Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile)
[1][2][3] Initially located in a building of the University of San Felipe, now the site of the Municipal Theater of Santiago, it underwent relocation in 1891 and adopted the name Escuela de Bellas Artes.
In Europe, academies set uniform standards and guidelines to maintain what was considered “true art.” This approach was adapted to the Chilean context, drawing on French methodologies.
Over time, the curriculum and teaching staff expanded to accommodate the growing student body following the academy’s merger with the facilities of the National Institute.
Efforts to replicate European techniques without a firmly established local context proved challenging for the academy, especially during the more than two decades of leadership by its first director, Alejandro Ciccarelli.
[14] Ciccarelli's neoclassical style introduced themes previously unseen in Chile, including mythological motifs and scenes referencing ancient classical cultures.
Nevertheless, the following figures stand out among those who passed through his workshop: Other students included Luciano Lainez, Manuel Mena, José Castañeda, Nicolás Guzmán, Albina Elguín, and Clarisa Donoso Bascuñán.
After several years, the Neapolitan master shifted his approach, “either due to pressure from some of his disciples or as the result of personal development,”[8] incorporating elements of landscape painting into his work.
In 1859, by supreme decree, the Academy was granted the status of an institution of higher education and was renamed the University Section of Fine Arts, integrating the architecture and sculpture classes that had previously been taught separately.
His technique remained within the academic tradition, strictly adhering to thematic description.According to Pedro Lira, Kirchbach showed signs of eccentricity and nervous outbursts, making his classes unpopular among students.
He was the first to cultivate direct disciples, owing to his more innovative teaching method that emphasized guiding and encouraging students’ inherent abilities, rather than adhering strictly to the academic constraints of previous years.
Critics such as Ivelic and Galaz compare his costumbrista pieces to those of Manuel Antonio Caro, Mauricio Rugendas, and Ernesto Charton de Treville.
As director, he encouraged students to experiment beyond traditional academic conventions, integrating elements of local (Creole) painting with European influences.
Figures such as Pedro Lira and his associates, Antonio Smith with his landscape focus, Alberto Orrego Luco, Juan Francisco González, Thomas Somerscales, and his student Casanova Zenteno demonstrated that artistic development was not limited to Academy instruction.
Their approach took shape under the influence of Spanish painter Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor, who provided the final impetus for what became the Generation of 1913—considered a formative stage in the emergence of a distinctly Chilean art.
Before assuming this role, he had already taught several notable artists, including Enrique Lynch, Pablo Burchard, Marcial Plaza Ferrand, and Arturo Gordon.
One of his most notable hires was the Spanish painter Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor, who introduced elements of Goya-influenced painting into Chilean art.
After the group's official formation, he stepped back from his role in Chile and returned to Spain, where he later served as director of the Prado Museum and the San Fernando Academy.
The Academia–Escuela de Bellas Artes enrolled students who played a significant role in Chilean painting, including members of the Generation of 1913 and several notable artists.
