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Álvaro Casanova Zenteno (21 November 1857 – 25 May 1939) was a prominent marine painter and of historic naval warfare, a statesman his art is classified as realist, expressionist, classical, and romantic.[1]
Álvaro Casanova Zenteno | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Álvaro Casanova Zenteno 21 November 1857 |
| Died | 25 May 1939 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Chilean |
| Known for | Painter |
| Movement | Romanticism |
| Awards | Award of Honor and Gold Medal granted by King Alfonso XIII in 1929 |
| Patron(s) | Painting of realism and sailor |
| Signature | |
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Casanova Zenteno was the son of Rafael Casanova Casanova and Adelina Zenteno Gana, he was also the grandson of José Ignacio Zenteno del Pozo y Silva, who was Chile's first Minister of War and Navy organizing the Liberating Expedition of Peru. Casanova Zenteno was also the nephew of Monsignor Mariano Casanova Casanova, the third Archbishop of Santiago and a longtime friend of the Undersecretary of War and Navy Pedro Nolasco Cruz Vergara, the writer Francisco Concha Castillo and Rafael Errázuriz Urmeneta.
He was married to Cecilia Vicuña Subercaseaux, niece of the historian Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna and great-granddaughter of General Juan Mackenna O'Reilly. They had six children: Magdalena, Alfonso, Mariano, Adelina, Juan and Manuel.[2]
He studied at the Valparaiso Artizan School, where he had Thomas Somerscales as a professor. Casanova Zenteno begun from early age to work in public administration. He was assistant of the Public Library and he was later the undersecretary of the ministries of Justice, War, and the Navy. He made his military career in times of the National Guard, commanding the Artillery Brigade Valparaiso, the Lontué Civic Battalion in Molina, and the Civic Artillery Regiment in Santiago de Chile.[3]
In 1882, during the War of the Pacific, government sent him to France on a secret mission under the orders of the Minister of Chile in France, Alberto Blest Gana. His objective was to acquire weapons and prevent Peru from doing the same. Upon his return to Chile three years later, he took classes with the painters Pascual Ortega Portales, Onofre Jarpa Labra, and Enrique Swinburn Kirk.[4]
Casanova Zenteno came to occupy important public positions, throughout his life he served under eleven presidents reaching the rank of undersecretary of Justice and Navy. He was also president of the National Society of Fine Arts.[5]
Because studied under the English sailor Thomas Somerscales[6] in Valparaíso, he had a focus on the seas, the coastal landscape and the naval world. He showed a predilection for sailboats and high seas in particular. His art was defined by four stages, starting from realism under the influence of Thomas Somerscales, then progressing to expressionism. First National Square, an oil on canvas, is an example of his work during this period.[7] He was aware of Chilean naval history, and he applied the knowledge he had gained during his studies in Italy on the construction of boats to paint the boats in detail during the fighting on the high seas. His painting depicting the Battle of Casma is a particular example of this.[8]
Between 1894 and 1929 he won several national and international awards, including the Honor and Gold Medal awarded by King Alfonso XIII during the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.[9]
Casanova Zenteno painted around a thousand oil paintings. His work was featured in two individual exhibitions and more than thirty collective exhibitions, which include almost all the official hall exhibitions between 1890 up to one year before he was death. Subsequently, from 1940 to the year 2000, eighteen presentations of his work were made in Chile.[10][11]
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There are also works in the following places:
In December 2014, the Municipality of Santiago installed a plaque in his honor on the wall of Castillo Forestal.
Institute of Historical Commemoration of Chile
Alvaro Casanova Zenteno
1857–1939
Painter, Architect and Diplomat
He designed this Castle for the administration of the Forest Park
He was a member of the management of parks and gardens of the Municipality of Santiago and of the commission that took care of the construction of the National Museum of Fine Arts.
He was great public servant and excellent painter of subjects of our naval historyIllustrious Municipality of Santiago
December 2014
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