Female academy

Following the advice of Spanish painter Francisco Padilla, in 1893 Carlos Baca-Flor decided to move to Paris. He then met painter Louis Roger, who was to introduce him to his future teacher, Jean Paul Laurens. He then enrolled in prestigious Académie Julian to attend the studios of Laurens and Benjamin Constant. Here he fundamentally practiced on nude models, which is reflected in the vigorous studies he made at the time. His work emphasized the modeling and chiaroscuro effects which he combined with remarkable realism and attention to detail. Along with life studies and anatomical drawings, Baca-Flor also approached the foundation of the great European tradition, through, for example, the study of Greco-Roman copies and of architectural perspective. Although his formal education concluded in 1895, the artist continued in his obsessive learning process for the next five years, alternately travelling to Italy or making spontaneous sketches in the streets of Paris. (LEW)