Juan José Calandria
Encyclopedia
Biography
File:Juan_Jose_Calandria.jpg|Juan José Calandria - 1939
File:Sculptor Juan_Jose_Calandria.jpg|Juan José Calandria - 1962
Calandria was born in Canelones
Canelones
Canelones is the capital of the department of Canelones in Uruguay.-Population:In 2004, it had a population of 19,631. While Canelones is the capital of the department of the same name, it has a considerably smaller population compared with two other cities in the department, Ciudad de la Costa and...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in 1902.
Upon graduating from school, he studied at the Escuela de Artes Decorativos and the Escuela Industrial with an architectural career in mind. He became so interested in sculpture, however, that he soon devoted his entire time to studies in that field.
By the time he was eighteen, Calandria had had a one-man show with ensuing honors and commissions. At this time, he also won the most important art scholarship offered in Uruguay -- a four-year period of study abroad. When it was decided that he was too young to accept this honor, he was not discouraged. He continued his studies and won the award again when he was twenty-two. He won his first gold medal and the Grand Prize at the Exposición Agropecuria e Industrial in Canelones, Uruguay.
After extensive travels in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Calandria settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he stayed for the next fourteen years, working under the guidance of Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...
, Charles Despiau
Charles Despiau
Charles Despiau was a French sculptor.Despiau was born at Mont-de-Marsan, Landes and attended first the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and later the Ecole des Beaux Arts...
and Marcel Gimond
Marcel Gimond
Marcel Gimond was a French sculptor born in the Ardèche region of France.Gimond first studied at the Beaux-Arts Academy in Lyon and was the student in turn of both Aristide Maillol and Auguste Rodin. Gimond was an influential Professor at the Paris Beaux -Arts until 1960...
. He soon became Gimond's assistant at the Académie Colarassi and also held classes in his own studio. Calandria was awarded the Gold Medal at the 1937 Paris Exhibition, where several of his sculptures were on exhibit in the Uruguayan Pavilion. His work was well known and admired in the French capital by 1939, where he exhibited in many galleries, the Salon des Tuileries
Salon des Tuileries
The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painter Albert Besnard, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others....
and Printemps
Printemps
Printemps is a French department store .The flagship Printemps store is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the IXe arrondissement of Paris along with other well-known department stores like Galeries Lafayette. There are other Printemps stores in Paris and throughout France...
, and the Exposition des Artistes Contemporains, the latter a great honor.
War was declared while Calandria was vacationing in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. He sailed at once for New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, spending nearly a year there and exhibiting several times. Thereafter, he went back to Uruguay and in 1941 was appointed Consul to New Orleans. He was married that same year in New York to Challis Walker
Challis Walker
File:Challis_Walker_Calandria.jpg|Challis Walker Calandria - 1985File:Sculptor Challis_Walker_Calandria - 1942.jpg|Challis Walker Calandria - 1942Challis Walker Calandria was an American sculptor and painter....
and moved to the south were the Calandrias have lived ever since.
Calandria has exhibited his paintings and sculpture in North and South America and in Europe.
When he retired from Consular duties in 1958, he was then free to give all of his time to his art, which flourished both in quality and success. At about the same time, his work became increasingly abstract and remained so during his lifetime.
He taught sculpture in Paris, drawing at the Arts and Crafts Club in New Orleans during the war, and held classes in painting and sculpture for adults and children in his Pontalba studio in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
. Later, he held classes in sculpture for several years in the Calandria School of Painting and Sculpture located at Gallier Hall and, thereafter, in his Jefferson Avenue studio. He also gave lectures and demonstrations in the New Orleans area.
His exhibition at the International Trade Mart
International Trade Mart
The International Trade Mart is an organization promoting international trade and the Port of New Orleans.The World Trade Mart was chartered in 1945, first opened its doors in 1948, and in 1985, merged with International House to form the World Trade Center New Orleans, a private, non-profit...
was his last large and major exhibition. Plagued with arthritis, he nevertheless continued to work on his knees, as any other position was impossible. Forced to stop sculpture, he continued to paint prolifically and was more than prepared for another large one-man show. However, in 1978, a new illness set in. Another exhibition would have been too difficult and during the last two years of his life, he stopped painting altogether. He died in 1980.
He was the first New Orleans artist to have his work, in this case a sculpture, purchased for the New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the "Canal Street - City Park" streetcar line...
's permanent collection.