José Tomás Errázuriz Urmeneta (November, 1856 – 1 April 1927) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an landscape

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

Biography

He was born in

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 ...

, the son of Maximiano Errázuriz Valdivieso and of Amalia Urmeneta Quiroga. He studied painting at the Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile), where he was a student of Ernesto Kirchbach and later juggled his diplomatic work in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, with art classes by an otherwise unknown painter named Humbert Giroez. He married Eugenia Huici, one of the most beautiful women of her age, who was to become a patron of modernism of the 20th Century and noted interior designer, and who was a decisive influence in his work. She soon convinced him to move to

in 1882, where his brother-in-law Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña was the Chilean consul.
Biography of José Tomás Errázuriz Urmeneta @ the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA) Around 1900, the Errázurizes relocated to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. José Tomás Errázuriz fell sick with tuberculosis, spent much time in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and eventually he and his wife became estranged. Nonetheless during this stay, he acquired for his art most of the characteristics of English painting, even though he was also a strong admirer of the French landscape tradition and painted many times the coast of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, where he lived for long periods of time. A sharp observer of nature, he painted views and scenes of the European countryside full of light and color. Errázuriz never adhered to the

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

movement of the time, even though he was a close friend and admirer of realist painters such as Giovanni Boldini and

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

. He always gave a principal and very strict preponderance to the drawing and the composition in his work. Errázuriz was never interested in signing or selling his work, and in 1926 sent most of his paintings to Chile to be auctioned off for charity.

Selected paintings

File:Errazuriz, Jose Tomas - Rafael Errazuriz 1891.jpg, Portrait of his brother Rafael File:Errazuriz, Jose Tomas - Gaviotas en el Tamesis.jpg, Seagulls on the River Thames File:Errazuriz, Jose Tomas - Campesina recostada.jpg, Peasant Woman Resting File:Errazuriz, Jose Tomas - Angustia.jpg, Anguish

References

External links

Short biography

Some examples of his worksGenealogical chart of Errázuriz family

Google about José Tomás Errázuriz Urmeneta
1856 births 1927 deaths J Chilean people of Basque descent People from Santiago, Chile Diplomats for Chile 19th-century Chilean painters 19th-century Chilean male artists 20th-century Chilean painters Chilean male painters 20th-century Chilean male artists Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile) alumni {{Chile-diplomat-stub

Biography

Selected paintings

See also

References

External links