After studying in Paris and Rome, José Manuel Marroquín Osorio (1847–1943)—son of President José Manuel Marroquín Ricaurte (1827–1908)—formed part of a select group of priests who had been educated in Europe, where they studied a range of different disciplines, such as theology, philosophy, and history. On the basis of this academic background, Marroquín Osorio was given authority to give the speech at the official opening of the Salón de Bellas Artes in 1910. This seemingly simple fact offers evidence that at the time art was subordinate to religion, that is, although art did enjoy a measure of legitimacy as an independent discipline, it was by no means fully autonomous. The Church was viewed as an authority that could rightfully grant or withhold approval in the realm of the arts, and was as fundamental to the “project of nationhood” put forth during the centennial celebration.
Marroquín Osorio’s arguments echo the commitment to the Spanish tradition felt by most early twentieth-century Colombian critics and artists. It is not insignificant that the work of all the painters mentioned by Marroquín Osorio was academic in nature; unsurprisingly, he fails to mention Andrés de Santamaría (1860–1945). This pro-establishment discourse places Spanish artists at the apex of the Western tradition to which Colombian artists must look for inspiration. There was no reason to mention the attempts to stray from that tradition evident in the work of artists like Santamaría, since according to this vision, the arts were the privileged means to represent the Colombian nation: portraits, busts, religious scenes, and landscapes were the themes through which to define the nation’s identity.
The 1910 salon was the perfect occasion to project art as a symbol of a nation committed not only to [its citizens’] physical wellbeing, but also to culture as a basic component of a civilizing project. The Colombian capital should become not only a center of industry, but also be home to a cultivated people knowledgeable about the arts envisioned as the cornerstone of the nation.