently continued to act in that capacity until 1900, even though Pedro Lira had technically been appointed to succeed him in 1893. Lira was replaced by the sculptor Virginio Arias. He was one of the last representatives of

Academicism Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins i ...

in his country and worked in a wide variety of genres, including portraits,

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

, interior portraits, allegories, marine art and

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

s. He was also a musician, and often played viola with the orchestra at the Municipal Theater of Santiago, where his father had been employed.

Selected paintings

File:Cosme San Martín La lectura.jpg, The Reading File:Arturo Prat-por Cosme San Martín.JPG,

Arturo Prat Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean Navy officer and lawyer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, in ...

Guided by the Genius of the Fatherland File:San Martin, Cosme - Idilio. Luis XV -ost MMBAV fRF 01.jpg, Idyll from the Time
of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

File:San Martin-Brisca.jpg, Playing Brisca

References

External links

The full caricature by Rojas
@ Memoria Chilena. {{DEFAULTSORT:San Martin, Cosme 19th-century births 1906 deaths Chilean male painters Portrait painters Genre painters Artists from Valparaíso 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters 20th-century Chilean male artists Academic staff of the Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile)