José Campeche
San Juan, PR, 1751-1809
Biography Details
Painter and musician. At an early age Campeche learned the crafts of his family. He studied Latin and philosophy at the Royal Convent of the Dominican Order in San Juan. Between 1776 and 1778 he was in contact with Spanish court painter Luis Paret y Alcázar, who had been exiled to Puerto Rico by Charles III. Campeche was a self-taught and versatile figure, pursuing music, architecture, topography, the design of coats of arms, and the making of musical instruments in addition to his work as a painter. He painted mainly religious subjects and portraits. His work, considered to be rococo because of its interest in detail and ornamentation, is dominated by the grayish-blues and pinks he learned from Paret. In 2006, the Ponce Art Museum organized an exhibition that traveled to the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts; the exhibition included Campeche’s work as well as works by Francisco Oller and Miguel Pou. Campeche’s mastery lies in his skill as a portraitist and miniaturist; he is considered to stand among the finest painters in Latin America in the late eighteenth century.
Artist Statement
“Campeche’s technique and coloring acknowledges the influence of the Rococo style, where a subtle coloration of grays, blues and pinkish predominates. José Campeche may be considered as one of the best painters of eighteenth-century Latin America. He died in 1809”.
Osiris Delgado, 2007
Formation
Education
nd
- Studies of Philosophy, Humanities and Music. Convento de los Dominicos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1775-1778
- He studied with Paret y Alcazar. Got skills on the European techniques of eighteenth century painting such as Eighteenth-century, Bourbonnais and Rococo
nd
- He studied with his father, who was an instinctive painter, gilder and decorator
Professional Experience
nd
- He made the Santa Ana’s church altar. Old San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2010-2012
- Campeche: mito y realidad, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
- José Campeche y su tiempo, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States
1971
- Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1855
- Vida del pintor puertorriqueño Jose Campeche, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1863
- Ayuntamiento de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2013
- Interconexiones: Lecturas Curatoriales de la Colección del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- Contexto puertorriqueño: del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Books
Tapia y Rivera, Alejandro. “Vida del pintor puertorriqueño José Campeche”. Barcelona, España: Ediciones Rumbos, 1967.
Vidal, Teodoro. “José Campeche: Retratista de una época”. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Alba, 2005.
Catalogues
Dávila, Arturo. “Campeche: Mito y Realidad”. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2012.
Newspapers
Vidal, Teodoro. “Cuadros de Campeche en Venezuela”. Puerto Rico Ilustrado (San Juan, PR), 27 de enero de 1968, pp. 8-9.
Magazines
Blanco, Enrique T. “Campeche II, Su Vida”. Alma Latina (San Juan, PR), No. 22 (mayo 1933).
Blanco, Enrique T. “Campeche III, Su Obra”. Alma Latina (San Juan, PR), No. 23 (junio 1932).
Dávila, Arturo V. “José Campeche y sus hermanos en el Convento de las Carmelitas”. Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, PR), No. 2, enero-marzo, 1959, pp. 12-14.
Dávila, Arturo V. “Los retratos de José Campeche”. Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, PR), No. 33, octubre – diciembre, 1966.
Dávila, Arturo V. “Notas sobre el arte sacro en el pontificado del ilustrísimo seños de Arizmendi (1803 – 1814)”. Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, PR), No. 9, octubre – diciembre, 1960, p. 49.
Dávila, Arturo V. “José Campeche. 1750 – 1809”. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, PR) 1971.
Fernández Juncos, Manuel. “José Campeche, pintor puertorriqueño”. Revista de las Antillas (San Juan, PR), No. 4, junio, 1914, pp. 76-77.
Gaya Nuño, Juan Antonio. “José Campeche, el colega de Goya en Puerto Rico”. Goya (Madrid, España), No. 67, 1965, p. 9.
González García, Sebastián. “Catálogo parcial de obras de José Campeche Jordán 1751 – 1809”. La Torre, Revista General de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (San Juan, PR), Año XX, No. 77-78, julio – diciembre 1972, pp. 85-210.
Infiesta, Alejandro. “La exposición de Puerto Rico. Memoria presentada según acuerdo de la Junta del Centenario”. Vocal de la Directiva, Puerto Rico, 1895.
Milicia, José. “Un retrato de Campeche”. Archivo Español de Arte, Madrid XXI, 1958, pp. 143-144.
Rigau Pérez, José J. “El ojo clínico de José Campeche confirmado por documentos médicos de la época”. Boletín de la Asociación Médica de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR) Vol. 74, No. 12, diciembre de 1982, pp. 390-393.
Rigau Pérez, José J. “Monstruos, Mártires o Ejemplos: Teratología en Puerto Rico, de 1798 a 1808”. Boletín de la Asociación Médica de Puerto Rico, (San Juan, PR), Vol.77, No. 8, agosto 1985, pp. 326-333.