José López de Victoria

Contents

Mayagüez, P.R., ca.

1869

Biographical information

Painter. It has not been possible to determine whether López de Victoria had any formal training as a painter. Nevertheless, his renown as a portraitist in the first third of the 20th century is evident in his works. He also cultivated landscape and still-life genres. He created an original series of monochromatic landscapes in which he showed his technical mastery of the different color intensities to represent shapes. His prestige as a portraitist earned him in 1925 the commission by the United States Government of portraits of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge for the Capitol. His portraits of sober colors and dark backgrounds show his great skill as a good interpreter of physiognomies.

Contents

Artworks

Paisaje en Azul*

Date:

Dimensions:

17 1/8" x 25"

Painting

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Genre:

Rural landscape

Period:

20th Century

Collection:

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña Collection

Retrato de Genaro Cautiño Vázquez*

Date:

Dimensions:

27 7/8" x 20 1/16"

Painting

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Genre:

Portrait

Period:

20th Century

Collection:

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña Collection

Retrato de Francisco Oller*

Date:

Dimensions:

20" x 16 3/16"

Painting

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Genre:

Portrait

Period:

20th Century

Collection:

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña Collection

Sunset

Date:

1917

Dimensions:

18" x 30 1/2"

Painting

Medium:

Oil on wood

Genre:

Rural landscape

Period:

20th Century

Collection:

Francisco and Lourdes Arriví Collection, donated to MAPR by Joaquín and Olga Viso.

Artist statement

Lopez de Victoria, artist who managed to live almost exclusively from painting. To achieve it he worked in almost all areas on the island, from Yauco in the southern limit as far as San Juan in the North, establishing a fairly intuitive revision of the Puerto Rican landscape genre and portraits of important personalities from national history at the turn of the century. Some elements from his production – such as the monochromes of some landscapes – end up as modern unintentionally, because they were motivated by the economic hardships to which he was subjected at various stages in his life.

Source: Bravo, Laura; Jackson-Martín, Rafael. Mayagüez: Un siglo de artistas, 80 grados, (9 de marzo de 2012)

Training

Professional Experience

1925

Commissioned to paint portraits of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge by the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., United States

Exhibitions

Group Shows

2012

Mayagüez: Un siglo de artistas, Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2007

Contexto puertorriqueño: Del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Awards, distinctions and achievements

1913

Award. Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Collections

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico
La Fortaleza, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Bibliography

Books

Hermandad de Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Arte e Identidad. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998.

Los tesoros de la pintura puertorriqueña. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, 2000.

Delgado, Osiris. “Artes Plásticas, Historia de la cultura puertorriqueña”. La Gran Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico, Tomo VIII. Madrid: Ediciones R, 1976.

Catalogues

“De Oller a los cuarenta: La pintura en Puerto Rico 1898-1948”, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1989.

Newspapers

“Pintor premiado”. Puerto Rico Ilustrado (San Juan, PR), Año IV, No. 187, 27 de septiembre de 1913.

Laberinto: Conciencia espiritual

Armando Reverón

Recuelgue

El lugar de la morada