Ramón Frade
Cayey, PR, 1875 - 1954
Biography Details
Painter, architect, engineer, and surveyor. Frade was one of the first active painters in Puerto Rico in the early twentieth century. He spent the first years of his life in the Dominican Republic, where he studied art at the Escuela Municipal de Dibujo de Santo Domingo and was taught by French realist painter Adolphe Laglande. He also took classes in the studio of Dominican painter Luis Desangles in 1893. After living for some years in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Frade returned to Puerto Rico in 1902 and later traveled throughout Latin America, France, and Italy. In 1927 he studied architecture by correspondence, although his constant profession was civil engineer and surveyor; his architectural work was rather limited. His artistic production is characterized by an academic realism through which he portrays the landscape and rural life of Puerto Rico. His representation of the campesino in the painting El Pan Nuestro (Our Daily Bread, 1905) has become an icon of Puerto Rican art.
Artist Statement
“Painter’s art technique pursues two different things: reproduce form through drawing and color through painting. Form exists independent of color; color is not an integral part of form. Several objects could have the same color but only the form will differentiate them. Paint a canvas a pink color and no matter how perfect it is, without the drawing it will not convey the idea of a flower; meanwhile a simple sketch, no matter how imperfect, will always evoke form because the drawing is the shape of the painted work: it’s the science”.
Formation
Education
1887
- Municipal Drawing School in Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1891-1894
- Institutor. Basic Education for Teachers’ (Normal) School, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1892
- French company telegraphs’ school, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Apprentice with French painter Adolphe Laglande. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1895
- Surveyor. At distance ( by mail). Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
1907
- United States Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
1913-1927
- Architect. American School of Correspondence, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Professional Experience
1954
- Perpetuo Socorro Altar, (unfinished mural later destroyed). Cayey Parish Church,Cayey, Puerto Rico
1945
- Mural in Altar of Our Lady of Mercy. Cayey Parish Church, Cayey, Puerto Rico
1917
- Began his work in architecture. Cayey, Puerto Rico
1904
- Paints the ceiling of Colorado photography workshop (destroyed). Old San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1897
- Decors Teatro Tacón (destroyed). Havana, Cuba
1894
- Works with photographer Julio Pou retouching photographic negatives. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1891-1892
- Cartoonist. The Pencil Newspaper, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2004
- Frade en la Liga, Cayey en San Juan, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2003
- Ramón Frade, conservación, restauración y proyección del legado, Museo de Arte Dr. Pío López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
2000
- La Casa Frade, Museo de Arte Dr. Pío López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey , Puerto Rico
1985
- Ramón Frade, exposición homenaje, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1971
- Exposición de dibujos de Ramón Frade, Casa del Arquitecto, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1960
- Ramón Frade, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1956
- Exposición Don Ramón Frade, Galería Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1905
- Sin título (exposición de la pintura El pan nuestro), Secretaría de la Cámara de Delegados, 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
2000
- Los tesoros de la pintura puertorriqueña, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995
- El santo en el arte puertorriqueño, Museo de Las Américas, Cuartel de Ballajá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992
- Imágenes de la tierra, Pabellón de Puerto Rico en la Feria Internacional de Sevilla, Sevilla, España
1988
- De Oller a los cuarenta. La pintura en PR 1898-1948, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1987
- Puerto Rican Painting Between Past and Present, The Squibb Gallery, New York, United States
1973
- La herencia artística en Puerto Rico, Museo del Barrio, New York; Metropolitan,Museum of Art, New York, United States
1957
- Dos siglos de pintura puertorriqueña, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
1900
- La Volteriana painting was admitted to the Paris Salon. Paris, France
1949
- Medal. Dominican Academy of History, Dominican Republic
1954
- Benemerenti Medal granted by Pope Pius XII. Italy
Collections
- Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Libros
Hermandad de Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Arte e Identidad. San Juan, P.R.: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998.
Los tesoros de la pintura puertorriqueña. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. San Juan, P.R. 2000.