Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós

Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós (May 27, 1879 – May 29, 1968) was an Argentine painter of the post-impressionist school.

De Quirós was born in Gualeguay, Entre Ríos Province, in 1879. He began to paint at age eight, and shortly afterwards, created a facial composite sketch that resulted in a fugitive criminal's apprehension. De Quirós was a restless student, and often skipped classes to spend time among the area's gauchos; during one such opportunity, he witnessed a duel and, inspired by the event, created his first known painting.

His father, a Spanish Argentine immigrant from the Asturias region, became alarmed at the boy's poor attendance record at school and, following his wife's 1895 death, enrolled his son in a Buenos Aires boarding school. There, he became acquainted with visiting Spanish painter Vicente Cotanda, who gave the young artist his first formal training, and later, de Quirós was accepted into the Fine Arts Academy, where he was mentored by realist painters Ángel Della Valle and Ernesto de la Cárcova. A full scholarship from the Entre Ríos provincial government to receive further arts education in Rome was presented to the artist in 1898, though his father's own objection to the award resulted in its cancellation (Juan de Quirós, who had been recently elected city councilman in Gualeguay, objected on the belief that his son had not yet merited such an honor).

The setback proved to be temporary, however, and Cesáreo earned the Rome Prize from the Spanish Royal San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in 1899, entitling him to a three-year apprenticeship in the academy's Roman affiliate. He then relocated to Mallorca, the largest of the scenic Balearic Islands of Spain, and lived there until 1910, making brief visits to Rome for the 1905 World's Fair, to the Venice Biennale, and to Buenos Aires, where he exhibited on Florida Street alongside Pío Collivadino and Fernando Fader. The latter 1906 event established the Nexus Group, which popularized post-impressionism among Argentina's conservative clientele. María Antonelli, an unhappily married 18-year-old resident of Florence, met de Quirós during this interim, running away with him and eventually bearing him two children.

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