Florencio Molina Campos

Florencio Molina Campos was born on 21st August 1891 in Buenos Aires city. As a child, he spent the summer months at the family's estancia in Tuyú. There he came into contact with the ways of those who worked the land and From an early age he showed an inclination towards drawing. And so began a lifelong partnership of his two loves.

At the age of 28, Campos married Maria Hortensia Palacios Avellaneda and 10 months later his only daughter, his dear "Pelusa", was born. Times were hard and, along with his brother Carmelo, he worked as a manual labourer. Following the break up of his marriage he took a post as a clerk in Buenos Aires and there friends encouraged him to show his drawings. It was in August 1926 that he first exhibited at the Feria ganadera de Palermo, where he became the main attraction for the next 4 years.

A few months later he showed his work at the Witcomb gallery of Mar del Plata. There he met his lifelong companion, Maria Elvira Ponce Aguirre. In 1930, the Alpargatas Company commissioned 12 illustrations for their calendar. These were so successful that he continued to provide the drawings for the next 12 years.

Campos continuously travelled to the plains of Argentina visiting estancias and eagerly searching for his place in the country. He finally found it in Moreno, Buenos Aires province, were he built his ranch Los estribos.

In 1942 he exhibited at the Modern Art Museum of San Francisco, following which the exhibition toured the United States. As a result, a Minneapolis company hired him to illustrate their calendars, which he did from 1944 to 1958 in his new medium, oil. Although the calendars were to be distributed in the US, Campos never abandoned the Argentine country theme..

He also provided many book illustrations during his lifetime, including Estanislao Del Campo's "Fausto" and 33 paintings for Enrique Hudson’s "La Tierra Purpurea", in which the author tells of his experiences in Uruguay in 1868.

When he returned to Argentina in 1959, he gave what would be his last exhibition at the "Argentina" gallery. Eighty artworks were on show and they were an overwhelming success. After the exhibition ended he entered hospital to have a minor operation, complications of which led to his death on 16th November 1959.