Institution founded in Old Havana in 1818 as an art and craftsmanship school by the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, at the recommendation of Intendant Alejandro Ramírez. Its first director was Jean Baptiste Vermay, a Bonapartist exile who had opened an art school in Havana the year before. It did not prosper financially and became a government institution in 1863. Camilo Cuyas became its first Cuban-born director in 1833. Since Miguel Melero, appointed in 1878, the director has always been Cuban. It was revitalized and expanded during Enrique José Varona’s educational reorganization as the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. The Escuela Elemental de Artes Plásticas was annexed to the “San Alejandro” (still its popular name) in the 1940s. Its most distinguished directors have been Leopoldo Romañach and Esteban Valderrama. Faculty have included Sicre, Gelabert, and Ramos Enriquez. Artists trained there include Lam and Carlos Enríquez. After the Revolution of 1959 it was renamed the Academia de Artes, then the Instituto Superior de Artes (ISA), and is now the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro.” Recently it had 800 students.
2 thoughts on “Academia de San Alejandro”
My uncle, Juan Luis Gelabert, was the son of Sebastian Gelabert, who was director of San Alejandro for a time. Sebastian was a painter in the classical style. When Juan Luis died, his widow, my aunt, left Cuba for good in 1969 and the government took possession of her house with Sebastian’s paintings in it. I don’t know where the paintings may be now.
Me encantan sus escritos. Son muy informativos y traen recuerdos y nuevos conocimientos sobre Cuba. Gracias.
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