Filántropo
Artist
Miguel Trelles
(Puerto Rican, born 1969)
Date2000
Object number2008.2360.2
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions83 1/2 x 47 1/2 in. (212.1 x 120.7 cm)
frame: 84 3/8 x 48 1/4 x 1 3/8 in. (214.3 x 122.6 x 3.5 cm)
frame: 84 3/8 x 48 1/4 x 1 3/8 in. (214.3 x 122.6 x 3.5 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
DescriptionPhilanthropist is part of a group of works in which Miguel Trelles represented the profession of various characters. With references to the production of artists such as Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) and Francis Bacon (1909–1992), and using a gestural style, Trelles created an image in which he recognizes philanthropy as a “profession.” He also included a painting within the painting, a portrait hanging behind the seated philanthropist. The artist identifies the figure in that portrait as a “musketeer, […] like a romantic alter ego of the philanthropist.” Trelles affirms that he owned a photograph of the American philanthropist Paul Mellon (1907–1999), which was similar to this painting. However, when he searches for a Puerto Rican model for philanthropy (and thus, for this work), the artist thinks of Luis A. Ferré, who supported his career from the beginning.
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