María Obligado de Soto y Calvo

María Obligado de Soto y Calvo (4 February 1857 – 19 June 1938) was an Argentine painter who worked in a variety of genres.

Biography

She was born in Buenos Aires, and grew up in a stimulating family environment, along with her brother, the poet Rafael Obligado. While still quite young, she began studying with Giuseppe Agujari, an Italian-born professor who tutored many young women from high society with artistic inclinations, but it soon became clear that her interests were more than a hobby.

As with many other Argentine artists of that period, she went to Paris to complete her studies and gain some knowledge of art history. While there, she studied at the Académie Julian with Jean-Paul Laurens and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant; maintaining a close professional relationship with them throughout her career.

After marrying the writer Francisco Soto y Calvo (1860-1936), in 1888, the couple would alternate between living in Europe and Argentina until 1910.