Roser Bru Llop (15 February 1923 – 26 May 2021) was a Spanish-born Chilean painter and engraver associated with the neo-figurative art movement.

Biography

Roser Bru was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1923. The following year her family went into exile 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 ...

, France, as a result of the dictatorship of

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

. Four years later, they returned to their hometown where Bru studied at the

Montessori School The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

and later, in 1931, at the . After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, in 1939, she moved back to France, where she embarked for Chile on the SS ''Winnipeg''. She arrived in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

on 3 September of that year. She studied painting at the School of Fine Arts of the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

from 1939 to 1942, where she was a student of Pablo Burchard and . In 1947 she joined the Plastic Students Group, along with other artists such as José Balmes,

Gracia Barrios Gracia Barrios Rivadeneira (27 June 1927 – 28 May 2020) was a Chilean painter and the winner of the 2011 National Prize for Plastic Arts. Biography The daughter of writer Eduardo Barrios (winner of the 1946 National Prize for Literature) an ...

, and . In 1957 she began her

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

studies at Taller 99, directed by

Nemesio Antúnez Nemesio Antúnez Zañartu (Born in Santiago, May 4, 1918 - May 19, 1993) was a Chilean painter and engraver who founded Workshop 99. Biography Born to Nemesio Antúnez and Luisa Zañartu, he was the eldest of three sons, all of whom became de ...

. Bru exhibited in several countries in Latin America, as well as in Spain, while some of her works are in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, the Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art, the , the

Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts The Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts ( or ), located in Santiago, Chile, is one of the major centers for Chilean art and for broader South American art. Established in 1880 (making it the oldest in South America), the organization is manage ...

, the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, the National Historical Museum, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

in Rio de Janeiro, and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, among others. Roser Bru died 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 ...

on 26 May 2021 at the age of 98.

Recognition

In 1995 Bru was decorated by King

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

when she was named Commander of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

. In 2000 she received the

Altazor Award The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...

of the National Arts in the Painting category for ''Enseñanzas de Goya''. In 2013 she won in the same category for ''Vivir en obra''. In 2004 she received a nomination in the Engraving and Drawing category for ''Un conjunto de sus 34 grabados en su cumpleaños número ochenta''. In 2005 she received another nomination in the same category for ''Obra en exposición Pablo Neruda, la infancia del poeta''. In 2005 she was granted the

Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit The Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit () was created in 2004 by the National Council of Culture and the Arts (Chile), National Council of Culture and the Arts of the government of Chile, as part of the commemoration of the 100th ann ...

. In 2015, the Government of Chile awarded her the National Prize for Plastic Arts.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bru, Roser 1923 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Chilean painters 20th-century engravers 21st-century engravers 21st-century Chilean painters 21st-century Chilean women artists Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Naturalized citizens of Chile Painters from Barcelona Spanish emigrants to Chile Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile University of Chile alumni Women engravers 20th-century Chilean women painters 21st-century women painters