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Alejandro
Infiesta writing that many who saw it at the time exclaimed to have family or know people who resembled the individuals depicted in the painting. The piece was also well received in France when it was first exposed at the Paris Salon in 1895 where it was described as a successful depiction of "tropical Impressionism".
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Francisco Oller, considered the only Latin
American exponent of French Impressionism, was particularly interested in the social causes of the 19th-century everyday Puerto Rican men. As such he dedicated much attention to traditional scenes of Puerto Rican life in his paintings at the time. He began
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was somewhat unpopular when it was first showcased in Puerto Rico, during the 1893 Exposition of Puerto Rico in San Juan, as it was perceived as a negative and vulgar representation of the superstitious rural Puerto Rican life. It was however popular among the public, with educator and chronicler
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that was owned by the
Elzaburu family. José and Pedro Elzaburu served as models to the priest and sacristan, respectively; their housekeeper served as a model for the child's mother. He also used many of the farm workers and their families as models for the characters in the painting.
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in this portrait depicts the deceased child as a focal point dressed in white and adorned with flowers, lying on a table at the center of a traditional countryside house. The iconography of the child, reminiscent of a
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and other countrymen as funerary celebrations for the death of a child. This practice originates in the syncretic
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The painting was owned by the
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that the death of an innocent baptized child results in their automatic ascension and entrance into
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and that the occasion is therefore a cause not only for remembrance but for celebration. The
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466:"Francisco Oller, tropical impressionniste de Puerto Rico - Invitation au voyage"
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Spiegelman, Willard (8 July 2015). "A Voyager Among
Countries and Styles".
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240 cm Ă— 400 cm (96 in Ă— 156 in)
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Museum of Art, History, and
Anthropology of the University of Puerto Rico
116:. This painting is considered one of the most important pieces in the
508:"El Velorio de Oller en Nueva York | Smithsonian American Art Museum"
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has inspired numerous reinterpretations. For example,
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for "The Wake") is an 1893 8-by-13-foot painting by
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249:El Velorio de Oller en Nueva York
185:work on the painting in 1891 in
41:"El Velorio" - 'The Wake' (1893)
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439:"Biblioteca Virtual DĂdactica"
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277:Visitas a “El velorio”
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187:Hacienda Santa Bárbara
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512:americanart.si.edu
358:"CONA Full Record"
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306:References
251:(1974) by
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90:El Velorio
65:Dimensions
22:El Velorio
27:English:
341:Archived
294:See also
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191:Carolina
157:Catholic
104:painter
73:Location
29:The Wake
470:ARTE TV
180:History
169:baquiné
153:jibaros
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110:baquiné
95:Spanish
392:Medium
230:UPR-RP
220:Legacy
165:Heaven
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