Elmina Moisan Explained

Elmina Moisan (1897-1938) was a Chilean painter remembered in the historiography as part of the Generación del 13. She has been called the "female artist who has painted the best in Chile".^[1]

Biography

Elmina Moisan was born in Quillota, 1897. Of French descent, Moisan entered the School of Fine Arts in 1912, being a student of the Spanish painter Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza and Ricardo Richon Brunet. After receiving her teaching degree with a major in visual arts, she taught at the Liceo de Chicas N ° 4 in Santiago.^[2]

Her works are mainly portraits, scenes of customs, landscapes and still lifes made with a subtle and quite personal style.^[3] Her painting, La coqueta (1916), won the first medal in the official salon of Santiago, in 1919.^[4]

She married the painter Otto Georgi in 1926, who was also a member of the Generación del 13.

Death and legacy

In 1938, the government of Chile invited Moisan to exhibit and study in Lima, Peru. During her trip, she contracted malaria, a situation that forced her to return to Chile where, after a month of illness, she died in the city of Santiago.

The city of Rancagua, O'Higgins Region, a street bears the name of Elmina Moisan.

Selected works in public collections

• Interior, Óleo sobre tela, 115 x 90 cm. 1926. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Santiago de Chile.
• La coqueta, Óleo sobre tela, 53 x 62 cm. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Santiago de Chile.
• Cabeza de vieja, Óleo sobre tela, 40 x 36 cm. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Santiago de Chile.
• Desnudo, Óleo sobre tela, 66 x 44 cm. Pinacoteca Universidad de Concepción.

Awards

• 1936 - First Prize, Official Hall of Santiago.
• 1929 - Gold Medal, Ibero-American Exhibition in Seville.
• 1923 - Portrait Award, Official Hall of Santiago.
• 1920 - Second Medal in Drawing, Official Hall of Santiago.
• 1919 - First Medal, Official Hall of Santiago.
• 1919 - Prize of Honor, Certamen Edwards, Santiago.
• 1916 - Second Medal, Official Hall of Santiago.
• 1916 - Customs Award, Certamen Edwards, Santiago.

Notes and References

1. "Bellas Artes. Exposición retrospectiva de La Alhambra". La Nación. 29 December 1951.
2. Web site: Elmina Moisan . www.artistasvisualeschilenos.cl . Artistas Visuales Chilenos, AVCh, MNBA . 31 August 2021.
3. Web site: Pintores Chilenos: ELMINA MOISAN . www.pintoreslatinoamericanos.com . 31 August 2021 . es.
4. News: Espinoza A. . Denisse . Artistas mujeres: la huella de las pioneras de la creación local . 31 August 2021 . La Tercera . 20 July 2017.