José de Páez facts for kids
José de Páez (1720–1790) was a Mexican painter of religious images, a history painting of the destruction of Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá in Texas, and a set of casta paintings in the 18th century. He was of Baltazar de Páez, José is identified student of Nicolás Enríquez. He married Rosalía Caballero in 1753.
Biography
His works were well-known in New Spain (Mexico), the Peruvian Viceroyalty and Spain. He followed Miguel Cabrera's style. He was known as an artist of religious pieces with special preference on Marian devotions, and as one of the most prolific artists from de New Spain. Art historian Manuel Toussaint said that "José de Páez inundated the second half of the 18th century with his paintings" going on to dismissively say "Among this infinity of pictures, some have interest, as with all artists; but it is difficult to name one that is entirely respectable." However, his work has been more favorably assessed by other art historians. Ilona Katzew describes his style "as sentimental despite the somewhat static and stilted poses of the figures [in his casta paintings], [it] is close to that of Cabrera, which may account for his great success." His paintings have appeared in collections outside of Mexico, so he might have painted for the export market. Some appear in a catalog of Mexican art in Venezuela.
He created several sets of casta paintings, ca. 1780. Two sets are produced in the first full-length work on casta paintings. A third set is in a private collection in Monterrey, Mexico, but shown in San Antonio, Texas as part of an exhibition commemorating the 1718 founding of the settlement. It was published in an earlier exhibition catalogue. The set is typical of the genre, showing racial mixture in hierarchical order. White (Español) - Amerindian mixtures show a return to white status over generations of marriages to whites: Español e India, produce Mestizo; De Español y Mestiza, produce Castizo; De Español y Castiza, produce Español. He then includes an indigenous - Mestizo mixture, with the offspring three-quarters Indio, which is a step down in the racial hierarchy. De Indio, y Mestizo, produce Coyote. The next register is European white - black African mixtures: De Español, y Negra, produce Mulato; De Español, y Mulata produce Morisca; De Español y Morisca, produce Albino; De Español y Albina, produce Torna atrás, a dark "throw back" from very white appearing parents. In the register of Indio - African mixtures, his set is typical in the array of terms that are not standardized in the genre. De Negro, e India, produce Loba; De Lobo e India, produce Chino Cambujo; De Cambujo, e India, produce Sambaigo; De Sambaigo, y Mulata, produce Calpamulata; De Calpamulato, y Coyota, produce Barcina; De Barcino, y Mulata, produced Chino Alvarazado; De Alvarazado, y Torna atrás, produce Tente en el Ayre.
Páez was a favorite painter of the Franciscans. He painted a series on Saint Francis Solanus in the church of San Fernando in Mexico City. He was commissioned to paint the graphic destruction of the Franciscan mission in Texas of San Sabá shows the martyrdom of two Franciscan friars, Fray Alonso Giraldo de Terreros and Fray José de Santiesteban, and the Comanche warriors who wreaked the damage. It is the earliest known painting depicting a scene from the northern region of Texas. The Count of Regla, Don Pedro Romero de Terreros, member of the Order of Calatrava, and a cousin of Fray Alonso, commissioned the oil painting, completed around 1765.
Gallery
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San Juan Nepomuceno. Oil on copper. Art Museum of San Antonio
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Holy heart with saint Ignacio de Loyola and Saint Luis Gonzaga. Oil on copper ca. 1770
See also
- Casta painting
- Mexican art
