Pedro Lira

Pedro Francisco Lira Rencoret (17 May 1845, Santiago – 20 April 1912, Santiago) was a Chilean painter and art critic, who organized exhibitions that led to the establishment of the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. He is best known for his eclectic portraits of women.

He was born into a wealthy family and his father was José Santos Lira Calvo, Minister of the Court of Appeals. His primary education was received at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera. Pursuing an interest in art, he enrolled at the "Academia de Pintura", which was under the direction of Alejandro Ciccarelli, a noted Neoclassical painter from Italy.

In 1862, he found a position in the workshop of Antonio Smith, while studying law at the University of Chile. He graduated in 1867, but gave up his plans for a legal career to pursue painting instead. In 1872, he won a medal at a competition celebrating the establishment of the Mercado Central de Santiago, organized by Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna.

Encouraged by this, he was able to obtain a grant to study in Europe, going there with his wife in the company of his friend and future brother-in-law, Alberto Orrego Luco. Upon arriving in Paris, he found himself in the middle of an artistic battle between Neoclassicism and Romanticism, but did not take sides. After some thought, he chose Jules-Élie Delaunay to be his teacher.

He lived in France from 1873 to 1884 and was influenced by Eugene Delacroix, many of whose paintings he copied. Later, he received an "honorable mention" at the Salon, where little recognition was generally given to Latin American artists. But, despite his successes, he decided to return to Chile, as the time appeared ripe to create an artistic milieu comparable to that in Paris.

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