Margarita Bertheau

Margarita Bertheau
Born
Margarita Bertheau Odio

(1913-05-13)13 May 1913
San José, Costa Rica
Died21 November 1975(1975-11-21) (aged 62)
Escazú canton, Costa Rica
EducationAcademia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro
Occupations

Margarita Bertheau Odio (13 May 1913 – 21 November 1975) was a Costa Rican painter, ballerina, ballet teacher, scenic and costume designer.[1][2] Bertheau was a member of the first wave of Costa Rican female artists.[3]

Biography

Bertheau was born on 13 May 1913 in San José to Alberto Bertheau Zenea, a businessperson and shoemaker, and Rosalía Odio Méndez.[1][4] Bertheau's mother was Cuban whilst her father was Costa Rican and of French descent.[4]

In 1924[a], Bertheau's family settled in Havana and she began studying at the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro.[1][2][4]

Havana and Bogotá

In 1929, Bertheau joined the atelier of Rafael Lillo y Foraster, a Spanish painter and architect, whom she studied under for 10 years.[1][4] Upon attending a performance at the Ballet Pro Arte, Bertheau joined the workshop of Nikolai Yavorsky.[1][4][5] Bertheau performed in several ballet productions, and began creating costume and set designs.[1][4]

In 1940, Bertheau returned to Costa Rica before settling in Bogotá, Colombia the following year.[1][4] In Bogotá, Bertheau worked as a ballet teacher, costume and scenic designer for the Teatro de Cristóbal Colón.[1]

Costa Rica

In 1942, Bertheau relocated to San José and began teaching at the University of Costa Rica.[4] Bertheau had independent views and was contemporary with the first wave of Costa Rican artists that included Dinora Bolandi, Lola Fernandez and Sonia Romero. These four are famous for teaching fine art at the University of Costa Rica and to have created the second generation of Costa Rican women artists.[3]

During the 1940s and 1950s, Bertheau and Francisco Amighetti developed of mural painting techniques to suit Costa Rica's tropical environment.[4] In 1948, Bertheau and Amighetti created the mural Agriculture for the presidential palace, and has been called both pastoral and shocking. It depicts the peasants farming and others running in the distance as a person is being shot.[6]

The Costa Rican Museum of Art states that she is known for "landscapes, portraits, watercolor figures and her geometric, surrealistic and abstract work."[7] Bertheau was called the first female watercolor artist in her country.[8]

Ballet

Bertheau co-founded the Pro-Arte Ballet Musical, where she worked as a teacher and designer.[4][5] During this period Bertheau taught Mireya Barboza Mesén (1935–2000), one of the founders of the modern dance movement in Costa Rica.[9][10] In 1948, the Pro-Arte was shut down by the government for allegedly promoting communist ideas.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Also cited as 1929.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bermúdez, Manuel. "Margarita Bertheau Odio: Una gota de luz sobre la tarde". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 Diaz-Arias, David; Viales Hurtado, Ronny; Marín Hernández, Juan José (2019). Historical Dictionary of Costa Rica. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-1538102428. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 Ilse Abshagen Leitinger (April 1994). The Costa Rican Women's Movement: A Reader. University of Pittsburgh Pre. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-0-8229-7162-7.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Exposición Margarita Bertheau Inédita". MAC (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Costa Rican Museum of Art. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 May 2026. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 Ávila Aguilar, Marta (2007). "The Influence of German Modern Dance in Costa Rica". Dance Chronicle. 30 (1): 29–43. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Exhibit chronicles evolution of Costa Rican art - The Tico Times". www.ticotimes.net. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  7. ↑ Costa Rican Art Museum as quoted by the Costa Rica Tourism Board. Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Chalene Helmuth (2000). Culture and Customs of Costa Rica. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-313-30492-7.
  9. 1 2 Jiménez Barboza, Javier (2024). "Dos experiencias de educación democrática de la danza: plan b danza y taller de danza moderna" [Two Experiences of Democratic Education on Dance: Plan B Danza and Taller de Danza Moderna]. Káñina (in Spanish). 48 (3). San José, Costa Rica: University of Costa Rica. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Gonzalez Guerra, Ricardo Adolfo. "Mireya Barboza Mesén". Asamblea Legislativa (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
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