Ramón Torres Méndez

Place: Bogotá

Born: 1809

Death: 1885

Biography:

Ramón Torres Méndez was a Colombian painter and lithographer considered one of the most prolific and important costumbrismo artists of the 19th century in Colombia. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia on August 29, 1809, and died in Bogotá, Colombia on December 16, 1885. Torres Méndez is best known for his genre works into everyday Colombian life documenting the costumes, occupations, and pastimes of the common people of his time. He was an autodidact artist who started his career in 1834, and participated in the war against Venezuela in 1830. He was married to María Coleta Medina Morales in 1840. Torres Méndez organized an exhibition of more than seventy toiles in 1861, and his works have been exhibited in various institutions such as the National Museum of Colombia, the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá, and the Museum of Antioquia.