Artist of the Day, October 6, 2025 : Jaime Colson, a Dominican Republic painter (#2384)

 Jaime Antonio Gumercindo González Colson (1901 – 1975) was a Dominican modernist painter, writer, and playwright born in Tubagua, Puerto Plata. He is remembered as one of the most important Dominican artists of the 20th century, and as one of the leading figures of the modernist movement in 20th century Dominican art, along with Yoryi Morel, Dario Suro, and Celeste Woss y Gil.

His travels to Spain and France in the early 20th century led to his experimenting with Cubism, Surrealism and other avant-garde styles. He struck up friendships with artists like Maruja Mallo, Rafael Barradas and Salvador Dalí in Spain, and in Paris, came to know Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, masters of the cubist school that influenced his style. In 1934, he decided to leave Europe for Mexico to teach art, where he befriended artists like José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera.

After leaving Mexico in 1938, Colson became professor at the art academy in Havana, Cuba to teach his "cubismo neo-humanista". The Cuban artist Mario Carreño was one of his pupils.

In May 1938, Colson held an art exhibition for the first time in his country, in Santo Domingo, at that time, Ciudad Trujillo. Years later, dictator Rafael Trujillo would go on to appoint him Director of the School of Fine Arts in 1950. Colson would go on to resign less than two years later as a result of the repressive regime.

Colson's art has mostly been described as Cubist, Surrealist, and Neohumanist. He is best known for his development of Neohumanismo (or Neohumanism) and Caribbean cubism or Afro-cubism. His most notable works include Merengue (1938), and his series Figuras Metafisicas (1930). Colson also wrote poetry and theatrical works.

Colson was a devoted Catholic his entire life and married his companion, Toyo Kurimoto, of Japan, in a Catholic ceremony. 

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Jaime Colson

Japonesa,  c. 1926

Homenajes a Picasso,  c. 1927

Autorretrato japonés,  c. 1927

Cubist Still Life,  c. 1928

Hombre con pipa (retrato de Tomás Hernández Franco),  c. 1928

Figuras Metafísicas,  c. 1930

Conversation à l'escalier, étude,  c. 1932

Sin Título,  c. 1932

Dos desnudos,  c. 1935

Sin título.  c. 1937

Children,  c. 1938

Merengue,  c. 1938

Sueño,  c. 1938

Deux têtes d'enfants,  c. 1941

Face in profile,  c. 1941

Sin Título (Anunciación),  c. 1942 Barcelona

Three children,  c. 1942

Reminiscencias,  c. 1943

Sin Título,  c. 1943

Still life,  c. 1943

Compte Arnau (Poema de Joan Maragall),  c. 1947

Muchacho con gorra roja,  c. 1951

Sin Título (Abstract Musicians),  c. 1951

Fiesta de Guachupita,  c. 1955

Sin Título (Mother and Child),  c. 1955

Monsieur Colson,  c. 1957

Two Heads,  c. 1957

Sonata de la Piedra y de la Carne,  c. 1967

A woman with a water jug in the doorway, two other figures with jugs in the background

Boy with foliage