Quinquela: The Artist Who Painted La Boca (1890 – 1977)

April, 2023

Understanding the La Boca community of Buenos Aires, means understanding the artist Benito Quinquela Martin.  Known simply as ‘Quinquela’, he not only became one of Argentina’s most famous artists, but he was also a philanthropist before his time.  Walking around his art work you get a glimpse into what La Boca was like back when Quinquela was a young man.  Nothing like what you see today! (see The Colours of La Boca) And the artist himself played a huge part in what you experience today and in this, still, under privileged community.

The Child of a Coal Shop Owner

Quinquela’s early life was as an orphan in La Boca, a port neighbourhood.  Adopted at the age of six or seven (his exact DOB was never known), he went to school until the third grade and then worked in the family coal shop.  La Boca at that time was inhabited by immigrants, his parents among them, and was a busy working port.

Beginning in Art

Quinquela did some evening art classes as a teenager sponsored by the neighbourhood cultural collective.  In 1919 the Buenos Aires Salon de Arte finally accepted some of his work after many, many submissions.  In 1921 he made the first of several trips overseas to study and exhibit his work.  These trips included France, New York and Italy among others.

Philanthropy in his Community

As well as his art, Quinquela devoted his time to the community.  From these humble beginnings he began to earn real money through his art (not always possible for an artist – think Van Gogh while he was alive!).  Continuing to live a very simple life, he channelled his earnings into improving the community.  He founded a primary school, a theatre, an art gallery, a children’s dental hospital and a milk clinic so orphaned children could be fed breast milk for better health (an interesting focus for a single man in the 1940’s no?).  There was also a day care centre within the facility enabling women to work (again very forward thinking and much needed by the community).

In the 1950’s, when the port had closed and the place had become incredibly run down, Quinquela led an initiative to inject some colour into an abandoned lane of the community, by renovating what was to become an open air street museum called the Caminito.  (see The Colours of La Boca).

His Art

The art gallery was opened in 1938 (imagine an art gallery in a poor, working class port neighbourhood ???).  As Quinquela did not want any of the buildings he donated to be named after him, the gallery was originally called the Museum of Fine Arts of La Boca. Its named was changed to the Benito Quinquela Martin Museum (MBQM) after his death.  Several well known artists from across Argentina are featured in the collection that Quinquela collected over his life and the current curators have continued. It is a small collection but well worth a visit to understand his work.

While Quinquela experimented with various forms including coal drawings, he is most known for his oil paintings created with a palette knife.  His most well-known and significant pieces were created this way.

While he tried other settings, he was never as energised or as successful as when he painted La Boca. So at one point in his career he decided to stick with La Boca pretty much exclusively.  It was a place he loved, that he invested heart and soul in, and this so clearly comes out on the canvas.

While this work feels somewhat dark as it shows rotting ship hulls and the area being razed by fire, it definitely tells the story of La Boca in vibrant colour.  His work has been sold far and wide and can be found in St. James Palace in the UK, the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington along with many museums and private collections across Europe.

His Home

The building that housed the primary school on level 1, had the art gallery above and Quinquela lived, and had his studio, in a few very simple rooms on the top level.  Today this has become a part of the museum.  Quinquela liked colour, not only in his paintings, but in his living quarters!

The story goes that he would often interact with the children as they left school for the day, taking much interest in their education.  Also famous people, including the President of the time, would visit Quinquela as a friend and walk through the school to get to his apartment on the roof.

Family

His immigrant parents were hard working but did recognise and accept Quinquela’s artistic talent although it was not possible for them to support him financially.  He was single most of his life, marrying his long-time assistant, Alejandrina Marta Cerruti in 1974 aged 84.  When he died in 1977, he was buried in a coffin he had painted himself the year before.  On the top of the coffin was a painting of the port of La Boca and he said of the coffin, “he who lived surrounded by colour, cannot be buried in a plain box”.

As I stood on the rooftop above Quinquella’s home, I imagined the artist also did that himself. He would have looked over the port and down at Caminito street. Of course the working port is no longer there but the waterway is cleaner than it has been in many years apparently and I could see plants growing in the water.

To close, I love the story of the ‘order’ that Quinquela started, the Order of the Screw.  This group would meet often in his home, and was invitation only to special people that he believed were talented, creative and were serving humanity expecting nothing in return.  He thought that this meant they must have a screw missing in their heads.  In elaborate parties they would be awarded a screw, supposedly the one they are missing!

I enjoyed exploring the story and the art of a great man who was creative, who certainly served humanity and was loved very much in the La Boca community.

NB: I am not trained in art, nor an artist of any kind.  However, I have always appreciated it in all its forms, from painting to sculpture to very modern imaginings.  These are purely my thoughts and learnings in my travels.