Roberto Pizano (1896-1930) participated directly in the Spanish art scene, studying at the Academia de San Fernando [San Fernando Academy] in Madrid. This text is one of a series of articles about Spanish painting, disseminated by the art critic/painter in Colombian serialized publications. For example, he wrote about Ignacio Zuloaga (1870-1845), drawing a biographical sketch similar to the one in this article. Another Spanish painter who deserved a critical reading, [in the critic’s opinion,] was Cecilio Pla (1860-1934), professor of aesthetics at the Madrid academy where Pizano had studied. In another article, Pizano compared the work of the Colombian artist, Coriolano Leudo (1886-1957), with that of Ignacio Zuloaga.
Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) incorporates the heritage that came from the Generation of 1898. The regional types, customs and landscapes were the main referents of his painting, vindicating the decline of a national identity, after the final disappearance of the Spanish Empire. In Colombia, the main benchmark of academic art was always Spanish art; the country could thus maintain its position at the margin of contemporary trends in both French art and avant-garde art, in general.
Sorolla himself was always one of the important exponents of Luminism, and as such, had a major influence on the work of Pizano, who had been taught by Sorolla in Spain. In Pizano’s painting, light is predominant, along with the form; moreover, his artistic ideas reflect the search for an art of his own that would place an importance on both landscape and vernacular identities.