EUGENIO LANDESIO: BIOGRAPHY, WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Eugenio Landesio (1810-1879) was an Italian painter and prominent student of the Hungarian landscape architect Károly Markó "the Elder." His work was very important in Mexico, thanks to his work portraying the landscapes of the North American country.

His career in Mexico was marked by the years in which he was part of the San Carlos Academy. There he was a great influence for other artists, as was the case of José María Velasco.

Painting The Valley of Mexico. Source: National Museum of Art, via Wikimedia Commons.

Biography

The painter Eugenio Landesio was born in 1810 in Altessano, a town located very close to Turin, in Italy. He was part of a family that dedicated himself to the art of working with silver and in his childhood lived in Rome.

From an early age he developed a great love for drawing. Such was the interest that his father was convinced, and resigned, that Eugenio would be a painter in the future.

Landesio began his studies of landscape painting with a painter of French origin, whose name was Amédée Bourgeois. Later, he became a student of the renowned landscape painter Károly Markó, also known as Carlos Marco or "the Old Man."

He followed in Markó's footsteps and his work leaned toward romantic landscape painting. His works stood out because he managed to highlight the sweetness and softness of his scenes. He began to be known in Mexico because several of his paintings were acquired by the Academia de San Carlos, part of the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Later, in January 1855, he was invited by the Spanish painter Pelegrín Clavé to give landscape classes at the academic institution. He carried out his role as a professor of landscape, perspective and ornamentation principles until 1871. He is remembered in the American country for having refused to sign the Constitution of 1857, due to his status as a foreigner.

He stayed in Mexico until 1877. He suffered for several years from a pulmonary disease, which led him to abandon teaching at the San Carlos Academy. Two years later, in 1879, he died in Paris on January 29.

Plays

Landesio's work was not only dedicated to paintings. He also left his stamp on the academic side thanks to the writing of three books. These publications obviously focused on everything related to landscape painting. They were reference books for all his students at the San Carlos Academy.

The Foundations of the Artist, Draftsman and Painter (1866) was his first book. It was a compilation about the elements that had to do with the perspective of things. He delved into the use of shadows and covered some necessary basic elements of geometry.

General or landscape painting and perspective at the National Academy of San Carlos was his second book. He published it in 1867 and had 42 pages that served as an introduction to the landscape movement.

His last academic publication was an excursion to the Cacahuamilpa cavern and ascent to the Popocatépetl crater. It was published for the first time in 1868. In this work, Landesio exposed his vision of Mexico.

In the area of ​​painting, the Italian had several highly recognized works in Mexico. Valley of Mexico, is perhaps his most popular painting. He also painted View of the San Miguel Regla mine, Agua Virgen or Trevi, Doing Colón, Hacienda Matlala and the painting Ojo de agua de San Miguel.

Valley of Mexico seen from Cerro Tenayo

His most important painting also had a large format, with a canvas of more than three square meters. It was made in oil in 1870 and it presents a scene in the field with a family watching the sunset.

To make this painting he was located at the top of Tenayo. It is believed that he went up to the same place several times and made different sketches at different times of the day.

Every detail is represented truthfully. The lilac, orange colors present in the sky could be appreciated in the painting. The light is present and you can see how it interacts with the rest of the environment. The details in people's clothing were taken care of, everything to give great realism to the work.

Hacienda patio

It dealt with a series of paintings. There were 10 paintings he made for Nicanor Beistegui, an important merchant in Mexico. They were highly appreciated by critics of the time. He played a lot with contrasts and reflection in elements such as water.

Main features

Eugenio Landesio was a painter who focused a large part of his life on teaching. He relied heavily on analysis and compliance with a series of rules to create his works.

He created a different way of teaching at the San Carlos Academy, characterized by his teaching very focused on the practical part. She focused her classes on explaining how a landscape decomposes and determining the elements that make up a whole.

He placed special emphasis on the reconstruction of the landscape using light and shadow. Landesio believed in making indisputable copies of nature and, for this, these two elements were vital. It gave a higher level of perspective.

For the Italian painter, the landscape consisted of two parts that formed a whole. I am talking about the locations and the episodes.

The localities had to do with the context or the environment present in the landscape. That is, determine the presence, or not, of foliage, the type of terrain, buildings, water, etc.

The episodes gave additional meaning to the play. They were the distinguishing features in the works of the landscape movement. It was about figures that gave meaning, a narration or a story to the work. That is to say, they were the portraits (people or animals) or the scenes (military, family or popular).

He was considered the forerunner of landscaping in Mexico. Their presence allowed this movement to become a more stable and recognized practice in the American country.

Disciples

It had a very large group of students, of which several had very outstanding careers in the artistic world. Perhaps the most important was José María Velasco Gómez, as he was Landesio's successor as a teacher for the next generation of the landscape style.

In addition, he was a great influence on the work of artists such as Salvador Murillo (director of landscaping in 1874 of the Academia de San Carlos, a role that Landesio previously held), Luis Coto (who also stood out for his works on religious or historical themes), Gregorio Dumaine or Javier Álvarez.

Importance in Mexico

The role that Landesio played in Mexico had great relevance for the artistic movement. His arrival in the American country laid the foundations of the landscape movement in the country, where he remained for more than 20 years.

His objective was focused on teaching his students to pay attention to the nature around them.

He placed special emphasis on the need to analyze the details provided by the light and the color details present. The way in which all these elements had to be captured (and then transferred to the canvas) was also very important in his teaching.

References

1. Fernandez, I., & Castledine, D. (2003). History of Mexico. Mexico: Monclem Ediciones.
2. Lara Elizondo, L. (2001). Vision of Mexico and its artists. Mexico: Quálitas.
3. National institute of fine arts. (1947). National Museum of Plastic Arts. Mexico.
4. Revilla, M., & García Barragan, E. (2006). Vision and sense of Mexican plastic. Mexico: UNAM, Coordination of Humanities, Editorial Program.
5. Villa Roiz, C. (1997). Popocatepetl. México, DF: Plaza and Valdés.