Oller (y Cesteros), Francisco
(b Bayamón, 17 June 1833; d Cataño, 17 May 1917).

Oller studied from 1851 to 1853 at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, and later in Paris from 1858 to 1863. It was in Paris where he met Pissarro, Cézanne, and Guillaumin. His studies in France deeply influenced his style towards Impressionism and Realism.

From the Grove Art Dictionary:

"Oller, however, cannot be characterized exclusively as a Realist or Impressionist. In the course of his prolific career he produced portraits, landscapes and still-lifes, adapting his style to the subject. In the Ponce Silk-Cotton Tree (1887–8; Ponce, Mus. A.), for instance, he adapted the luminous colour, loose brushstrokes and chromatic richness of Impressionism to a local motif.

Oller y Cestero, Francisco (1833-1917)
The Student.
Location :Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
Photo Credit : Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY

Oller y Cestero, Francisco (1833-1917), The Wake (El Velorio) (1893; Río Piedras, U. Puerto Rico, Mus. Antropol., Hist. & A.)

Oller abandoned Impressionism when he settled permanently again in Puerto Rico in 1884, turning to portraits and still-lifes rendered in a more sombre palette inspired by Courbet. In his later years he sought to create specifically Puerto Rican art, which accounts for his retrospective association with 19th-century Puerto Rican nationalism. Oller’s training and exposure to modern European art made him an influential figure in Puerto Rico as both artist and teacher. He was responsible for the establishment of the Free Academy of Drawing and Painting in Puerto Rico in 1868, and in 1872 he was appointed pintor de cámara by King Amadeus of Spain. He also wrote a manual on drawing and painting from nature, first published in 1869."¹

Francisco Oller y Cestero. Plantains and Bananas 1893 Private Collection

1. Mari Carmen Ramírez: "Oller (y Cesteros), Francisco" Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 23 March 2005, http://www.groveart.com/