Lot Essay
To paint from memory, to recompose, simplify and unify the composition are the main characteristics of the work by Andrés de Santa María. Educated in European academies, and an exhibitor in the Paris salons of the late 19th and early 20th century, Santa María is one of the most interesting painters that Colombia has to offer. In Europe, he belonged to the academic style, back home he was an innovator, introducing the seeds of Modernism into all areas of artistic endeavour.
Santa María's oeuvre has been classified by the Belgian art historian André de Ridder, into three periods; his realistic and initial period, spanning from 1887 through 1893; his impressionistic period--which was developed during his stay in Colombia, where he elaborated plein air sketches that he would later re-work reflecting his interest in the flat pictorial surface and in color; and the last--which fully bloomed upon his return to Europe in 1911, and where worked compositions with highly textured surfaces of color impasto gave form to the representation of the subject matter.
An insular and anachronic figure, Santa María was a painter quite unlike his contemporaries. Well versed in the avant-garde movements developing in Europe in the early 20th century, Santa María continued to paint in his highly symbolic and atmospheric style, probably inspired by his frequent and friendly encounters with Emile Antoine Bourdelle. It is not until 1921, three years after the creation of the sacred workshops by artist Maurice Denise, and the death of most of his children, that Santa María began depicting religious subjects. These, much in the aesthetic style of the symbolist movements, were religious representations of contemporary characters, in keeping with the intimacy and atmospheric effect sought by the artist.
La Visitación, a work from the early 30's is a wonderful example of the artist's mature style. The rich impasto and the use of color give way to the two female figures admiring the bouquet of flowers. The background, in red and blue, suggests an enclosed, intimate space where the action is taking place, while the benevolent and tranquil expression of the figures further emphasizes on the spiritual character of the theme.
This painting has been certified by the Baron de Gaiffier K'Hestroy on the reverse of the canvas
Santa María's oeuvre has been classified by the Belgian art historian André de Ridder, into three periods; his realistic and initial period, spanning from 1887 through 1893; his impressionistic period--which was developed during his stay in Colombia, where he elaborated plein air sketches that he would later re-work reflecting his interest in the flat pictorial surface and in color; and the last--which fully bloomed upon his return to Europe in 1911, and where worked compositions with highly textured surfaces of color impasto gave form to the representation of the subject matter.
An insular and anachronic figure, Santa María was a painter quite unlike his contemporaries. Well versed in the avant-garde movements developing in Europe in the early 20th century, Santa María continued to paint in his highly symbolic and atmospheric style, probably inspired by his frequent and friendly encounters with Emile Antoine Bourdelle. It is not until 1921, three years after the creation of the sacred workshops by artist Maurice Denise, and the death of most of his children, that Santa María began depicting religious subjects. These, much in the aesthetic style of the symbolist movements, were religious representations of contemporary characters, in keeping with the intimacy and atmospheric effect sought by the artist.
La Visitación, a work from the early 30's is a wonderful example of the artist's mature style. The rich impasto and the use of color give way to the two female figures admiring the bouquet of flowers. The background, in red and blue, suggests an enclosed, intimate space where the action is taking place, while the benevolent and tranquil expression of the figures further emphasizes on the spiritual character of the theme.
This painting has been certified by the Baron de Gaiffier K'Hestroy on the reverse of the canvas