Jaime Colson

Colson was born in Tubagua, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on 13 January 1901, to parents Antonio González, a Spanish merchant, and Juana María Colson Tradwell, who was born in Puerto Plata and was the daughter of American immigrants. He received his early education in Santo Domingo, and showed an interest in art at an early age. His earliest works were influenced by Noucentisme, the prevailing artistic and literary aesthetic in Barcelona at the time, as well other avant-garde movements of the era. In 1920, he moved to Madrid and from 1920 to 1923, he attended the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he took classes with José Moreno Carbonero, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastidas, and José Garnelo. After his formative years in Madrid, he returned to Barcelona where he was presented at the Real Círculo Artístico, by Santiago Rusiñol and Joaquin Terruella Matilla. He lived in Paris from 1924 to 1934, where he discovered the works of Pablo Picasso and Giorgio De Chirico, which greatly influenced his paintings from the 30's-40's. During this time, Colson dove deeper into Cubist and Surrealist aesthetics, evoking a return to the classic and an irreality. ==Artistic career==

Colson suffered economic hardships in Paris and sales of his works were minimal. Following suggestions from Dominican writer Pedro Henríquez Ureña and Mexican poet Maples Arce, he left for Mexico in 1934 with hopes of improving his situation; there, Colson held a personal exhibition, sponsored by the Secretary of Education and began teaching at the Workers' School of Art. During this period, Colson also devoted himself to illustration, such as in the book Eco by the poet and friend Elías Nandino, published in 1934, whose black and white surrealistic illustrations of male torsos and genitalia, bleeding wounds and mutilated organs were celebrated at the time. In Mexico, Colson befriended María Izquierdo, José Gorostiza, Antonin Artaud, Wifredo Lam and his Cuban student, Mario Carreño. In 1938, Colson left Mexico, traveling to Havana, Cuba, accompanied by Mario Carreño. He lived and taught there for a few months, and held an art exhibition, before shortly returning to his native country after twenty years of absence. On May 26, 1938, Colson arrived in Santo Domingo and held his first exhibition in the country at the Dominican Athenaeum The next year in Paris he exhibited at the prestigious Berheim-Jeune Gallery ten paintings and drawings, with artists Mario Carreño and Max Jiménez. However, as a result of World War II, Colson relocated to Barcelona. There, he completed numerous works including a set of murals on the island of Mallorca. In 1950, Colson returned to Dominican Republic and became director of the National School of Fine Arts. However, in 1952 he resigned from his post without having served two years in office. Following his resignation, Colson illustrated the Dominican author Tomás Hernández Franco’s book Cibao, with drawings portraying the daily life of cibaeños. He also made a well-known portrait of him there. In 1957 he traveled to Caracas, Venezuela, to hold an exhibition. Colson had already presented his work in Venezuela at the Valencia International Painting Exhibition, which was held in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of its founding. On this occasion he had brought a multitude of works to be shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, however, after the interviews in the press announcing the exhibition, the general director of Fine Arts did not approve Colson’s works. ==Style==

Colson’s works blend Cubism, Surrealism, Symbolism, Expressionism, and Neoclassicism into a style described as Neohumanism that he became known for. During his years in Paris, Colson got to know the work of Giorgio De Chirico and Pablo Picasso who were two of his biggest influences. The influence of the De Chirico can be seen in his works from the 30s and 40s, in the use of perspective and scenography, themes towards the metaphysical and surrealist, the return to the classical, unreal atmospheres, and the reinterpretations of Mediterranean mythology. All of this penetrated deeply into Colson's aesthetic. The mystery and loneliness that emanate from De Chirico's paintings can also be seen in Colson’s work. In addition, Colson was influenced by the readings of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), whose dream analysis had an impact on Colson’s more surrealistic paintings. Religious or mystical themes were also repeatedly explored in his various ecclesiastical murals and paintings, representing biblical and hagiographic subjects like El compte Arnau, one of his most colorful and famous works. Other works include Baquiní y la ciguapa del Camú from 1949, which shows a ritual wake for a dead infant. Colson in his 1962 painting Los heroes de la calle Espaillat, not only perfectly captures all his evolution, from cubism, religious painting, fresco painting and neo-humanism, but also, due to its theme, delves into the social and the political environment of the time, that paid tribute to the student revolutionaries who were arrested, tortured, and killed by the dictatorship, on October 20, 1961. ==Death==

He dedicated the final years of his life to continuing his work and teaching the techniques of mural painting. Colson died of pulmonary edema in Santo Domingo on November 20 1975, aged 74; he suffered from throat cancer because of his assiduous smoking habit. He was married to Japanese painter and sculptor Toyo Yutaka Karimoto. A retrospective of his work was held at Museo Bellapart in Santo Domingo in 2008. ==Gallery==

File:Jaime Colson Fiesta.jpg|Fiesta de Guachupita. Jaime Colson . Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana File:Jaime Colson Merengue.jpg File:Jaime Colson Sueño.jpg File:Jaime Colson Figuras Metafísicas.jpg File:Jaime Colson sin titulo 1943.jpg File:Jaime Colson Compte Arnau.jpg File:Jaime Colson Reminiscencias.jpg File:Jaime Colson sin título.jpg File:Jaime Colson Anunciación.jpg ==References==