Jaime Colson (1901-1975) Dominican Artist
Jaime Colson (1901-1975), was born in the city of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, he died in Santo Domingo, in 1975. He studied painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He also studied in Barcelona where he deepened his drawing skills among the Catalan masters of the century. He lived in Paris in the 1920s, where his painting took a sharply humanist turn. Under the influence of Picasso, Braque and Leger, he accomplished works with cubist architectural influence and adherence to the geometric.
C. 1925, Óleo sobre madera, 48.5 x 40.5 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
In 1934, he travels to Mexico, where he lives until 1938. He taught at the Art School for Workers and ventured into mural studies with an emphasis on social issues and worked and befriended Siqueiros, Orozco and Diego Rivera.
C. 1952, Óleo sobre tela, 81 x 66 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
In 1938 traveled to Havana, Cuba, where he produced several exhibitions, both collective and individual. He was professor of Mario Carreno and other renowned Cuban painters. In the works he made during that time, one can see a remarkable symbiosis between architecture, neoclassicism and metaphysics. In that same year he returned to Paris where he did excellent work with neohumanist trend. This period coincides with his return to Santo Domingo in 1950, where he was appointed Director General of Fine Arts, a position he held until 1951, without adapting to the administrative functions.
C. 1943, Óleo sobre tela, 35.5 x 51 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
Back in his homeland, Colson dedicated his time to spread his knowledge and skills, being able to transmit to his students, his personal style, safely and refined.
Dejected by physical ailments and emotional losses, he took temporary refuge in the province, concentrating harder on his works. He then traveled to Haiti and Caracas, Venezuela. Finally returning back to Santo Domingo where he died after a long illness.
C. 1927, Mixta sobre cartón, 36 x 24 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
Jaime Colson, passionate and rebellious artist whose life was a continuous path from country to country, experimented with many artistic movements, especially Cubism, surrealism, neo-classicism, and a period of mystical religious influence, to which he integrated a strong Creole influence. His pictorial work, described as figurative and neo-humanist inspiration, pays tribute to the human body in all its forms."
The text above is a translation of an article by The Museo Bellapart, a private art museum in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Its collection includes artwork from the mid-19th century to the 1960s.
C. 1919, Óleo sobre tela, 22 x 15.5 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1924, Óleo sobre tela, 35 x 26.5 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1937, Óleo sobre tela, 72.5 x 59.5 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1938, Óleo sobre madera, 51.5 x 37 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1938, Óleo sobre cartón, 52 x 68 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1942, Óleo sobre cartón, 66 x 52 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1943, Óleo sobre madera, 44 x 36 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo
C. 1943, Óleo sobre madera, 44 x 36 cm. Imagen: Museo Bellapart, Santo Domingo