The Teacher and His Pupils

 Here are more works from the exhibit on Eugenio Landesio, the Italian artist who was hired to teach landscape painting at Mexico City's Academy of San Carlos in the mid-1800s.

These paintings were done after Landesio arrived in Mexico...

"View of the Matlala Hacienda"  1857

(I did some research, and this impressive aqueduct still stands in the state of Puebla, although it was damaged in the 2017 earthquake.)

"The Colón Hacienda"  1858

"Monte Blanco Hacienda"  1877

"Crossing Lake Texcoco"  1865

"The Ante-Sacristy of the Convent of San Francisco"  1855

"Rocks" 1860

"The Valley of Mexico from Tenayo Mountain"  1870

The exhibit also contains paintings by two of Landesio's pupils, Luis Coto and José María Velasco.  They went on to become the most important landscape painters of late 19th century Mexico, and their works became symbols of Mexican identity.  Coto often used Mexican landscapes as a backdrop for portraying pre-Hispanic legends.  Velasco, a favorite of mine, gained world-wide recognition, and won medals at international exhibitions in Philadelphia and Paris.

You can see the influence that Landesio had on his pupils.

"Cypress Trees" by Luis Coto  1858

"Nezahualcoyotl, Pursued by his Enemies, Hidden in a Field of Chía"

by Luis Coto 1865

(According to legend, Prince Nezahualcoyoltl, heir to the throne of Texcoco, was being pursued by enemies, when a peasant woman hid him in a field of chía plants.)

"The Foundation of Tenochtitlan"

by Luis Coto 1879

(According to legend, the Aztecs founded their capital of Tenochtitlan... present-day Mexico City... when they saw the promised omen of an eagle, perched on a cactus, devouring a serpent.)

 "Patio of the Ex-Convent of San Agustín"

by José María Velasco  1861

"Magdalena Mountain"

by José María Velasco 1862

"Rocks at Atzacoalco"

by José María Velasco

"The Tree of the Sad Night"

by José María Velasco 1885

(Legend has it that the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés cried beneath this cypress tree after suffering a rout at the hands of the Aztecs.)

"The Valley of Mexico from the Mountain of Santa Isabel"

by José María Velasco 1882