Mi Puerto Rico: Master Painters of the Island, 1780-1952, organized  by the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico and The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc., is the first major exhibition in the continental United States devoted to Puerto Rico's three greatest masters: José Campeche, Francisco Oller and Miguel Pou.  The exhibition showcases select masterpieces from the Museo de Arte de Ponce's permanent collection and rarely seen paintings from private collections in Puerto Rico.  Celebrating the art and artists of this Caribbean island, Mi Puerto Rico provides an extraordinary glimpse into the rich artistic heritage of this Commonwealth of the United States.

Mi Puerto Rico consists of forty paintings including portraits, still lifes, landscapes and genre scenes by José Campeche (1751-1809), Francisco Oller (1833-1917) and Miguel Pou (1880-1968).  The exhibition explores how these three principal painters perceived and rendered their surroundings over the course of nearly two centuries.

Mi Puerto Rico also includes several works by contemporaries of Oller and Pou—artists also inspired by the island's majestic landscape—who portrayed its inhabitants and especially the abundance of the natural world as symbols of pride and authenticity.

Curators are Marimar Bení­tez, Director of the School of Fine Arts, San Juan, and Cheryl Hartup, Chief Curator of the Museo de Arte de Ponce.

The presentation of Mi Puerto Rico at the Newark Museum has been made possible by major funding from  

Generous support for the accompanying education programs was received from Verizon, Prudential Financial, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the Victoria Foundation.

Images:

Banner (detail): Francisco Oller, Hacienda Aurora, 1898-1899, oil on wood panel, 12 1/2 x 21 7/8 in. (19 x 28 1/2 x 2 1/8 in., framed), Colección /Collection: Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Foto / Photo: John Betancourt

Above: Miguel Pou, Los Coches de Ponce (Horse Drawn Carriages in Ponce), 1926, oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 23 1/4 in. (33 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 3/8 in., framed), Colección / Collection: Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Foto/Photo: John Betancourt