Teodoro Vidal

Teodoro Vidal was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1923 to Teodoro Vidal Sánchez and Lucila Santoni. His father was originally from Fajardo and his mother from Ponce. He attended the New York Military Academy and served in the military during the Korean War. In 1953, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with master's degree in business. He immediately went into public service as an assistant to Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. He served as chief of protocol at La Fortaleza, as a military advisor, and in cultural affairs.[2]

During his tenure in government, Vidal worked on historic preservation at La Fortaleza and served as a founding member of the board of directors for the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. When Muñoz Marín retired in 1964, Vidal committed solely to working on Puerto Rico's cultural heritage through independent research, publishing, and collecting. He was honored throughout his lifetime in both Puerto Rico and in mainland United States for his work on the island's folk art. He died in 2016.[3]

Vidal began collecting Puerto Rican art one day when he was on his way to La Fortaleza and saw storefronts on the Calle del Cristo that were selling sculpted saints and other folkloric objects. His collection began with objects of this sort including furniture, masks, canes, tools, instruments, textiles, woodworking, and other decorative objects. He also collected fine art, including important paintings by José Campeche. He hoped that one day Puerto Rico would have a national museum for its art and traditions.[4]

By the early 1990s, his collection amounted to over 6,000 objects and he began to look for an institution that would be willing to house the collection. He believed the objects would begin to deteriorate if he did not find a suitable preservation solution for them.[4] He initially tried to keep the objects on the island, looking for local institutions that would take his collection. In 1996 Marvette Pérez, a curator from the National Museum of American History, offered to take the entire collection on behalf of the Smithsonian. About 4,000 objects from Vidal's collection were shipped and officially donated to the Smithsonian in 1997. This gift is the largest donation by a single individual to the National Museum of American History to date. Objects from Vidal's collection were featured in a 1997–2000 exhibition titled Puerto Rico: A Collector’s Vision. Some of the objects are installed in the permanent collection displays of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of American History.[1]

The remaining objects from Teodoro Vidal's collection that were left behind on the island were donated to the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation. This included around 1,500 objects. Many of objects are on display in the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation's Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[5]

In addition to collecting Puerto Rican art, Teodoro Vidal also wrote numerous books and articles about the subject. He was considered an expert on José Campeche, as well as santo and other folkloric traditions on the island. He also studied the oral traditions, literature, and spirituality of Puerto Rico.

Selected Books by Teodoro Vidal.

• La Fortaleza, o Palacio de Santa Catalina (1964)
• Los milagros en metal y en cera de Puerto Rico (1974)
• Santeros puertorriqueños (1979)
• San Blas en la tradición puertorriqueña (1986)
• Tradiciones en la brujería puertorriqueña (1989)
• Cuatro puertorriqueñas por Campeche (2000)
• La bruja puertorriqueña (2002)
• José Campeche: portrait painter of an epoch (2004)
• Los reyes magos: esencia y presencia (2005)
• Escultura religiosa puertorriqueña (2007)
• El Museo Nacional de Artes y Tradiciones Puertorriqueñas (2012)
• El arte de la miniatura en Puerto Rico (2015)[6]

Teodoro Vidal Collection of Puerto Rican History

Teodoro Vidal Collection, Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation