UC Riverside

The artist who arguably best encapsulates the artistic and historical complexity of the transition from the Viceregal to Republican Periods in South America is José Gil de Castro y Morales (1785-c. 1841). He became the most prolific portraitist amongst his contemporaries and the artist most favored by the new republican elite. He was also the only portrait painter to earn commissions by each of the three most famous South American liberators: Simón Bolívar of Venezuela, José de San Martín of Argentina, and Bernardo O’Higgins of Chile, a prestigious clientele that earned him recognition as “painter of the liberators.” An examination of his work provides exclusive insight into a cohesive artistic program aligned with the immediate representational concerns of the foremost leaders of the independence period.