Pastor Argudín Pedroso
Afro Cuban painter (1880–1968)
Pastor Argudín Pedroso (1880 – 1968), also known as Pastor Argudín Y Pedroso ,[ 1] [ 2] was an Afro–Cuban portrait and genre painter , and teacher.[ 3] [ 4] He was internationally exhibited and was awarded the Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes by the Republic of Cuba , for his artistic merit.
Biography
Interior of La Merced Church, Havana
Pastor Argudín Pedroso was born on April 9, 1880 in Havana, Captaincy General of Cuba , Spanish Empire (now Cuba).[ 5] Some citations state his birth year is 1889.[ 6] His Black parents had been enslaved in Havana; his father Argudín Lombillo was enslaved by the Casa de Lombillo in Habana Vieja , and his mother Maria de Jesus Pedroso had been enslaved by the Casa de Pedroso.[ 2] [ 6] Argudín Pedroso attended one of Salvador José Zapata 's elementary schools in Havana.[ 2] At a young age he studied art under Spanish painter and decorative artist, Francisco Piera.[ 2] He was promoted for his natural skills, and worked on painting the ceiling of the La Merced Church .[ 2]
He attended college at the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro in Havana.[ 7] He studied at the Academy under Leopoldo Romañach , Armando Menocal , Luis Mendoza Sandrino, and Miguel Melero Rodriguez.[ 2] This was followed by a 1912 scholarship to study in Madrid, Spain at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando , where he conferred a bachelor's degree.[ 7] In Spain, he studied under José Moreno Carbonero , Miguel Blay , Cecilio Plá , and Gonzalo Bilbao .[ 2]
Argudín Pedroso lived and worked in France, Italy, and the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. He continued his studies at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in Rome; followed by study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris under Émile-René Ménard .[ 2] Argudín Pedroso was a guest of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg , and lived at his house in Brooklyn, New York for almost one year in the 1930s.[ 8]
Argudín Pedroso is said to have painted some 300 portraits by 1937,[ 2] many of which were notable people. Some of his portrait subjects included Rafael María de Labra ,[ 2] Cayetano Quesada (Cuban consul in New York City),[ 9] Arturo Alfonso Schomburg,[ 9] John La Farge ,[ 9] Rev. John LaFarge Jr. ,[ 9] and Abraham Lincoln ,[ 10] [ 11] among others. Argudin exhibited at the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris, starting around 1924;[ 12] [ 13] and he was part of the noted group exhibition, "1933 Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists", hosted by the Harmon Foundation at the Art Centre in New York City.[ 8]
Exhibitions
1915, National Exhibition of Fine Arts , Madrid, Spain; with painting, "Shepard With Flock of Sheep"[ 2]
1917, National Exhibition of Fine Arts , Madrid, Spain; awarded honorable mention with painting of Antonia la Castiza[ 2]
1919, Galerie des Elyesses, Paris, France[ 2]
1924, Exposition d'Art Américain-Latin, Cuba, Société des Artistes Indépendants [ 13]
1925, "Three Latin-American Canvasses", Musée Galliera (now Palais Galliera), Paris, France[ 2]
1929, Cuba building murals at Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 , Seville, Spain[ 2]
1933, "1933 Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists", Harmon Foundation , Art Center, New York City, New York, United States[ 8] [ 14]
1935, "Pastor Argudin y Pedroso", solo exhibition, New York Public Library at the 135th St. Branch, Harlem , New York City, New York, United States[ 15]
1935, "Pastor Argudin y Pedroso", solo exhibition, Harmon Foundation headquarters, New York City, New York, United States[ 9]
1938, Harmon Foundation , Kenosha Historical and Art, Kenosha, Wisconsin , United States[ 16]
See also
References
^ Riggs, Thomas (1997). St. James Guide to Black Artists . St. James Press. p. 603. ISBN 978-1-55862-220-3 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Schomburg, Arthur A. (1934-10-20). "Pastor Argudin Y Pedroso, Most Eminent Spanish Painter, A Negro, Says Schomburg" . The New York Age . p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-15 – via Newspapers.com .
^ The Legacy of Arthur A. Schomburg: A Celebration of the Past, a Vision for the Future . New York Public Library. 1986. p. 89.
^ Veigas, José, ed. (2002). Memoria: Cuban Art of the 20th Century . California/International Arts Foundation. ISBN 978-0-917571-11-4 .
^ Peña, Esteban Valderrama y; Rodríguez, Benigno Vázquez (1952). La peinture et la sculpture à Cuba (in Spanish). Editorial Lex. p. 321.
^ a b "Pastor Argudín Y Pedroso". Bulletin of Research in the Humanities . Vol. 84. Readex Books. 1981. p. 189.
^ a b Fuente, Alejandro de la (2018-04-26). Afro-Latin American Studies: An Introduction . Cambridge University Press. p. 374. ISBN 978-1-107-17762-8 .
^ a b c Sinnette, Elinor Des Verney (1989). Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, Black Bibliophile & Collector: A Biography . Wayne State University Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-8143-2157-7 .
^ a b c d e "Noted Cuban Painter's Work Exhibited By The Harmon Foundation, Inc" . The New York Age . 1935-02-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Courtney, W. B. (August 1949). "The Face Everyone Knows". Negro Digest . 7 : 47– 49. OCLC 671590707 .
^ "Cuba Subject of Talk to Athena Group" . Burlington Daily News . 1949-02-08. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Argudin, Pastor" . Benezit Dictionary of Artists . Oxford University Press. October 31, 2011. doi :10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00006825 . Retrieved 2024-02-15 .
^ a b "Argudin Pedroso, Pastor" . Transatlantic Encounters: Latin American Artists in Interwar Paris . Retrieved 2024-02-17 .
^ Exhibition of Work by Negro Artists . New York City, New York: Harmon Foundation. 1933 – via The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
^ "Argudin y Pedroso, Pastor. (b. Havana, Cuba, 1889)" . African American Visual Artists Database (AAVAD) . Archived from the original on March 17, 2021.
^ "Negro Artists Productions in Art Exhibit Here" . Kenosha News . 1938-07-07. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com .