Hermenegildo Bustos

HERMENEGILDO BUSTOS (Mexico, 1832- 1907).
"Don Santiago Lamar", 1856.
Oil on canvas.
It has slight Repainting.
Signed, dated and titled on the back.
Measurements: 65 x 54 cm.
Male portrait of bust starring a gentleman of mature age that stands out for his severe look and hieratic pose, features that reveal the psychology of the protagonist and tell us about his high social position, despite not showing any specific attribute that defines his position. As in the rest of Europe, the portrait became the leading genre par excellence in Russian painting, as a consequence of the new social structures that were implemented in the Western world throughout this century, embodying the maximum expression of the transformation of taste and mentality of the new clientele, which emerged among the nobility and the wealthy upper middle class, who would take the reins of history in this period. While official circles gave preponderance to other artistic genres, such as history painting, and the incipient collecting encouraged the profusion of costume paintings, portraiture monopolized the demand for painting destined for the more private sphere, as a reflection of the value of the individual in the new society. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, to be enjoyed in the intimacy of a studio, in the daily warmth of a family cabinet or presiding over the main rooms of the house.
Hermenegildo Bustos was a Mexican painter, known above all for his portraits, although he also produced religious paintings and still lifes. Following in his father's footsteps, he acted as a sort of town recorder, noting names, dates and events. He worked as a tinsmith, tailor, carpenter, musician and mason, and showed a fondness for history and astronomy. He also kept a vegetable garden for most of his life. His only formal artistic studies were six months with Juan Nepomuceno Herrera (1818-1878), a portrait painter from nearby León, who apparently taught him little and treated him as a servant. His first known painting dates from 1850, when he was eighteen years old: a portrait of Vicente Arriaga, a local priest. In the following years, he made complete series of portraits of all the notable families of the area. He married in 1854. In 1858, for two weeks, Purisima hosted President-elect Benito Juarez, who decided to establish his office there, and Bustos was chosen to paint his portrait. After the Mexican Revolution, the nation's cultural heritage was revalued and Bustos' work gained greater notoriety, receiving significant attention in the book Pintura Mexicana by Roberto Montenegro.