Background
His mother was Peruvian and his father was from Spain.
His mother was Peruvian and his father was from Spain.
He also served as the first Director of the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. He was brought to Lima at the age of four and began his artistic education at fourteen, in the studios of Italian-born Leonardo Barbieri (1818-1896), who had worked as a portrait painter and daguerrotypist in California during the Gold Rush. Later, when Barbieri had left Lima, Hernández took over his art classes.
He left Peru in 1874.
After his arrival in Paris, he met his fellow Peruvian, Ignacio Merino, who advised him to study in Rome instead. He did so, and remained there for nine years, working with Marià Fortuny, among others
In 1883, he returned to Paris and was elected President of the "Sociedad de Pintores Españoles", composed of the Spanish-speaking artists who lived there. In 1912, he travelled to Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Rome to exhibit, returning to Paris in 1918.
The "Escuela National de Bellas Artes de Lima" opened in 1919, with Hernández as its first Director.
He retained that position until his death in 1932. A district encompassing the city of Pampas, near his birthplace, has been named after him.
He was also a member of the "Société des Artistes Français" and exhibited regularly at the Salon.