Introduction

He up-and-coming commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the death of the painter Macedonio de la Torre in Lima on May 13, 1981 made an orderly revision of his work necessary. His life and painting are interesting for a variety of reasons: not only due to the fact that he is one of our most notable and original artists, and for the plastic legacy he left behind- which is most definitely paramount- but also due to the fact that the city where he lived his early artistic experiences during the first two decades of this century- Trujllo- as well as Europe between wars from 1924-1930- were enclaves of decisive cultural knowledge for Peru and the Western world in the first third of the XXth century.

Macedonio was thus both present and active in times that were notable crossroads for art, and his work reflects these circumstances. He returned to Peru In 1930, enriched by the teachings and proposals of impressionism, post- impressionism, the beginnings of cubism and the gravitation of German expressionism. Macedonio marked a milestone in the evolution of the plastic arts, whose decisive renovation would be the product of Ricardo Grau´s arrival in Lima in 1937, which coincided with our artist´s arrival from Paris. To this we must add the fact that the work of this master, like that of other Peruvian painters, is dispersed amongst numerous private collections, and thus its adequate appreciation is considerably limited, in particular with regards to those new generations that were unable to attend exhibitions of Macedonio´s work. In this sense, we must remember that the retrospective of his work took place in 1968, or thirty six years ago; add to this the fact that his work has been widely copied. This book will attempt to accomplish, alongside its biographical presentation, the meeting between a wide selection of pictorial work spanning from the painter´s earliest years to the last decade of his life. We have chosen, although other alternatives such as chronological representations exist, to divide the artist’s work into five groups: drawings, scenery, “jungles”, visions and portraits. This approach ensures a more orderly and didactic presentation. Additionally, the esthetic display of the artwork in a book format allows for more appropriate graphic design. All the work shown in this volume belongs to institutions or collections that made their acquisitions prior to the artist’s death. Said pieces were acquired through purchase from the artist or as gifts or donations from the artist himself.


I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the kind people in Lima and Trujillo who provided me with every opportunity to copy the biographical and photographic information relative to the works reproduced on these pages. Some of these individuals have unfortunately passed away.


I would like to make particular mention of the artist’s family in Lima: his widow, Mrs. Adriana Romero de de la Torre and her children, Gustavo and Víctor Macedonio de la Torre Romero, who generously provided me with documents, photographs and artwork. I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to the following experts and collectors: María Gabriela de la Piedra, de la Torre´s widow, and Diego de la Torre de la Piedra, whose incalculable support made the publishing of this book possible; and Víctor de la Torre de la Piedra, Jeronimo de la Torre de la Piedra, Bertha de la Torre de la Piedra de De los Ríos, Clarisa de la Torre de la Piedra de Ramírez, my mother, Lilia Romero Lozada Macchiavello de Tord, and my wife, Emma Leonor Velasco Astete for her permanent encouragement, to the Museo de Arte de Lima, Alberto Benavides de la Quintana, Elsa Ganoza de la Torre, Roque Benavides Ganoza, Luis Pinillos Ganoza, Luis Pinillos Ashton, Teresa Casabonne de Pinillos, Federico de Cárdenas Cockburn, Augusto Álvarez Calderón, Isabel Larco de Álvarez Calderón, Amparo Gálvez widow of Urquiaga, Diego López-Aliaga y Núñez, Andrés Townsend Escurra, Josefina Townsend Diez Canseco, Alfonso Ganoza de la Torre, Felipe del Río Málaga, Luisa Labarthe de Del Río, José Correa Orbegoso, Wenceslao Rosell de Cárdenas, Fortunata Ganoza de Rosell, Alberto de Cárdenas Martínez, Oscar (Julián) Bolaños, Angélica Altamirano widow of Bolaños, Ilia Bolaños de Sologuren, Elizabeth Cahuas widow of Leggett, Armando Villanueva del Campo, Edmundo Haya de la Torre, Rosa Delfín widow of Ganoza, Claudia Ganoza de Barnechea, Alfredo Barnechea, Juan Esteban Ganoza Temple, Santiago Gerbolini, Jacobo de la Piedra Russo, Juan de la Piedra Russo, Alberto de la Piedra Russo, Marcos Roitmann, Mario de las Casas, María Isabel Morales de De las Casas, Augusto Hoyle de la Torre, Frida Sánchez Vallejos de Hoyle, Alfonso Cox Cassinelli, Hilda Cassinelli, widow of Cox, Luis Eduardo Wüffarden, Raúl León Barúa, Leticia Rodríguez Hoyle de León, Gilbert Chauny de Porturas Hoyle, Eduardo Guinea, Dolly Loyer de Guinea, Elías Bentín, Rafael Chepote Coquis, Herminia Romero Macchiavello widow of Jacobs, Clemencia Jacobs Romero, Alfonso Romero Macchiavello, Carlos Marsano, Paulina Soto de Marsano, Juan Andrés Marsano Soto, Jorge Freire, Hilda Marsano de Freire, Cecilia Pinillos de Galleno, Lucy Hoyle, widow of Summers, Nils Summers Hoyle, Rainer Summers Hoyle, Allen Summers Hoyle, Carlos Lazarte Hoyle, Daniel Rodríguez Hoyle, José Antonio Iturrizaga, Alfredo Arana, Blanca de Arana, Carlos González, Caridad Rosell de González, Guillermo Larco Cox, Enrique Agois Banchero, Alejandro Tudela Chopitea and Rocío Quesada de Tudela.


I would also like to thank the mayor of the city of the Provincial Council of Trujillo, José Murguía, the former director of the National Institute of Culture in Trujillo, Ana María Hoyle Montalva, the Club Central, Víctor Urquiaga Parodi, Carlos Macchiavello Amorós, Amelia, widow of Macchiavello, Livia Amorós, widow of Macchiavello, Alfredo Pinillos Hoyle, Luisa Ganoza de Pinillos, Isabel Hoyle Cabada, Daniel Hoyle Lanatta, Javier Pérez Saavedra, Oscar Tord Romero, Carmen Zapata de Tord, María Isabel Romero de Ganoza, Carlos José Mannucci Vega, Adriana Mannucci Vega, Cecilia Mannucci Vega, Ricardo Rey Ganoza, Gerardo Alegría, Laura Alegría de Alegría, Eduardo Alegría Alegría, Margarita Alegría Alegría, Carlos Manuel Porras Vargas, Caridad Rosell, widow of González, Fausta González Rosell, José Carlos González Rosell, Hernán Miranda Cueto, Jorge Zevallos Quiñónez, Patricia Doig Mannucci, Adolfo Luna Victoria, Francisco Gamero Lizarzaburu, Rosa, widow of Gamero, Jorge Quiroz, Luis Almendáriz, Rosario de Almendáriz, Mariano Alcántara, Alfredo Hoyle Vásquez, Samuel Hooker Noguera, Manuel Ángel Ganoza Plaza, Marita Montalva, widow of Hoyle, Julio Garrido Malaver, Lutgarda Reyes Álvarez, Carlos Ferrer and Manuel Delfín Goicochea.


Needless to say, this book, which is a tribute to Trujillo and one of its most notable and original citizens, would never have been possible without the selfless cooperation of each and every one of the individuals mentioned above.