ONOFRE JARPA-LABRA (1849 - 1940)
Cerro Chache (2, 333 m - 7,654 ft)
Chile
In Cordillera de Petorca, oil on canvas, 1933, Museo nacional debellas Artes Santiago, Chile
The mountain
Cerro Chache is a Chilean mountain, the highest summit of the central Costa mountain range, located in Cabildo in the Valparaíso Region. It is part of the so-called Melon mountain range, which runs between the La Ligua River and the Aconcagua River. The Cerro Chache is accessed by the Las Pataguas Mineral, just over 15 km southeast of La Ligua. Its approach and ascent involve at least two days of excursion.
From its summit you can see Mount Aconcagua, Cerro La Campana, Cerro El Roble, as well as much of the Melon mountain range and the coast of the Valparaíso region.
It is common to read that El Roble Hill or that the Altos de Cantillana correspond to the highest heights of the Costa mountain range in its central section. However, there are certain sources that cite the Chache hill as the highest altitude. The discussion basically lies in the interlacing of mountain ranges that predominate in this transitional zone from Transversal Valleys to Longitudinal Valley, which causes confusion when talking about Chache Hill, when taking it as part of the transverse cord that separates the hydrographic holes of the La Ligua River and the Aconcagua River. This thesis is denied, when studying the letters of the Military Geographical Institute or ascending to the hill El Roble or the hill La Campana, and realizing that the Chache hill is in a continuous line towards the north, distancing itself from the sea almost by the same kilometers in a straight line, like the El Roble hill, and also that the adjacent transverse cord, in the east direction, which joins it to the Andes mountain range, is of lower altitude than the entire Melon mountain range, where the Chache hill. These tests make it the highest altitude of this section of the Chilean Coast Range.
The painter
The Chilean landscape painter Onofre Jarpa Labra was a Romantic style painter and an essayist on various artistic topics. His education began at the Instituto Nacional, a prestigious school that has produced many of Chile's presidents. He continued his studies at the Academia de Bellas Artes, directed by the conservative Italian painter Alejandro Ciccarelli, who resigned in 1869 and was replaced by the German painter, Ernesto Kirchbach, who took a progressive approach that was more amenable to Jarpa's temperament.
In 1875, he won second prize at an international exhibition in Santiago and, six years later, received a government grant to study in Europe, where he visited Spain, Rome and Paris. In Spain, he worked with Francisco Pradilla, who had a major influence on his style. His most important period, however, came during his stay in Venice, where his style became more Naturalistic and he began producing still-lifes. He also became devoted to painting en plein air. After his European tour, he visited the Holy Land, where he painted scenes from the River Jordan and Mount Carmel.
Upon returning to Chile, he became a teacher. Among his best-known students were José Tomás Errázuriz, Alberto Valenzuela Llanos and the caricaturist Jorge Délano Frederick. He resisted the trends toward French Impressionism, represented by his former classmate, Juan Francisco González, although he was on good terms with the Grupo Montparnasse and the Generación del 13.
In addition to his landscapes and still lifes, he painted several portraits of notable public figures. A quiet, deeply religious man, he continued to paint almost until the day of his death. Most of his works are now in private collection.
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2020 - Men Portraits
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