Codesido, Julia (1883–1979)

Julia Codesido was a Peruvian artist. Codesido, known as one of the indigenistas sabogalinos (close followers of painter José Sabogal) was born on 5 August 1883, in Lima. As a young girl, she and her family traveled to Europe with her diplomat father. Over the next eighteen years, she was introduced to the great museums and master works of Europe. In 1918 she returned to Peru, and in 1919 she enrolled in the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes del Perú, where she studied with Daniel Hernández and later José Sabogal. In 1924 she had her first individual exhibition in the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Like other indigenistas, she aimed at creating a Peruvian school of painting based on the exploration of native themes and the depiction of Andean local scenes and customs. She studied at the National School of Fine Arts, in Lima, where she later taught. In 1935, she visited Mexico to study the muralist movement. After this visit, the influence of Siqueiros became evident in her work.

Codesido abstracted some pictorial elements in her paintings—trees, architecture—although she always stayed within the boundaries of realism.

In 1936, Codesido participated in the First Congress of American Artists, held in New York City. She exhibited in Mexico City and New York (1935 and 1936). When in 1943 Sabogal was relieved of his position as director of the National School of Fine Arts over artistic differences, Codesido resigned in solidarity with him. Subsequently, she dedicated herself to forming, with other members of the indigenista movement, a collection of popular art and artisanal work for the National Museum of Peruvian Culture. In 1946 she was named a member of the Instituto de Arte Peruano. She died on 8 May 1979.

See alsoArt: The Twentieth Century .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acha, Juan. Art in Latin America Today: Perú (1961)

Chase, Gilbert. Contemporary Art in Latin America (1970), p. 101.

Codesido, Julia. Julia Codesido (1938–1979): Muestra antológica. Lima: Centro Cultural, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2004.

Moll, Eduardo. Julia Codesido, 1883–1979. Lima: Editorial Navarette, 1990.

                                           Marta Garsd