1840 -1912 · Academy of San Carlos, Valley of Mexico and natural science

Volcanoes, lakes and territorial geology make José Maria Velasco the great visual builder of the Mexican national landscape in the 19th century.

José Maria Velasco was born in 1840 in Temascalcingo, Mexico State. Arriving young in the capital, he entered the Academy of San Carlos in 1858 and studied landscape with the Italian Eugenio Landesio. Perspective, classical composition and work on the motif were accompanied by a passion for botany, geology, zoology and paleontology. Velasco does not consider science as a separate field of painting: relief, flora, water and atmosphere must be observed with enough precision to make the territory intelligible. Valle de México from the Cerro de Santa Isabel combines vast depth, lakes, city, volcanoes and small human activities. The Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl give the two peaks a geological as well as symbolic presence. His views also show roads, bridges and railways, signs of a country in transformation. Professor at the National School of Fine Arts and active member of the Mexican Society of Natural History, Velasco produced around three hundred oils as well as numerous watercolors, lithographs, miniatures and scientific studies. Died in 1912, he left an image of Mexico that had become national heritage while remaining a rigorous observer of nature. Died in 1912, he left an image of Mexico that had become national heritage while remaining a rigorous observer of nature. Died in 1912, he left an image of Mexico that had become national heritage while remaining a rigorous observer of nature. The "José Maria Velasco" selection notably compares Valle de México from the Cerro de Santa Isabel and Le Popocatépetl and the Iztaccihuatl. His reading favors movement.

Velasco paints the territory as an organism: volcano, plant, city and railway belong to the same natural and human history.