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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Mijares Fernández, José María, 1921-2004  Search this
Interviewer:
Martínez, Juan A.  Search this
Subject:
Peláez, Amelia  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Florida
Physical Description:
107 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 30 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of José Maria Mijares conducted 1998 Jan. 17, by Juan A. Martínez, in Mijares' home/studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Mijares discusses his background; his early interest in drawing; attending Cuba's main art school, the San Alejandro Academy of Art, Havana; his professors, Leopoldo Romanach and Armando Menocal; artistic influences of Cuban modernist painters Fidelio Ponce and Amelia Peláez; being awarded the second prize in a national exhibition in Hanava, 1944 for his work Alameda; the art movement in the 1950s "arte concreto," which involved geometric abstraction and art for art's sake; difficulties of being an artist in Cuba due to lack of galleries and collectors; teaching at San Alejandro in the late 1950s; going into exile in the mid-1960s to Miami; his work schedule of drawing and painting about 6 hours daily; favorite medium being oil on canvas, but also works with serigraphy and watercolor; briefly mentions his artistic style; and his nostalgia for Cuba which is a source of inspiration in his work.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares, 1998 Jan. 17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Biography Note:
José Maria Mijares (1921-2004) was a painter from Miami, Fla. Born in Cuba.
Language Note:
Interview is in Spanish.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Cuban American art  Search this
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews  Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews  Search this
Artists -- Cuba -- Interviews  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami  Search this
Cuban American artists  Search this
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Theme:
Latino and Latin American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13560
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216453
AAA_collcode_mijare98
Theme:
Latino and Latin American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_216453