Portrait of Manuela Gutiérrez

During the XIX the century, the two main art producing centers outside México City were, without a doubt, Puebla and Jalisco, states where arts schools had been set up. In 1826 the Fine Arts School, directed by José María Uriarte, the painting teacher of José María Estrada, was set up in Guadalajara. Estrada's academic training did not prevent him from being subject to other influences such as that of Viceregal art, which he assimilated into his classical training, thus developing a very peculiar style which typifies his whole oeuvre. The compositional structure of the Portrait of Manuela Gutiérrez is a result of the artist's academic training, with the subject being depicted, threequarters- on, on a central vertical axis, looking straight at the viewer. Nonetheless, it is impossible to ignore the curious, rigid air of the artist´s work in general, or the tablet, clearly a holdover from neo-Hispanic painting, bearing details of his subjects name and age, in the present painting. On the other hand, his technical mastery manifests itself in his depiction of his subject´s face, in his use of glazing in order to render the hazy transparency of her dress, and in his meticulous rendering of her doll. This contrast between Academic and “Ancient”, along with a somewhat cold, contrastive palette, make the Jaliscan artist's work very distinctive. This work was apparently acquired in Guadalajara by the painter, Roberto Montenegro, who was a great promoter of Estrada's work. Then it became property of the National Fine Arts Institute, and is part of the MUNAL since 1982.