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Manuel Antonio Caro Patience A. Schell
University of Manchester

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Manuel Antonio Caro (1835-1903), born in Valparaíso, ranks among Chile's best-loved painters. His art training began at the school of the Padres Franceses de Valparaíso and he became, along with Antonio Smith, Nicolás Guzmán, Pascual Ortega and Miguel Campos the first students of the Painting Academy under Italian director Alejandro Cicarelli. In 1859 he moved to Europe to study with the French painter Paul Césaire Gariot, particularly concentrating on his portrait painting technique. Returning to Chile, he set up his workshop in Valparaíso and earned his living through portrait painting. Nonetheless, his historical and 'costumbrista' paintings, like the 'Zamacueca', remain better known than his portraits.



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'La Zamacueca'; Antonio Caro, Manuel


Art historian Alvarez Uriquieta goes so far as to call his historical paintings genuine 'documents'. 'La Abdicación de O'Higgins', one of the most popular, currently hangs in the Museo Histórico Nacional.
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    Bibliography

  • Alvarez Uriquieta, Luis. 1928. La Pintura en Chile. Santiago de Chile: Imprenta la Ilustración.

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