Del Carril, Delia

Del Carril, Delia

1885

1989

Delia del Carril was born into a wealthy and well-connected landowning family in Argentina. A frequent visitor to Europe, she was married in Paris to Adán Diehl Arget, an Argentine intellectual. The couple cultivated friendships with the leading artists of 1920s Paris and del Carril studied drawing and painting, becoming a student of both André Lhote and Fernand Léger. After nine years of marriage, del Carril left Paris alone for Madrid, at the time of the Spanish Civil War. Here she studied at the Academia de San Fernando, became a member of the Communist party and formed part of the group of intellectuals associated with the editor and writer Luis Güiraldes. She met the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in Madrid, and the two lived together, marrying in Mexico in 1943. Abandoning her artistic career at this stage, she worked alongside Neruda as editor and secretary. After their separation, in 1954, del Carril dedicated herself to drawing and printmaking. She studied with Stanley William Hayter in his Paris studio and was invited by Nemesio Antuñez to join the Taller 99 in Santiago, Chile. Her first solo exhibition took place at the Galeria Beaux Arts de Santiago in 1961. Working alongside younger artists at the Taller 99, del Carril has had a significant influence on subsequent generations of Chilean printmakers