Celeste Woss y Gil

Nude, 1941 (, Santo Domingo)

Celeste Woss y Gil (5 May 1891 – 1985) was a female painter from the Dominican Republic. She is known for her female portraits and nudes.

Early life and education[]

Woss y Gil was born on May 5, 1891, in Santo Domingo and was the daughter of Alejandro Woss y Gil and María Altagracia Ricart Pérez.^[1] Alejandro Woss y Gil served briefly as president of the Dominican Republic in 1903. Because he was removed from office after only a few short months, her family lived in exile in France during the early years of her life (1903–1912), then moved to Cuba.^[2]

Woss y Gil began her formal art studies in Cuba at the Painting Academy in Santiago de Cuba, under the instruction of José Joaquín Tejada. She participated in an exhibition in Santiago de Cuba in 1911.^[3]

From 1920 to 1922 she moved to New York City to continue her studies, enrolling at the Art Students League of New York as well as at the National Academy of Design.^[2] There, she worked with the artist George Luks and the impressionist Frank DuMond. After gaining more experience and exposure to the American art world, Woss y Gil moved back to Santo Domingo in 1924.

Career[]

Woss y Gil was inspired by artists like Jaime Colson. Colson is considered founder of the modernist school of painting in the Dominican Republic.^[4] He led the way for nude art, in a modernist style. Gil combines Colson's modernism with European realism. Colson's use of browns and neutral tones play into Woss y Gil's artwork. She was influenced by the natural scenes and humans around her.

Woss y Gil's work was first exhibited in the United States in 1923. In 1924, she returned to Santo Domingo and opened an art school, "Escuela Estudio Woss y Gil". Because of her interest in the human form, students at Escuela Estudio Woss y Gil studied live figures. In order to promote the school, she held a solo exhibition of her works that was well received.^[3] Her exhibition at Escuela Estudio Woss y Gil became the first female solo art exhibition in the history of the Dominican Republic. In 1928, she moved back to New York City to study human anatomy and broaden her artistic range.^[2]

Woss y Gil returned to Santo Domingo in 1931.^[2] She opened a painting and drawing academy called "Academia de Pintura y Dibujo". Painter Gilberto Hernández Ortega was among her many students. She became the director of the (“Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes”) in Santo Domingo, which was founded in 1942.^[2]

Notable works[]

According to Sophia Martin, in "Girl In a Pink Dress" Woss y Gil utilizes techniques to make "...edges of objects appear to fuse with their surroundings, as pastel colours merge in harmony".^[5]

Woss y Gil frequently painted portraits of women and landscapes that displayed her connection to aspects of Dominican culture.^[5]

In "El Vendedor de Andullo", Woss y Gil depicts two men smoking andullo, a Dominican Republic traditional rolled tobacco pipe. ^[2] The background of the image displays working people going about their everyday lives, as well as children playing beneath a Arecaceae palm tree and a blue sky.

In 1939, "El Vendedor de Andullo" was exhibited at the "International Business Machine's Gallery of Science and Art" at the New York World's Fair. The painting travelled around the United States well into the 1940s.^[2]

Death[]

Woss y Gil died in 1985, aged 94–95, in Santo Domingo.^[2]

See also[]

• List of 20th-century women artists
• List of Dominican painters

References[]

Further reading[]