VÍCTOR MIDEROS ALMEIDA: BIOGRAPHY, PICTORIAL STYLE, WORKS - ARTE - 2025

Víctor Mideros (1888 - 1967) was a prominent Ecuadorian painter who stood out for his religious compositions, his work being recognized throughout the world and especially in Ecuador, where he is considered one of the main exponents of national painting.

He was a wise and enlightened man who studied Medicine but who lived for art. He served as an Ecuadorian diplomat in Rome, directed the Quito School of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Art, among other positions.

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Art, metaphysics, spirituality and symbolism were some of the concepts that were part of his pictorial style, which he reinforces through techniques such as light. Without a doubt, one of the great transformers of religious visual culture.

His recognition made him worthy of awards such as the National Decoration of Merit granted by the Government of Doctor Arroyo del Río, the Knight of the Order of Palms awarded by the French academy or the obtaining of several Mariano Aguilera awards.

Biography

Víctor Mideros Almeida was born on March 28, 1888 in San Antonio de Ibarra (Ecuador), a town located 100 km northeast of Quito and known for its crafts and culture. 'The white city', as this city is known, must have influenced the artist's life, since his two brothers, Enrique and Luis, also worked as painter and sculptor respectively.

Son of Federico Mideros and Carmen Almeida, he was born into a deeply Catholic family, which always led him to have religious and spiritual motives in his work.

While he was studying at the Teodoro Gómez de la Torre school in Ibarra, his father realized how easy it was for Victor to draw. He decided that, despite his young age, he would enter the workshop of the Reyes brothers, renowned sculptors and wood carvers.

Transfer to Quito

In 1906 he graduated as a Bachelor and moved to Quito to continue with higher studies. He entered the Faculty of Medicine of the Central University, obtaining the specialty brilliantly.

However, Mideros' aspirations were not to be a doctor, so at the same time that he was obtaining a degree in medicine, he was studying painting at the School of Fine Arts. Curiously, the knowledge that he was acquiring in medicine about anatomy was applied in his paintings.

His first recognitions came in 1915, when he obtained the gold medal at the National Art Exhibition held in Quito. Thus, it is in 1917 when he gets his first recently created Mariano Aguilera Prize. Then he would win another six more.

Commissioned by the presidency

A key point in his work occurs when in 1918 he is commissioned from the presidency with the portrait of the eldest daughter of Don Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno, president of Ecuador at that time.

They were so happy with the result that the president appointed him cultural attaché of the Ecuadorian embassy in Rome. A unique opportunity for Mideros to continue developing his art in one of the cities with the most history and culture in painting and other artistic branches.

Let us also remember that, in addition to being one of the cradles of art, Rome is the main seat of Catholicism, an extra motivation for this artist with deep-rooted Christian beliefs.

Visits to Spain and France

Taking advantage of his stay in the Italian capital, Mideros visited Spain and France in 1921. They were fruitful trips where he was able to perfect his techniques and also expand his status as a painter.

Such was his recognition that he was accepted as a member of the International Circle of Artists of Rome and an academic at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts (RABASF) in Madrid.

Transfer to New York

In 1922 he left the Old Continent to settle in New York with his brother Luis. Within two weeks, part of her pictorial work was exhibited on Fifth Avenue, one of the main streets of Manhattan.

It was a stay that made him see the world in a different way, applying new painting techniques very different from those he carried out in Ecuador and Rome. Symbolism begins to be part of her art.

It should be noted that, during the New York period, his brother suffered an attack by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organization from which he was able to escape unharmed. Víctor Mideros, in gratitude that his brother could survive, painted the canvas “My kingdom is not of this world”, one of his best-known works.

Return to Ecuador

In 1924 he returned to Ecuador and worked as a professor of Art History, Artistic Anatomy and Drawing at the National School of Fine Arts. Between 1933 and 1937 he assumed the direction of the center, being already a recognized artist by the high class of the country's society.

Due to his intense life, Víctor Mideros could not establish his family life until after 40 years. In 1930 he married María Eloísa Navarrete Torres, a woman with whom he had four children: Boanerges, Raúl, Enma and Mariana.

Boanerges followed in the wake of his father and worked as a painter. In turn, Raúl was trained as an architect and his two daughters led a religious life based on the Christian faith.

Víctor Mideros died on October 9, 1967 at the age of 79 in Quito. He developed his art until the last days of his life, leaving the work “Maranatha (Come, Divine Spirit) unfinished.

The painter died painting despite developing heart ailments since the 1960s. He lived his last years in a home-workshop located on Avenida 10 de Agosto and Calle Portoviejo, where he could give his last brushstrokes.

Pictorial style

Víctor Mideros is characterized by his handling of color and light. This technique flows in his stage of naturalism, where he dedicates a large part of his work to the ethnic tribes of Ecuador.

Among the painters who served as references for Víctor Mideros in his color techniques we find his admired Joaquín Sorolla, Hermenegildo Anglada and Ignacio Zuloaga.

His mystical and religious concept prevails over the rest of his compositions, being the paintings that he developed the most throughout his artistic life.

The plastic artist Mariana Mideros, a student of the paintings of Víctor Mideros, divides her work into three stages: classical painting, indigenous and naturalism and symbolism.

Classical painting

This stage was during his university maturity and his stay in Rome. In it she dedicates herself to costumbrista painting, portraying ethnic groups such as the Mayans, the Salasacas or the Sambisas, demonstrating exceptional gifts in the management of light and the recreation of nature.

Symbolism

This artistic movement is part of his work once he settles in New York. Curiously, in the United States this artistic manifestation was not very successful because it showed more roots to realism. Mideros was one of the few who developed it in the Anglo-Saxon country.

Plays

Some of his most recognized paintings are the canvases of the church of La Merced in Quito, "Mirror of justice" found in the Catholic University Center or "The way of life." We can analyze others such as:

The seven days of creation

The author develops in seven pictures each day of creation, focusing it on a specific color. It is a composition in which he shows off his masterful knowledge of color.

Holy preaching to the birds of the Lord

Work commissioned by the temple of St. Joseph Serfic College in New York, is one of the most valued by the New York artistic community.

My soul Symbolism and modernity in Ecuador

It is an edition carried out by Alexandra Kennedy and Rodrigo Gutiérrez where some of the most representative works of the painter are collected. This exhibition was present in up to seven venues in the historic center of Quito.

Portrait of the Seven Archangels (1930)

Made for his benefactress María Augusta Urrutia, distinguished lady of the Quito nobility. From an aristocratic family, María Augusta was one of the most important patrons of Quito art of her time, being distinguished with the medal of the National Order of Merit (1981). In the house-museum of the noblewoman you can find up to 89 paintings by Mideros.

Maranatha (Come, Divine Spirit)

Unfinished work of Víctor Mideros that is in the Retreat House of the Jesuit Fathers in Machachi (Ecuador).

References

1. Victor Mideros. Family Tree. Extracted from gw.geneanet.org.
2. Victor Mideros. Extracted from encyclopediadelecuador.com.
3. Biography of Víctor Mideros Almeida. Extracted from thebiography.us.
4. My soul. Symbolism and modernity Ecuador. Extracted from ugr.es.
5. Victor Mideros. The symbolism of his life. Extracted from youtube.com.