# Jaime Colson

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{{Short description|Dominican artist}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Jaime Colson
| image         = Painter Jaime Colson photo.png
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = 
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = 13 January 1901
| birth_place   = [Puerto Plata Province](/source/Puerto_Plata_Province), [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic)
| death_date    = 20 November 1975 (age 74)
| death_place   = [Santo Domingo](/source/Santo_Domingo), [Distrito Nacional](/source/Distrito_Nacional), [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic)
| field         = [Painting](/source/Painting), Art education, [Poetry](/source/Poetry), [Playwrighting](/source/Playwrighting)
| training      = 
| movement      = [Modernism](/source/Modernism), [Cubism](/source/Cubism), [Surrealism](/source/Surrealism), [Neohumanism](/source/Neohumanism)
| works         = 
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
| elected       = 
| mother        = Juana Maria Colson Tradwell
| father        = Antonio González
| spouse        = {{marriage|[Toyo Kurimoto](/source/Toyo_Kurimoto)|1945|1975}}
| children      = 
| relatives     = [Jayme Colson](/source/Jayme_Colson) (uncle)
}}

'''Jaime Antonio Gumercindo González Colson''' (13 January 1901{{spaced ndash}}20 November 1975) was a [Dominican](/source/People_of_the_Dominican_Republic) [modernist](/source/modernism) painter, writer, and playwright born in Tubagua, [Puerto Plata](/source/Puerto_Plata_Province) in 1901.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 21</ref> He is remembered as one of the most important Dominican artists of the 20th century, and as one of the leading figures of the modernist movement in 20th century Dominican art, along with [Yoryi Morel](/source/Yoryi_Morel), [Dario Suro](/source/Dar%C3%ADo_Suro), and [Celeste Woss y Gil](/source/Celeste_Woss_y_Gil).<ref>Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 243</ref>

His travels to [Spain](/source/Spain) and [France](/source/France) in the early 20th century led to his experimenting with [Cubism](/source/Cubism), [Surrealism](/source/Surrealism) and other [avant-garde](/source/avant-garde) styles.<ref name=":2">Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 300</ref>  He struck up friendships with artists like [Maruja Mallo](/source/Maruja_Mallo), [Rafael Barradas](/source/Rafael_Barradas) and [Salvador Dalí](/source/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD) in Spain, and in Paris, came to know [Pablo Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso) and [Georges Braque](/source/Georges_Braque), masters of the cubist school that influenced his style.<ref name=":2" /> In 1934, he decided to leave [Europe](/source/Europe) for [Mexico](/source/Mexico) to teach art, where he befriended artists like [José Clemente Orozco](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Clemente_Orozco) and [Diego Rivera](/source/Diego_Rivera).<ref>Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 309</ref>

After leaving Mexico in 1938, Colson became professor at the art academy in [Havana](/source/Havana), [Cuba](/source/Cuba) to teach his "cubismo neo-humanista".<ref>^Ibid. pg 311</ref> The Cuban artist [Mario Carreño](/source/Mario_Carre%C3%B1o_Morales) was one of his pupils.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 50</ref>

In May 1938, Colson held an art exhibition for the first time in his country, in [Santo Domingo](/source/Santo_Domingo), at that time, Ciudad Trujillo.<ref name=":1">^Ibid. pg 52</ref> Years later, dictator [Rafael Trujillo](/source/Rafael_Trujillo) would go on to appoint him Director of the School of Fine Arts in 1950. Colson would go on to resign less than two years later as a result of the repressive regime.<ref name=":1" />

Colson's art has mostly been described as Cubist, Surrealist, and Neohumanist. He is best known for his development of Neohumanismo (or Neohumanism) and [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean) cubism or Afro-cubism.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 95</ref> His most notable works include Merengue (1938), and his series Figuras Metafisicas (1930). Colson also wrote poetry and theatrical works.

Colson was a devoted Catholic his entire life and married his companion, Toyo Kurimoto, of Japan, in a Catholic ceremony. He died of throat cancer in Santo Domingo on November 20, 1975. Many of his works are displayed in the [Museo Bellapart](/source/Museo_Bellapart) in Santo Domingo.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 19</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Colson was born in Tubagua, [Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic](/source/Puerto_Plata%2C_Dominican_Republic) on 13 January 1901, to parents Antonio González, a Spanish merchant, and Juana María Colson Tradwell, who was born in Puerto Plata and was the daughter of [American](/source/United_States) immigrants.<ref name=":2" /> His maternal grandparents were Henry Colson and Mary Eliza Tradwell, [Anglo-American](/source/British_Americans) immigrants from [Boston](/source/Boston).<ref name="Acento-Jayme">{{cite news|last1=Ventura|first1=Juan|title=Jayme Henry Colson Tredwell: destacado escritor y novelista|url=https://acento.com.do/2017/opinion/8467747-jayme-henry-colson-tredwell-destacado-escritor-novelista/|access-date=16 March 2018|publisher=Acento|date=28 June 2017|language=es}}</ref> He received his early education in Santo Domingo, and showed an interest in art at an early age.<ref name=":2" />

Following the encouragement of his mother, Colson travelled to Barcelona in 1919 to study art.<ref name=":2" /> There he studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts under the tutelage of painters [Cecilio Pla](/source/Cecilio_Pl%C3%A1), [Julio Romero de Torres](/source/Julio_Romero_de_Torres), and Pedro Carbonell.<ref name=":2" /> During this time the young Jaime González Colson decided to go by his maternal surname and drop his paternal surname, considering it too common.<ref>Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 325</ref> His earliest works were influenced by [Noucentisme](/source/Noucentisme), the prevailing artistic and literary aesthetic in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona) at the time, as well other avant-garde movements of the era.<ref name=":0" /> In 1920, he moved to [Madrid](/source/Madrid) and from 1920 to 1923, he attended the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he took classes with [José Moreno Carbonero](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Moreno_Carbonero), [Joaquín Sorolla y Bastidas](/source/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla), and [José Garnelo](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Garnelo).<ref name=":2" /> After his formative years in Madrid, he returned to Barcelona where he was presented at the [Real Círculo Artístico](/source/%3Aes%3AReal_C%C3%ADrculo_Art%C3%ADstico_de_Barcelona), by [Santiago Rusiñol](/source/Santiago_Rusi%C3%B1ol) and Joaquin Terruella Matilla.<ref name=":2" />

He lived in [Paris](/source/Paris) from 1924 to 1934, where he discovered the works of [Pablo Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso) and [Giorgio De Chirico](/source/Giorgio_de_Chirico), which greatly influenced his paintings from the 30's-40's.<ref name=":0" />  During this time, Colson dove deeper into Cubist and Surrealist aesthetics, evoking a return to the classic and an irreality.

==Artistic career==

Colson suffered economic hardships in Paris and sales of his works were minimal.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 38</ref> Following suggestions from Dominican writer [Pedro Henríquez Ureña](/source/Pedro_Henr%C3%ADquez_Ure%C3%B1a) and Mexican poet [Maples Arce](/source/Manuel_Maples_Arce), he left for Mexico in 1934 with hopes of improving his situation; there, Colson held a personal exhibition, sponsored by the Secretary of Education and began teaching at the Workers' School of Art.<ref>Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 26</ref>  During this period, Colson also devoted himself to illustration, such as in the book ''Eco'' by the poet and friend [Elías Nandino](/source/El%C3%ADas_Nandino), published in 1934, whose black and white surrealistic illustrations of male torsos and genitalia, bleeding wounds and mutilated organs were celebrated at the time. In Mexico, Colson befriended [María Izquierdo](/source/Mar%C3%ADa_Izquierdo_(artist)), [José Gorostiza](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Gorostiza), [Antonin Artaud](/source/Antonin_Artaud), [Wifredo Lam](/source/Wifredo_Lam) and his Cuban student, Mario Carreño.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 41</ref> In 1938, Colson left Mexico, traveling to Havana, Cuba, accompanied by [Mario Carreño](/source/Mario_Carre%C3%B1o_Morales). He lived and taught there for a few months, and held an art exhibition, before shortly returning to his native country after twenty years of absence.<ref>Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 311</ref>

On May 26, 1938, Colson arrived in Santo Domingo and held his first exhibition in the country at the Dominican Athenaeum <ref name=":3" /> Soon after arriving, he was commissioned by the Trujillo government for a portrait of the dictator. Though Colson insisted on doing it from life, he had only one interview with the Trujillo before never meeting again.<ref name=":3" /> His first sketch which portrayed Trujillo too realistically, that is, presenting him as the [mulatto](/source/mulatto) that he was, was rejected. Colson immediately restarted but ultimately never finished the portrait. Convinced that his artistic career would be stifled under such a repressive regime, Colson decided to return to Paris in 1938.<ref name=":3">Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: vol 2. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 55</ref>

The next year in Paris he exhibited at the prestigious [Berheim-Jeune Gallery](/source/Bernheim-Jeune) ten paintings and drawings, with artists Mario Carreño and Max Jiménez.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 55</ref> However, as a result of [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Colson relocated to Barcelona.<ref>^ Ibid. pg 316</ref> There, he completed numerous works including a set of murals on the island of [Mallorca](/source/Mallorca).<ref>^ Ibid. pg 318</ref>

In 1950, Colson returned to Dominican Republic and became director of the National School of Fine Arts.<ref>Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 84</ref> However, in 1952 he resigned from his post without having served two years in office. Following his resignation, Colson illustrated the Dominican author Tomás Hernández Franco’s book ''Cibao'', with drawings portraying the daily life of [cibaeños](/source/Cibao). He also made a well-known portrait of him there.<ref>^ Ibid. pg 87</ref>

In 1957 he traveled to [Caracas](/source/Caracas), [Venezuela](/source/Venezuela), to hold an exhibition. Colson had already presented his work in Venezuela at the Valencia International Painting Exhibition, which was held in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of its founding. On this occasion he had brought a multitude of works to be shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, however, after the interviews in the press announcing the exhibition, the general director of Fine Arts did not approve Colson’s works.<ref name=":4" /> The reason is unknown, possibly due to political issues, including the animosity of the Venezuelan government against Trujillo. Afterwards, Colson practically fled to [Haiti](/source/Haiti) with very few works, leaving behind a huge collection of paintings to the  ambassador of his country, Brea Messina, including the entire series of "La Catharsis" and the best of his period of "reviving cubism" that have largely disappeared.<ref name=":4">^ Ibid. pg 89</ref>

==Style==
Colson’s works blend Cubism, Surrealism, [Symbolism](/source/Symbolism_(arts)), [Expressionism](/source/Expressionism), and [Neoclassicism](/source/Neoclassicism) into a style described as Neohumanism that he became known for. During his years in Paris, Colson got to know the work of Giorgio De Chirico and Pablo Picasso who were two of his biggest influences. The influence of the De Chirico can be seen in his works from the 30s and 40s, in the use of perspective and scenography, themes towards the [metaphysical](/source/Metaphysics) and surrealist, the return to the classical, unreal atmospheres, and the reinterpretations of [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean_Sea) [mythology](/source/mythology).<ref name=":5">Colson, Jaime, Chicuri A. Mena, María Ugarte, Marianne . Tolentino, and Ricardo R. Jarne. ''Colson Errante: [retrospectiva Del Pintor Dominicano Jaime Colson (1901-1975)'', 2008. Print. pg 32</ref> All of this penetrated deeply into Colson's [aesthetic](/source/Aesthetics). The mystery and loneliness that emanate from De Chirico's paintings can also be seen in Colson’s work.<ref name=":5" />

In addition, Colson was influenced by the readings of [Sigmund Freud](/source/Sigmund_Freud) (1856-1939), whose dream analysis had an impact on Colson’s more surrealistic paintings. Religious or mystical themes were also repeatedly explored in his various ecclesiastical murals and paintings, representing biblical and hagiographic subjects like ''El compte Arnau'', one of his most colorful and famous works. Other works include ''Baquiní y la ciguapa del Camú'' from 1949, which shows a ritual wake for a dead infant.<ref name=":0" />

Colson in his 1962 painting ''Los heroes de la calle Espaillat'', not only perfectly captures all his evolution, from cubism, religious painting, fresco painting and neo-humanism, but also, due to its theme, delves into the social and the political environment of the time, that paid tribute to the student revolutionaries who were arrested, tortured, and killed by the dictatorship, on October 20, 1961.<ref name=":0" />

==Death==
He dedicated the final years of his life to continuing his work and teaching the techniques of mural painting. Colson died of [pulmonary edema](/source/pulmonary_edema) in [Santo Domingo](/source/Santo_Domingo) on November 20 1975, aged 74; he suffered from throat cancer because of his assiduous smoking habit. He was married to Japanese painter and sculptor [Toyo Yutaka Karimoto](/source/Toyo_Kurimoto).<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Colson errante|date=2008|publisher=[Museo Bellapart](/source/Museo_Bellapart)|location=Santo Domingo|pages=107, 151, 155|language=es}}</ref><ref name="NoticiasSIN">{{cite news|title=Historia Dominicana: Jaime Colson, gran maestro dominicano de la pintura caribeña|url=https://noticiassin.com/2018/01/historia-dominicana-jaime-colson-gran-maestro-dominicano-de-la-pintura-caribena/|access-date=16 March 2018|publisher=Noticias S.I.N.|date=5 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106023114/https://noticiassin.com/2018/01/historia-dominicana-jaime-colson-gran-maestro-dominicano-de-la-pintura-caribena/|archive-date=6 January 2018|location=Santo Domingo|language=es}}</ref>

A retrospective of his work was held at [Museo Bellapart](/source/Museo_Bellapart) in Santo Domingo in 2008.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="6">
File:Jaime Colson Fiesta.jpg|Fiesta de Guachupita. Jaime Colson . Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana
File:Jaime Colson Merengue.jpg 
File:Jaime Colson Sueño.jpg 
File:Jaime Colson Figuras Metafísicas.jpg 
File:Jaime Colson sin titulo 1943.jpg
File:Jaime Colson Compte Arnau.jpg
File:Jaime Colson Reminiscencias.jpg
File:Jaime Colson sin título.jpg
File:Jaime Colson Anunciación.jpg
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Staff (undated). [https://web.archive.org/web/20091228022107/http://rsta.pucmm.edu.do/ciudad/bellapart/sec03/JaimeColson/jaimecolson.htm "Jaime Colson 1901&ndash;1975"] (in [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language)). [Museo Bellapart](/source/Museo_Bellapart).  Retrieved August 24, 2013.
* {{cite book | author = Poupeye, Veerle | year = 1998 | title = Caribbean Art | location = London | publisher = [Thames and Hudson](/source/Thames_and_Hudson) | isbn = 978-0-500-20306-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/caribbeanart00poup }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.pradoart.com/bio.php?id=21 |title=Jaime Colson &#124; Torna and Prado Fine Art Collection |publisher=Pradoart.com |access-date=2013-11-07 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130828153923/http://www.pradoart.com/bio.php?id=21 |archive-date=August 28, 2013 |url-status=dead }}

== External links ==
*[http://www.museobellapart.com/Catalogo%20Colson%20Errante%20internet.pdf Colson exhibition catalog] ([PDF](/source/PDF) format) [Museo Bellapart](/source/Museo_Bellapart)

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colson, Jaime}}
Category:1901 births
Category:1975 deaths
Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century Dominican Republic painters
Category:Male painters
Category:20th-century male artists
Category:Dominican Republic male artists
Category:20th-century Dominican Republic poets
Category:Deaths from cancer in the Dominican Republic
Category:Deaths from laryngeal cancer
Category:Dominican Republic expatriates in France
Category:Dominican Republic expatriates in Spain
Category:Dominican Republic male poets
Category:Dominican Republic dramatists and playwrights
Category:Dominican Republic people of English descent
Category:Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent
Category:Male dramatists and playwrights
Category:Modern painters
Category:People from Puerto Plata
Category:20th-century Dominican Republic artists
Category:White Dominicans

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jaime Colson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Colson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Colson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.