Observed Nature

Thus, since the last decades of the 19th century, landscape has established itself as an increasingly relevant theme in the national artistic world, specifically focused on the geography of the valleys and the coast of the central and southern regions of the country. In a pristine state, inhabited by humans or subjected to agricultural work, through panoramic views or still lifes, nature –reflected, above all, in the monumental presence of the mountain range– became the main object of aesthetic contemplation and inspiration for the artists in Chile of the period.

Under the curatorship of Juan Manuel Martinez, this exhibition seeks to establish an inquiry perspective in regards to the importance of nature and the artists’ ways of seeing to open reflections on the relationship between the environment, creation and artistic production. On the other hand, and finding its contemporaneity, the exhibition invites one to wonder about the way in which we value nature today. Stopping to observe the past is essential to understand the present and project into the future: how do we relate to and value the nature and landscape that surround us? is one of the latent questions and reflections in this exhibition.

Collaborating institutions

Banco Central de Chile • Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes • Museo Palacio Vergara • Museo Histórico Nacional • Pinacoteca Universidad de Concepción.

Artists present in the exhibition

Onofre Jarpa • Pedro Lira • Juan Francisco González • Alberto Valenzuela Llanos • Alberto Orrego Luco • Enrique Swinburn • Thomas Somerscales • Eugenio Guzmán Ovalle • Pedro Jofré • Rafael Correa • Joaquín Fabres • Demetrio Reveco • Burke • Ernesto Molina Vázquez • José Backhaus Martin • Alfredo Helsby • Celia Castro • Eucarpio Espinosa • Manuel Thomson • Giovatto Molinelli • Ramón Subercaseaux • Miguel Campos • Antonio Smith • Desiree Chassin • Aurora Mira.