Guillermo Collazo

June 7, 1850 (age 46)

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

His artistic talent was noticed at an early age by one of his instructors at school in Santiago. He arrived in New York with no resources (and no English). Eventually, he found a job touching up and coloring photographs at a small shop in the Bowery. After a short time there, he found work in the studios of Napoleon Sarony, where he was able to save enough money to open his own art studio, enjoying great success as a portrait painter. He also continued to raise money for revolutionary causes, and helped José Martí get his first writing job at The Hour, a magazine where Collazo worked as an illustrator. In 1883, he returned to Cuba, opened a studio in Havana and remained for five years. Hampered by the increasingly oppressive atmosphere there, he decided to go to Paris. Opening a large studio which became a meeting point for the Cuban exile community and, occasionally, a place for planning revolutionary activities. In his final years, he devoted himself to sculpture because an addiction to narcotics had affected his eyesight and he was unable to focus clearly enough to paint. He died in Paris and, in 1899, after the War of Independence, his family brought his remains back to Cuba. In 1976, his painting "The Patio" was used on one of a series of stamps honoring Cuban painters.

Guillermo Collazo

Edit Profile

painter

Background

He was born into an established colonial family.

Career

His artistic talent was noticed at an early age by one of his instructors at school in Santiago. He arrived in New York with no resources (and no English). Eventually, he found a job touching up and coloring photographs at a small shop in the Bowery.

After a short time there, he found work in the studios of Napoleon Sarony, where he was able to save enough money to open his own art studio, enjoying great success as a portrait painter.

He also continued to raise money for revolutionary causes, and helped José Martí get his first writing job at The Hour, a magazine where Collazo worked as an illustrator. In 1883, he returned to Cuba, opened a studio in Havana and remained for five years.

Hampered by the increasingly oppressive atmosphere there, he decided to go to Paris. Opening a large studio which became a meeting point for the Cuban exile community and, occasionally, a place for planning revolutionary activities.

In his final years, he devoted himself to sculpture because an addiction to narcotics had affected his eyesight and he was unable to focus clearly enough to paint.

He died in Paris and, in 1899, after the War of Independence, his family brought his remains back to Cuba. In 1976, his painting "The Patio" was used on one of a series of stamps honoring Cuban painters.

Main Photo