Background
Oller (birth name: Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero ) was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, the third of four children of aristocratic and wealthy Spanish parents Cayetano Juan Oller y Fromesta and María del Carmen Cestero Dávila.
Calle de Alcalá, 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
Académie Suisse
Calle de Alcalá, 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
Académie Suisse
Oller (birth name: Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero ) was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, the third of four children of aristocratic and wealthy Spanish parents Cayetano Juan Oller y Fromesta and María del Carmen Cestero Dávila.
When Oller was eighteen, he moved to Madrid, Spain, where he studied painting at the Royal Academy of San Fernando, under the tutelage of Don Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, director of the Prado Museum. In 1858, he moved to Paris, France where he studied under Thomas Couture.
Oller is the only Latin American painter to have played a role in the development of Impressionism. Early years
When he was eleven he began to study art under the tutelage of Juan Cleto Noa, a painter who had an art academy in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There, Oller demonstrated that he had an enormous talent in art and in 1848, General Juan Prim, Governor of Puerto Rico, offered Oller the opportunity to continue his studies in Rome.
However, the offer was not accepted as Oller"s mother felt that he was too young to travel abroad by himself.
Later he enrolled to study art in the Louvre under the instruction of Gustave Courbet. During his free time, Oller, who had a baritone type of singing voice, worked and participated in local Italian operas.
He frequently visited cafés where he met with fellow artists. In 1859, Oller exhibited some of his artistic works next to those of Bazille, Renoir, Monet, and Sisley.
Foreign a short time, Paul Cézanne was one of Oller"s students, although their professional relationship deteriorated with time.
By 1865, Oller was known as the first Puerto Rican and Hispanic Impressionist artist. In 1868, he founded The Free Academy of Art of Puerto Rico. Later years
In 1884, he founded an art school for young women which was later to be known as the Universidad Nacional.
Oller"s paintings can be found in museums worldwide, including the Louvre in France.
Francisco Oller died on May 17, 1917 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Oller was a prolific painter with works ranging in topic from still-lifes and landscapes to historical events and portraiture.
While he was involved with several painting movements, Realism, Naturalism and Impressionism. He is best known for his Impressionist works.
The town of Cataño in Puerto Rico, named a high school after him and the City of New York renamed P.S.61 in The Bronx P.S. Francisco Oller.
There is also a Francisco Oller Library in the Escuela de Artes Plásticas (School of Plastic Arts) in San Juan. The Francisco Oller Museum where many artists, such as Tomás Batista, exhibit their work is located in the city of Bayamón. In Buffalo, New York there is a Francisco Oller and Diego Rivera Museum of Art where Manuel Rivera-Ortiz and other artists have exhibited their work.
Francisco Oller gained prominence as the only Latin American painter, who played a significant role in the development of Impressionism. Among his most outstanding works are "La escuela del maestro Rafael Cordero", "La hacienda Aurora", "Paisaje con Palma Real" and "El estudiante" (The Student). The latter is kept in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
The painter also attained such awards, as Primera Feria Exposición Silver Medal in 1854 and 1855, and Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III in 1870.
There is the Francisco Oller Museum in Puerto Rico, which was named in his honor.
The Student
French Landscape I
La Hacienda Buenavista en Ponce, Puerto Rico
La ceiba de Ponce
Hacienda La Fortuna
Coronel Francisco E. Contreras
Hacienda Aurora
Battle of Treviño
Bodegón con aguacates y utensilios
Portrait of Eugenio María de Hostos
El molino
Portrait of a Lady, probably Doña Isabel Oller, the artist's sister
A paineira de Ponce - La ceiba de Ponce
Pineapples
Self-portrait
George W. Davis
Still Life With Plantains and Bananas 1893
La escuela del maestro Cordero
Barcos del Sena
Autorretrato
Esboço para o velório - Boceto para el velorio - Sketch for the wake
Plátanos amarillos 1893
Cocos
Bodegón de guineos, jarra y pajuiles
Guayabas
The Wake
Paisaje con Palma Real
